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The Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative (Sunita Jain Initiative) at LMU Loyola Law School (LLS) is a collaboration of the Loyola Social Justice Law Clinic (LSJLC) and the LLS Anti-Racism Center (LARC). The Sunita Jain Initiative builds upon LSJLC’s legacy of system transformation through on-the-ground best practices representation of trafficking survivors, and connects this clinical work to LARC’s research and policy innovation, focused on anti-racism, equity and inclusion in the law. The Sunita Jain Initiative will guide the next generation of survivor advocates, to enact anti-trafficking law and policy at the local, state, and national levels that grapple with the root causes of human trafficking such as the systemic subordination of poor communities of color, further marginalized by the intersections of gender, gender identity, sexuality, disability, national origin, religion, and/or immigration status. This first of its kind initiative, housed within LLS whose mission is dedicated to the delivery of educational excellence with a deep concern for social justice, aims to overcome the myriad injustices that subvert trafficking survivors’ access to self-determination and empowerment.
Mission
Vision
Values
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Focus on all forms of human trafficking to ensure the most marginalized are visible
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Working in partnership with survivors and their communities
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Centered, informed and driven by impacted communities
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Adopt an intersectional approach to understanding the experience of human trafficking survivors
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Advance policy innovations and systems change utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach
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We seek a non-carceral approach to preventing human trafficking
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Apply a critical evidence and community informed lens to anticipate and prevent unintended consequences
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We strive daily for tangible impact
Who we are
Anabel Martinez
Anabel Martinez (she/her) is the Policy Associate for the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative (“SJI”) where she provides support in the development of local, state, and national anti-trafficking policy strategies, which promote survivor informed and evidence-based public health and community-based alternatives to the dominant approach of using incarceration as a solution to human trafficking which often re-traumatizes survivors, especially survivors with their own criminality. Before joining SJI, Anabel was an attorney with the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic (“LIJC”) where she provided immigration legal services to low-income immigrant community members of the Los Angeles County area. Previously, Anabel worked as a Victims’ Rights Staff Attorney for the Legal Advocacy Project for Survivors at the Los Angeles LGBT Center where she provided trauma informed, client-centered, and affirming holistic legal services to LGBTQI+ survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, hate violence, stalking, and other crimes. Anabel also worked as an attorney at the Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, Inc, where she represented parents in juvenile dependency proceedings. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles where she graduated with a concentration in Public Interest Law and received her undergraduate degree, with a major in psychology and a minor in education, from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
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Sabrina Talukder
Sabrina Talukder is the Federal Policy Director and comes to SJI with a decade of professional experience directly representing non-citizen human trafficking survivors with complex criminal and immigration histories. Sabrina began her legal career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at The Legal Aid Society in New York City, identifying and representing non-citizen survivors who were incarcerated at Riker’s Correctional Facility. Afterwards, she worked at The Exploitation Intervention Project at The Legal Aid Society as an immigration specialist, representing non-citizen trafficking survivors upon criminal and civil arrest in their criminal and immigration proceedings. Sabrina graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies, The London School of Economics and Political Science with an M.A. in NGOs and Development, and obtained her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Adrianna Griffith
Adrianna is a native of San Jose, CA and a longtime resident of Stockton. She is currently the Restorative Justice Program Specialist for the Women’s Center Youth & Family Services where she has worked for the past 5 years providing direct services to individuals and families experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. As a Lived Experience Expert, she assists others experiencing various forms of trauma by helping them to navigate the systems intersecting in their lives. Her passion and focus have been to empower those most impacted by mass incarceration and sexual exploitation, helping them to unlock their full potential and understand how their own experiences have led to their decision making and behavior as well as bringing awareness to her community about how interpersonal violence and systemic harm intersect in our daily lives. In 2019, she became an Outside Organizer with Initiate Justice, furthering the mission of activating the political power of those most impacted by mass incarceration and in 2020, a fellow, with the Solis Policy Institute through the Women’s Foundation of California. Adrianna also currently Chairs the Legal Advocacy workgroup of the San Joaquin County Human Trafficking Taskforce. Her favorite activities include spending time with her family, playing PS4 and spending time in community with her extended I.J (Initiate Justice) family growing, learning, healing and discussing all things prison abolition!
Polina Ostrenkova
Press:
https://www.covenanthouse.org/charity-blog/i-want-fight-justice-and-equality
Sunita Jain
John Jain, M.D., described his late sister Sunita as “a young woman who was well ahead of her time in her awareness of social justice.” During her life, she joined the ACLU, was an activist, graduated with a degree in women’s studies, and marched for people’s rights. Jain is certain she would have become an attorney working for human rights, specifically women and children. When he thought about the best way to honor her, he chose anti-trafficking, something he feels his sister would believe is an important and urgent issue today.
For Jain, the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative is a tribute to his sister and the legacy of the person she would have been. He’s also quick to point out his gift is about the critical work being done to support victims and survivors who often have no voice, no way to contact their family, and typically find themselves desolate and isolated.
“This is a call for others to learn about trafficking, to educate people about its presence. Nine out of 10 people don’t realize this is happening under their nose,” he said. “And importantly, it’s a call for people to give time, money, and resources to help.”