28 Under the new law, every sex trafficking survivor has a clear path for petitioning the court to vacate prostitution-related convictions and may also seek to vacate certain related drug offenses. Survivors can file a short motion with either official documentation of the fact that they were trafficked or an affidavit. Most importantly, as Lavinia put it, “the law creates a presumption that the prostitution-related offense was linked to the trafficking.” Since the passage of the law, the team, along with Mintz project analyst Katie Walsh, has been raising awareness of the new law in the community. Alec and Lavinia plan to host trainings for attorneys, including in their roles as co-chairs of BBA’s Human Trafficking Subcommittee of the Delivery of Legal Services Steering Committee—a group Alec helped launch several years ago to foster discussion amongst members of the Boston Bar Association about legal issues concerning sex trafficking survivors. “Now that the law has been passed, our efforts must focus on educating survivors and the professionals who support survivors in our community, so that they will avail themselves of the law. When I see survivors obtaining post-convic- tion relief through the mechanism that we created, that will be very meaningful to me,” Alec said. The law has removed barriers that once impeded sex trafficking survivors’ access to justice. And the legislation also impacted those who worked on its passage. “One of the main reasons I chose to pursue a career path as a lawyer was to make a difference in the lives of survivors of sexual assault and gender-based violence—particularly by advocating for legal reform,” Lavinia said. “At every point in the advocacy process, Mintz was very instrumental in building the relationships needed to push the legislation forward. They have a deep passion for and dedication to working with trafficking survivors, and they really understood the importance of this legislation. I don’t think we could have done it without their dedication and support. We’re really delighted to be continuing to collaborate with Mintz to ensure that survivors can access these important protections.” Julie A. Dahlstrom Clinical Associate Professor & Director Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program, Boston University School of Law Securing a Future for Human Trafficking Survivors (continued)