Driven to Support Survivors
As an intern in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Monica Naranjo (’23) explored a long-held, and very personal, interest in helping survivors of exploitation and abuse.
Driven to Support Survivors
As an intern in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Monica Naranjo (’23) explored a long-held, and very personal, interest in helping survivors of exploitation and abuse.
As an intern last summer, Monica Naranjo spent at least 40 hours a week on the ninth floor of the Boston office building that houses the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (SCDAO).
“The ninth floor is where most of the heinous crimes are prosecuted,” she says. “Sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, human trafficking.”
Naranjo (’23) contributed to projects in several departments, but primarily worked with the DA’s Human Trafficking and Exploitation Unit. She was eager to further the unit’s work because she feels a personal connection to the victims of such crimes, many of whom are US immigrants like herself.
Naranjo came to the United States as a recent high-school graduate 17 years ago, leaving political and economic unrest in her native Colombia. After her visa expired, she quickly realized how difficult life can be for an undocumented immigrant with limited access to higher education or professional employment. She lived for six years in the US without legal documents, dreaming of someday becoming an immigration attorney so she could guide others through the difficulties of gaining legal status.
Her life changed dramatically in her early 20s, when she was the victim of a violent crime. With the support of nurses, prosecutors, victim witness advocates, and immigration attorneys, she received a U visa, a class of visa granted to victims of criminal activity. “I had never seen professionals be so compassionate and so caring with people they didn’t know,” she says. “When I experienced all of that, I thought, ‘I want to be like them. I want to be that victim witness advocate who is there for a victim, who wants to make their lives a little bit easier, make them feel safer, so they know there are good people in this world.’”
While Naranjo’s path to documentation was a difficult one, having legal status opened up more opportunities, including the chance to finish her education. From Hillsborough Community College, she transferred to Wellesley College, where she majored in psychology and peace and justice studies. While at Wellesley, she attended a guest lecture given by Sarah Sherman-Stokes, associate director of BU Law’s Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program. “I realized how much she cared about immigrants and about survivors,” Naranjo says. “[I thought,] if I get into law school, I have to be in her school.”
Traffickers exploit victims’ vulnerabilities, so addressing those vulnerabilities in a systematic way would be more helpful than increasing the number of incarcerated individuals in a country where mass incarceration is already a huge problem.
During her first year at BU Law, Naranjo learned about Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), a network of elected prosecutors and other leaders committed to progressive criminal justice reform. She applied to FJP’s summer fellowship program and was placed on the ninth floor of the DA’s office, where she completed a policy-reform research project in addition to working on criminal cases.
“Monica was one of the hardest working students I’ve ever supervised,” says Alyssa Tochka (’15), assistant district attorney at SCDAO. “As soon as she finished a project, she was at my door for the next one.” And Naranjo wasn’t simply trying to impress, she adds. It was obvious she had a sincere desire to further the unit’s work prosecuting sex trafficking and other forms of exploitation.
Naranjo was surprised by how involved she was allowed to be in her unit’s cases and by how much she learned from the experience. Although she’s long envisioned a career as a defense attorney, working at the DA’s office showed her there’s a place for compassionate attorneys on both sides of the courtroom.
“If there are people like me working in prosecutorial offices,” she says, “people who understand how the criminal justice system can impact families—can impact their income, their benefits, their immigration status—then maybe there can be some change in the future.”
Another highlight of Naranjo’s summer was meeting then District Attorney Rachael Rollins, an outspoken progressive and the first woman of color to serve as a DA in Massachusetts. Rollins, who has since been named the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, told Naranjo that prosecutorial offices need more minority attorneys and encouraged her not to feel scared or isolated when she’s the only person of color in a room.
Commencement 2022
BU Law’s ceremony to commemorate the Class of 2022 will be held on May 22. US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Rachael S. Rollins will deliver the Commencement address.
BU Track & Tennis Center, 100 Ashford St, Boston, MA 02215
Naranjo’s internship also helped her to appreciate how complex criminal issues can be. Her summer research project, for example, focused on how the DA’s office can increase labor trafficking prosecutions, which she learned is especially difficult because immigrant communities lack trust in law enforcement. However, a class she has since taken at BU Law (the Criminal System: Theory and Practice, taught by Professor Gerald Leonard), has made her question whether more prosecution is the best solution.
“Traffickers exploit victims’ vulnerabilities,” she says, “so addressing those vulnerabilities in a systematic way would be more helpful than increasing the number of incarcerated individuals in a country where mass incarceration is already a huge problem.”
Naranjo’s internship may have complicated her view of the criminal justice system, but it did make a few things clear. Her experiences at SCDAO confirmed her interests in criminal law and her desire to work with survivors of exploitation and abuse. They also gave her confidence that she, an immigrant and woman of color, has a place in the legal profession. Her discussions with DA Rollins and FJP staff convinced her she has no need to hide her immigration history or any other parts of her identity—that she should see her life experiences as assets, not as liabilities.