VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A sex trafficking survivor opened up to 13News Now about her experience in hopes of raising awareness and inspiring others. She also teamed up with a local law school to help clear some of the charges she caught while being trafficked.
Advocates are calling this a history-making move.
Back to 2021, then-Governor Ralph Northam signed the Virginia vacatur law. It acknowledges trafficking survivors did not act on their accord when committing certain crimes.
Administrators with the Regent University School of Law's Center for Global Justice told 13News Now no one in the Commonwealth had gotten a court to vacate their convictions thanks to the aforementioned law, until now.
SHARING HER STORY
Olivia said she wound up getting trafficked for roughly a decade. She recalled when it started.
"I was 18. I was young. I was rebelling and I felt like I didn't have anything or anyone."
She said traffickers forced her to buy and sell drugs, hold guns for them, steal or sell herself for sex.
"I would have done anything he told me to do, because it felt like if I didn't that he would kill me anyway or that he would hurt me so bad or that I would emotionally or physically be beaten," Olivia told reporters.
Eventually, Olivia said a sting operation out of Chesapeake in 2016 landed her misdemeanor and felony charges.
She battled addiction and even spent time in prison.
"The biggest misconception is that the victim is a criminal," Olivia said.
After getting out of prison and joining a program for survivors, Olivia ended up becoming a driving force behind a vacatur law passed in Virginia two years ago. It means certain convictions for trafficking survivors, like her, could be wiped from their record.
The director of the Center for Global Justice, Dean Ernie Walton, also advocated for the passage of the law in 2019 and 2020, according to a Regent University spokesperson.
RECEIVING A SECOND CHANCE
Meg Kelsey with the Center for Global Justice explained Olivia's case recently made history.
"Not only is it the first for us, it's the first petition in the state," Kelsey told 13News Now.
After surveying circuit courts and commonwealth attorney's offices, Kelsey said Olivia is the first trafficking survivor in Virginia a court granted expungement as a result of that 2021 law.
"It means it's a start. We're using the law as it is written, but we are also hoping that the law can become more useful by expanding the types of charges eligible," said Kelsey.
For Olivia, the charges eligible were misdemeanors related to prostitution.
"For it to be off my record and for a judge to actually be like, ' yes, I'm going to take this off your record because I know we were wrong in the first place to convict you,' is huge," Olivia said.
Olivia described this as a step in her journey of healing and recovery. She wants to advocate for others who may have been in her shoes.
"For me, it gives me my voice back to be able express the things I went through and how they affected me," said Olivia. "Even if just one person can relate and get out of the life the way I did, then it's worth it to me to tell my story."
The Center for Global Justice just launched its human trafficking clinic this summer. Its directors are looking to help more survivors, like Olivia.