Shawntel Williams, a Filipino American law fellow, is working with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) to create a legal clinic that will support Filipino trafficked victims. She is an Equal Justice Works fellow, and her project is sponsored by Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
According to INQUIRER.net, Williams will work closely with LAFLA’s pro bono partner organizations to provide services for labor trafficking migrants from the Philippines.
The clinic will be held in person and virtually to help empower Filipino migrant workers to gain safety and financial stability. According to LAFLA, the legal clinic will educate the Filipino migrant community on issues including “wage theft, public benefits claims, and immigration relief.”
The Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) states that, in California, thousands of people are forced into labor trafficking every year–and that a significant number of those victims are from the Philippines.
Williams hopes that this trauma-informed legal clinic will help break the barriers that Filipino trafficking victims face every day.
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