What inspires you to keep at the work you're doing on a daily basis?
The reason I Rise Up every day is because our clients are incredible individuals that I want to support. It’s brave for our clients to take the step to work with us at Justice At Last. They may have shared their story multiple times, reliving their trauma in each re-telling, before they come to us. They’re rising up on their own and have already overcome so many injustices. Their courage and faith to think that someone can help them is huge. Despite the victimhood itself that is traumatic, there are other legal hurdles in front of them. As an attorney, I have the professional skills to break down those hurdles to help them move forward. Our organization is making a difference. I’ve seen it.
How do you envision Justice At Last Rising Up over the next 6 months?
In 2024, we’re launching the Pro Bono Academy to Advance Justice to Trafficking Survivors. It’s common for victims of trafficking to have been forced to commit crimes by their traffickers and to have extensive criminal records that continue to haunt survivors long after escaping the trafficking situation, creating barriers to employment, stable housing, and economic stability.
A comprehensive vacatur law was established in 2017 in California to break the cycle of injustice that trafficking survivors face because of a criminal record caused by their trafficking experience. The problem is that there is a lack of trained attorneys and a lack of public awareness, leaving the vacatur law under-utilized to provide tangible, life-altering legal relief to trafficking survivors.
Starting this year, we will begin providing MCLE-certified training to law firms about the legal forms of relief and what it means to provide trauma-informed lawyering. We hope to recruit and encourage pro bono attorneys to Rise Up and act as co-counsels with Justice At Last and to represent trafficked survivors within criminal courts to vacate their criminal records.
The target is to train as many attorneys as we can in the Bay Area who might be interested in volunteering, and to help us increase access to justice for all trafficking survivors.
How do you see Freedom Insight as a partner in the anti-trafficking movement?
People often hear news about trafficking and wonder, “Why should I care?” What I love about Betty Ann and Freedom Insight is their Rise Up inspiration to get people to not just understand the issue of human trafficking, but to be motivated to want to help in some capacity. I hope that we can continue to partner together to inspire people to get activated, as it’s so critical in this movement.
How would you encourage individuals to Rise Up in this movement?
If someone is looking to Rise Up, they first need to ask the question, “What is inspiring me to learn about trafficking?” Out of that curiosity, do some homework: read articles, talk to people in the community, and don’t rely on one source to determine what human trafficking is. If you're solely relying on one source, you’re not going to have a real understanding of the impact of human trafficking on survivors.
I’d also encourage people to listen to survivor voices. What is the survivor movement saying about a particular issue? If you want to participate with and support an organization, look to see if they are including and considering those with lived experience in their actions, in some capacity. Are those with lived experience contributing to the work overall, or serving on the leadership, board, or as a consultant? And, are those with trafficked survivors being compensated as experts with lived experience? Survivor voices need to be factored in to better understand how to combat human trafficking and best support trafficking persons.
President Obama also established a National Advisory Council composed of survivors of human trafficking. Each year they issue a report with policy recommendations to support survivors of human trafficking and to prosecute traffickers. Individuals can read the report here.
Rose Mukhar is a social justice, human rights, and crime victims' rights attorney with experience in cases involving children, women, refugees, and survivors of domestic violence, torture, and human trafficking. Her pro bono practice specialized in providing direct legal services to trafficked survivors, including immigration relief, legal advocacy of crime victims’ rights, clearing criminal records tied to forced criminality, divorce, custody, and restraining orders. Modeled after her pro bono practice, Rose created Justice At Last to expand the legal services and outreach she provides. Rose is inspired and driven by the strength, courage, wisdom, and grace of her clients.
Rose provides leadership to ensure that Justice At Last achieves its overall mission to protect the rights of trafficked persons so they can achieve justice on their own terms.
