People with criminal records are often susceptible to sexual violence, before, during, and/or after justice system involvement. Criminal records have a profound impact on a person’s ability to find employment, secure affordable and safe housing, and continue their education. Criminal records can also create difficulties in areas such as immigration, student loans, family law, voting, and travel.

Criminalized individuals are especially vulnerable to future sexual harm. A Vera Institute study found that 86 percent of women in jail had experienced sexual violence, while reports from the American Civil Liberties Union state that up to 94 percent of women in prison have a history of physical or sexual violence. The impact of past sexual abuse or assault is a primary driver leading to women’s engagement in the criminal system, and many criminalized individuals are also more vulnerable to future sexual harm. As a result, CAASE provides criminal records relief to any survivor of sexual violence, regardless of whether the criminal record was related to their sexual harm.

Learn more about the prevalence of sexual harm amongst criminalized survivors before incarceration and while incarcerated.

Expungement & Sealing

General expungement and sealing provisions are open to all people in Illinois with a criminal record and are overseen by the Criminal Identification Act.

• Expungement erases records of arrests and court cases that did not lead to a conviction (“non-convictions”) from almost all databases.
• Sealing hides records of arrests and court cases that resulted in a conviction from the general public.

Vacatur for Survivors of Sex Trafficking

The Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Crimes Act particularly oversees the vacatur of prostitution and prostitution-related convictions for survivors of sex trafficking.

• Vacatur effectively undoes a conviction as if the original case had been dropped before a judgment was entered. Through vacatur, a conviction becomes a non-conviction and opens the door to expungement for that case.

SUPPORTING PEOPLE WHO’VE EXPERIENCED PROSTITUTION AND SEX TRAFFICKING

If you are a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution and sex trafficking, you have legal rights and protections.

You may be able to:

• clear criminal records from your time in the sex industry,
• get protection from an abuser or trafficker,
• assert your rights as a victim of crime, and
• sue people and businesses that were involved in your sexual exploitation.

You can learn about each of these options below or contact CAASE to talk about your needs. We provide free legal services for survivors of sexual assault, sexual stalking, and sex trafficking with any background or identity who were harmed in Cook County, IL, and are aged 13+.

CAASE cannot accept cases involving criminal defense, divorce, custody, property in common or other family court issues, immigration, or cases that involve survivors who do not want to participate in a legal process, even if they are minors. If CAASE can’t assist you, we will try to connect you to another attorney and support resources.

Civil Lawsuits for Survivors of Sex Trafficking or Prostitution

Survivors of the sex trade can sue for money damages and other remedies under a few different laws. The Gender Violence Act lets survivors of gender-related violence sue someone who harmed them with gender-related violence. They can seek monetary damages or other remedies, such as an injunction to prevent the person from doing a specific act. Illinois’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act allows survivors of sex trafficking or prostitution to sue individuals and businesses that recruited, harmed, profited from, or kept them in the sex trade. The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act has similar provisions at a federal level.

Crime Victims’ Rights

Survivors of the sex trade may also be a witness in a criminal case where a person is arrested for sex trafficking or other related charges. Victims of crime, including survivors of sex trafficking, have important legal rights when they are involved in criminal prosecution. Learn more about crime victims’ rights here.