Combating Human Trafficking, Supporting Survivors
The University of Maryland Support, Advocacy, Freedom, and Empowerment (SAFE) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors is a comprehensive services, advocacy and research center for human trafficking survivors. The center provides legal, crisis intervention, behavioral health, and economic empowerment services to sex and labor trafficking survivors of all ages and nationalities. Founded in 2016 by our partner and former Deputy US Trade Representative Susan Esserman, the SAFE Center grew out of her pro bono work representing human trafficking survivors at Steptoe. We are proud to have been a partner of the SAFE Center from its founding and every step along the way.
In its five years of operation, the SAFE Center has provided services to several hundred survivors and their families, a substantial majority of whom are women and girls of color. The SAFE Center has developed statewide guidelines and best practices to assist Maryland hospitals to identify and support trafficking survivors. It has also trained more than 5,000 professionals to recognize and respond to human trafficking and successfully advocated for the passage of three anti-trafficking bills in Maryland.
Steptoe has developed a robust pro bono partnership with the SAFE Center since its inception. We have represented a number of survivors of sex and labor trafficking referred by and in partnership with the SAFE Center, successfully securing humanitarian T Visas that enable our clients to live and work legally in the US. The SAFE Center in turn has assisted several Steptoe pro bono clients with critical case management, therapy, and assistance with housing, skills training and finding employment. We have also assisted the SAFE Center with research on advocacy and policy issues designed to deter trafficking.