Our Clients
Dominica’s Story
Dominica,* is a survivor of human trafficking and sexual assault. When Ayuda attorneys first met with Dominica, she was already attending regular check-in appointments with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Fairfax, Virginia, awaiting her...
Ayuda Client Shares Her Story for Sexual Assault Awareness Month
*Tali is a Middle Eastern woman who came to Ayuda seeking legal representation in obtaining a civil protection order (“CPO”) against her ex-husband and father of her child. When Tali and Amir started dating, Amir was...
Ayuda social services program supporting survivors to rebuild their lives
Alejandro*, a victim of trafficking in both his home country and in the United States, was referred to Ayuda’s social services program by US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). Alejandro was living in an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter for...
Erlinda’s Story: “I was trafficked by my diplomat”
Erlinda* came from the Philippines to work as a domestic worker for a diplomat in Washington D.C. She traveled on a visa for domestic workers of foreign dignitaries. However, upon her arrival in Washington D.C., Erlinda’s employer confiscated her identity...
Refugee, mother and survivor, becomes U.S. citizen after 8 years
It is because of donors like you, that Ayuda was able to help save me and my family and put us on the path to recovery. In 2004, my family and I were separated. I was 19 years old and civil war had plagued my home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo...
From Victim to Survivor: Sabah’s Path to Recovery
Sabah is a young Middle Eastern woman who came to Ayuda seeking legal representation for a civil protection order against her ex-boyfriend, Tim. Sabah and Tim had been a relationship for two years. During their entire relationship, Tim was verbally, physically, and...
Ayuda Helps Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Survivor Access Justice and Rebuild her Life
Carolina and Ramon were together for seventeen years. They have four children together and until recently, lived together with Ramon’s parents. During the course of their relationship, Ramon had not always been abusive. However, over the last three years Ramon started...
Ayuda Wins Big Case for Guatemalan Asylum Seeker, Trafficking Survivor
Ayuda Supervising Attorney, Katie Soltis, recently won an extremely arduous asylum case for her client Camila*, an indigenous Ixil Mayan from Guatemala and survivor of severe child abuse and labor trafficking. Camila was kept as a slave in a locked room for much of...
Resilience in the Face of Tragedy: Catherine’s Story
Silvia’s Story
Silvia Lopez moved to the United States from El Salvador more than 29 years ago, escaping the civil war that plagued the country from 1980 to 1992. When Silvia first arrived in 1989, she began the arduous process of applying for asylum and later for a green card...