Dear Friend, 

“When faced with the decision of ‘reveal your name or risk your abuser walking free’ – survivors are forced to make a

life-or-death

decision. . . . A decision that

no court

should force a survivor to make.”

This is what over 100 survivors said in a National Declaration this/last week. The Declaration was issued following a disturbing ruling in the NCOSE Law Center’s case against Nevada brothels: departing from established legal precedent, a judge told our survivor client that

she must reveal her name to the public or her lawsuit would be tossed out.

It was far too dangerous for this woman who escaped sex trafficking in Nevada’s legal brothels to reveal her name publicly, and such public exposure would not serve any compelling purpose—

except to open her up to harassment.

She was not seeking to prevent the parties to the lawsuit knowing her identity and information but merely sought court protection (which is routinely provided to sex trafficking victims) to prevent her identity from being made public, since

her life and privacy were at serious risk.

As a victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, she has a right to protect her privacy, to protect herself and her family from public humiliation and harassment, and she also feared for her physical safety due to dangerous and disgruntled sex buyers.

So, she rightly refused

to publicly disclose her name. And her case has now been dismissed.

This is a tragedy that we are fighting tooth and nail to overturn. We moved swiftly to appeal the decision. If our appeal is denied, we will turn to legislative reform and other avenues for righting this injustice.

We will not let Jane Doe be silenced

.

Will you join this fight?

 And it isn’t just about one survivor. This ruling poses a threat to others looking to hold their abusers accountable.

How can any survivor feel safe to seek justice

when they know that the courts might deny them basic protection?

Please fight the silencing of survivors and all systems perpetuating sexual exploitation!

Become a Defender today by committing to a monthly gift that fuels the fight against all sexual exploitation. If you

become a Defender now

, each one of your monthly gifts will be DOUBLED between now and the end of 2025, thanks to a million-dollar matching grant from a generous donor.

Now is the time to show survivors that they are not alone. Let’s have their back in this difficult time!

Gratefully,  

Become a Defender

-----------------------------------------------------------
Email Marketing By CharityEngine ([link removed])
To be removed from this list, copy the following address into your web browser [link removed]