Balance the Scales of Justice

The Amara Legal Center is the only organization in the DC metropolitan area that provides free legal services exclusively to people involved in commercial sex, specifically sex workers and sex trafficking survivors.

Each year Amara represents almost 200 clients in legal matters. We represent clients in victim-advocacy cases to help individuals understand their victim rights. We assist clients to reconnect them with their children through child-custody representation, as well child support enforcement and divorce representation. We provide legal representation in criminal defense cases when clients are charged for crimes they committed in order to survive or when they were in fact the victims of trafficking. We also assist with criminal record relief (criminal record sealing, expungement, and vacatur) to help our clients obtain employment, housing, and educational opportunities.

In addition to legal representation, Amara provides 20-25 trainings each year to both the community and service providers regarding the differences between sex workers and sex trafficking survivors, how to identify sex trafficking survivors, and how to provide support to trauma-informed survivors.

We also advocate for policies that are victim-centered and will not further harm our clients. Our current priorities are vacatur (removing criminal records obtained while survivors of trafficking were trafficked), safe harbor (eliminating the prosecution of children for prostitution), and police reform to prevent further criminalization of our clients.

97% of our clients are cis- and trans- women and 75% of our clients are people of color (Black and Latina). Black and brown women are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement compared to their white counterparts. Our clients typically end up in jail cells instead of being connected to the resources they need which exponentially compounds our clients legal needs. Once involved in the criminal justice system, our clients are unable to shake the stigma of their past and are often unable to find employment or housing even when they have made dramatic changes to their lives. For example, in Virginia our clients have no criminal record relief even when there are clear signs of trafficking. This is just one example of how the legal system revictimizes our clients and the hard work Amara has ahead of it to achieve just outcomes for our clients.

Donate TODAY and spread the word about Amara Legal Center! Sign up for a newsletter today, in December we will share how systemic racism and racial bias have impacted our clients: amaralegal.org.