For many years, Cast has supported survivors who have experienced criminalization over the course of their lives. Some were arrested or incarcerated before being trafficked, and made vulnerable to traffickers as a result. Some were criminalized during or after their trafficking experience, including for crimes that they were forced to commit.

In 2023, we launched the Provider Perspectives Study to learn more about the criminalization of survivors. We spoke with professionals who worked with survivors of human trafficking, sexual violence, and domestic violence about their insights on the criminalization of survivors (112 surveys and 17 in-depth interviews). Here’s some of what we found:

• 98% of survey participants (110/112) had worked with survivors who reported their victimization to law enforcement. Among survivors who reported, the most common outcome was that law enforcement was indifferent.
• 88% of survey participants (92/112) had worked with survivors who were previously arrested or detained. When we asked about what happened next, the most common outcome was that being arrested or detained was traumatizing for survivors. Only 12% of professionals whose clients had been criminalized reported that arrest or detention had ever made clients safer.
• One attorney spoke about discrimination in criminal legal systems: “I can definitely sometimes sense, maybe harsher sentiments from law enforcement or other officials than I feel like I would get if my clients were citizens, or at least White”
• A direct services provider expressed concerns about the lack of support for survivors who coped with their trauma through substance use: “I really wish there was more acknowledgement that, for a good number of survivors, the drug use was a way to cope…I’ve had to tell folks in the advocacy work, ‘remember, this isn’t a moral failing.”

Although there was no single, universal perspective – antiviolence professionals’ understandings are diverse, as are their policy positions – most had served survivors who were harmed by systems that should have supported them.

To learn more, you can explore our dashboard. You can also watch the video below for an overview of how to use the dashboard: