We are proud to co-sponsor a cross-disciplinary panel discussion with DVP, CHLA, OutLaws, and SIRR about the impacts of various legal frameworks relating to the sex trade and the rationale behind a survivor-centered approach.
Drawing from their experience in a variety of fields, the speakers will discuss the colonial roots of the sex trade, its intersection with racism, sexism, LGBTQ+ issues, and other forms of structural inequality, the impact that various legal approaches have had on sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and the necessity for survivor-centered services. Please RSVP here.
Taina Bien-Aimé
Taina Bien-Aimé is a human rights lawyer and the Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), one of the oldest international organizations dedicated to ending trafficking in women and girls and commercial sexual exploitation as practices of gender-based violence. Prior to this position, Taina was the Executive Director of Women's City Club of New York, an advocacy organization that helps shape policy in New York. For twenty years, Taina was involved with of Equality Now, an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting the human rights of women and girls, first as a founding Board member, then its General Counsel and subsequently, its Executive Director for a decade.
Cristian Eduardo
Cristian Eduardo is the Co-Founder of United Immigrants of New York, a Survivor Leader at Sanctuary for Families, and a member of ECPAT-USA's Survivors' Council. Cristian is an advocate, speaker, and educator for anti-trafficking initiatives including the Equality Model, immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights. He is a survivor of international and domestic human trafficking, a Mexican immigrant, HIV+, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and someone who speaks openly about the mental health challenges he has faced that frequently result from trauma. Although these are parts of him, he is whole, who cannot be defined. Cristian Eduardo is also a student, who is science and engineering oriented. Cristian Eduardo's inspiration for his social justice work is to give insight that victims always remain human beings.
Ane Mathieson
Ane Mathieson is the Project Director of the EMPOWER Center, the first center to provide comprehensive services for people who have survived prostitution. Ane’s career has focused on addressing the intersecting issues of commercial sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls through advocacy, activism, policy research, and outreach and training. As a Subject Matter Expert at the Organization for Prostitution Survivors, Ane researched commercial sexual exploitation policy, coordinated community trainings, and facilitated Survivor Art Workshops. As a 2012 Fulbright Fellow, she researched global prostitution policy in Sweden. In 2014, she published “Prostitution Policy: Legalization, Decriminalization and the Nordic Model” in the Journal for Social Justice.
Laura Ramirez
Laura Ramirez is the Program Coordinator at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and a core organizer with Af3irm, a grassroots transnational feminist organization that centers class, race, gender, sexuality and anti-imperialism in its advocacy. Laura’s work focuses on building a youth, women of color led movement for a feminist revolutionary resistance throughout the country. She is a born and bred New Yorker and graduated from CUNY Queens College with degrees in International Politics and Philosophy.
