By Anne Basham
Imagine being forced to commit a crime. You did not choose it. You were coerced, manipulated, and controlled. Now, you are free—but not truly free. You have done the work to move forward: applying for jobs, seeking stable housing, opening a bank account. But everywhere you go, your criminal record follows you, haunting you like a shadow. Although you were the victim, you are still being treated like a perpetrator.
This is not a hypothetical scenario. It is the reality for far too many survivors of human trafficking in the United States and around the world. These individuals—many of them children at the time—were exploited and forced into committing crimes that directly benefited their traffickers. They received no profit, no choice, and no way out. And yet, they continue to pay the price long after the exploitation has ended.
Survivors of human trafficking are often criminalized for acts their traffickers forced them to commit. This is known as forced criminality, and it often results in survivors being misidentified as criminals rather than the victims they are. These unjust charges can follow survivors for years, limiting their ability to find employment, housing, or even safety.
But there is hope—and a solution.
No Survivor Should Be Punished for Their Own Exploitation
The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA) is a historic bipartisan bill in the US Congress that would give survivors the chance to expunge their criminal records for offenses committed as a direct result of their trafficking. This is not just about clearing a record. It is about restoring dignity, unlocking opportunity, and honoring a basic principle of justice: that victims should not be punished for their own exploitation.
At its core, this legislation reflects what is known internationally as the non-punishment principle—a standard which asserts that trafficking survivors should not be prosecuted or penalized for crimes they were compelled to commit. Currently, 48 states in the United States have some form of non-punishment protection, but there is no corresponding framework at the federal level or in most nations throughout the world. The TSRA would change that, aligning federal law with state efforts and becoming one of the first national-level non-punishment laws in the world.
The bill also includes an affirmative defense, allowing survivors to proactively avoid criminal charges when their actions were the result of trafficking. This is especially important for ensuring victims are not further traumatized by a justice system that too often fails to recognize their victimization.
As trafficking survivor and advocate Hollie Nadel stated, “Many survivors during their trafficking victimization may experience ‘forced criminality,’ in which traffickers coerce their victims into committing crimes to profit the traffickers. As a result, trafficking victims may face unjust prosecution and punishment for their traffickers’ crimes. My eight years of abuse – abuse that a judge called akin to torture – involved involuntary domestic servitude, labor trafficking, sex trafficking and finally, forced marriage. I was under constant threat and fear for my life and for the safety of my loved ones. I was made to live out of suitcases and was isolated from those who could help me. I took actions under extreme duress to survive. I received no profit from the crimes of my traffickers, only suffering. And yet today, along with so many other survivors, I pay the price for my traffickers’ crimes. The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act will provide recourse to right this injustice that I and so many survivors face. It will help to restore faith in a system that is meant to protect, rather than punish us.”
Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of leading the coalition in Congress advocating for the TSRA, and I have seen firsthand the need for change—and the harm that inaction causes. When survivors are punished instead of protected, it not only compounds their trauma, it weakens anti-trafficking efforts overall. Fear of arrest or prosecution deters victims from coming forward or testifying against their traffickers.
The TSRA is more than a policy change. It is a moral reckoning with how we treat survivors of one of the gravest human rights abuses of our time. It is a chance for the United States to lead by example and stand firmly on the side of justice and compassion.
If you would like to establish a non-punishment principle in your nation, please contact us.
