Too often, children are left unprotected because states fail to invest in prevention, community-based services, and non-punitive responses. Without comprehensive action, young people will continue to fall through the cracks and suffer lasting harm.
This campaign calls on governors across the country to exercise their unique authority to deliver justice for survivors of human trafficking who have been unjustly criminalized. The letter urges governors to reform their state’s clemency and pardon processes to ensure they are accessible, trauma-informed, and responsive to the realities of exploitation.
Survivors of trafficking too often continue to bear the lifelong burden of criminal convictions for actions they were coerced or forced to commit as a direct result of their victimization. Many remain incarcerated under unjust sentences that failed to recognize their exploitation. Governors have both the moral responsibility and the legal power to correct these injustices—through clemency, pardons, and legislative leadership.
Together, we can move beyond short-term fixes and deliver the systemic change needed to end the unjust criminalization of child sex trafficking victims.