Abolitionist Spotlight |Sharlene Graham

This month's featured abolitionist is Sharlene Graham!

Graham, formerly Boltz Graham, is a professor at Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where she teaches Contracts, UCC Sales and Secured Transactions, Domestic Violence Seminar and Domestic Violence Prosecution and Trial, and Remedies. Before teaching, she was a trial attorney at a law firm in Louisiana and in the Office of General Counsel, United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. Outside of the classroom, she is an advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. She's even a member of the Northern Kentucky Human Trafficking Task Force! As part of the task force, Graham co-founded a group called "Regional Initiative Guiding Human Trafficking Services" (RIGHTS). RIGHTS published a Professional and Public Protocol in 2018 to assist others in their anti-trafficking journey.

Professor Graham first became interested in advocating for victims of violence after the traumatic death of a sorority sister at the hands of her abusive husband. She wanted to understand why people make violent decisions, and began studying threat assessment. You see, the common thread between domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking is targeted violence, and she thought there had to be a better way to predict, detect, and prevent violence. Graham even attended the Advanced Threat Assessment and Management Academy to further hone her skills and knowledge.

When asked for her words of advice for beginner advocates is to pay attention to signs. If you don't even recognize what you're looking at, how can you make a difference?

Thank you, Professor Graham, for your words of wisdom!