Publication: Trauma-Informed Legal Representation for Youth in Sexual-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline
CEASE Clinic Director Emma Hetherington and Legal Intern Copelenn McMahon (’23) published “Trauma-Informed Legal Representation for Youth in Sexual-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline” along with School of Social Work Assistant Professor Allison Dunnigan in the American Bar Association’s Committee on Children’s Rights Litigation Newsletter. The article discusses how legal systems and stakeholders often criminalize behavioral trauma responses of child survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking, thereby facilitating entry into the sexual abuse-to-prison pipeline. The article calls for an evaluation of trauma-informed lawyering to ensure attorneys are actually practicing in a trauma-responsive manner to support survivors and prevent pipeline entry.