Abolitionist Spotlight | Courtney Kinter
This month's featured abolitionist is Courtney Kinter!
Courtney is a Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, an affiliate of the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati (Legal Aid). Legal Aid helps low-income families and individuals by providing free, comprehensive civil legal assistance to address a wide range of major obstacles. For example, they help to prevent evictions and foreclosures, address domestic violence and divorce, fix unsafe and unhealthy living conditions, obtain Medicaid and other health and income benefits, overcome barriers to employment or resolve school problems. At Legal Aid, Courtney is part of the Family and Immigration Practice Group where she provides legal help for victims of domestic violence, human trafficking or other crimes. Her work also includes acting as the Project Coordinator and Lead Attorney for Legal Aid’s Anti-Trafficking Advocacy Program, where comprehensive legal services are provided to human trafficking survivors to assist them in achieving safety, increased independence, self-sufficiency and otherwise remedy the effects of victimization. Courtney’s days are filled with representing clients, collaborating with local service providers and conducting professional training or public awareness activities to educate others about human trafficking and the legal needs of survivors, and so much more! One of her favorite things about her job is that no day looks quite the same.
While finishing her Bachelor’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University, Courtney found herself in the same position as many soon-to-be graduates, uncertain! She knew she was interested in human rights based work, but wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do after graduation. In her final semester, she took an independent study course focused on human trafficking that included collaboration with a women’s collective in Bogota, Colombia to develop a research and training module for the UN’s annual conference held in Leon, Mexico. Over 5,000 youth were taught about consent and personal safety and over 300 youth participated in a workshop to learn ways to identify, report, and prevent human trafficking. The experience taught her a lot about human trafficking and she realized this was the kind of work she wanted to do! Courtney decided to attend law school, but didn’t think she would necessarily practice law. Her original idea was to work for a federal agency or a non-governmental organization focused on human rights and rule of law. After graduating from Ohio Northern University with a Juris Doctorate and a LL.M. in Democratic Governance and Rule of Law, she started working at a law firm practicing immigration and criminal defense. Following this, Courtney began at Legal Aid as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and has been there ever since.
Courtney has two pieces of advice for those just beginning their journey of anti-trafficking advocacy. First, do more listening than talking. Learn from and align yourself with organizations that are survivor focused and survivor informed. Second, take off the cape. “Survivors don’t need rescuers; they need resources,” she says. We all have a role to play in what tools, resources and skills we can offer, but we are there to support, not save.”
Thank you, Courtney, for those words of wisdom and your incredible work!