Sarah Bendtsen Diedhiou Email & Phone Number

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Washington D.C. Metro Area

•Lead on state-level legislative advocacy; develop organization’s annual state legislative policy agenda; provide technical support & SME to state legislators, state attorneys general, and anti-trafficking stakeholders in 35+ states seeking to address the commercial sexual exploitation of youth.•Co-produced the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2021 annual state statutory analysis & recommendations reports through bill tracking, legal research, and writing; co-designed and developed the 2020 Advanced Legislative Framework. •Engage in on-going legal research, report writing, training & presentation delivery to advance a holistic understanding and implementation of best practices related to child sex trafficking.•Develop state and national stakeholder networks and support grassroots mobilization and advocacy efforts. •Co-designed and manage national state-specific and national advocacy campaign elevate and implement non-punitive, protective responses for youth survivors.•Developed and launched webinar training series on trauma-informed responses. •Representative on various local, state, and national coalitions, task forces and working groups.

Senegal

•Providing legal and development support to West African survivors of institutional sexual abuse.

•Advised and co-organized desk and field research on Senegal’s adherence to the CRC and subsequent initiatives taken to prevent and eliminate child begging, abuse and exploitation inside Daaras, and to advance the situation of the child.• Led student research in Rio de Janeiro and co-‐authored a monitoring report on Brazil’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in preparation for the Committee’s 2015 State review.•Conducted field and desk research on the status of human trafficking in Peru, the legal mechanisms available to eliminate it, and the effectiveness of those mechanisms. •Co-authored a shadow report on Peru’s implementation of the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) treaty in preparation for the Committee’s 2014 periodic State review. • Monitored and analyzed jurisprudence resulting from individual complaints made to the CEDAW Committee and drafted synopses for a research database.

Dakar, Senegal

Greater Chicago Area

• Providing Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) support to the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force in an effort to decrease the demand of commercial sex through designing, placing, and analyzing locally relevant advertisements.• Managing the monthly collection and examination of data on the demand for commercial sex in Chicago, Illinois.

Nairobi, Kenya

•Develop partnerships with Kenyan CSOs and NGOs to collaborate on the monitoring of Kenya's implementation of UNSCR 1325. •Assist local CSOs in supporting Kenya's creation and launch of a National Action Plan (NAP) to ensure full compliance with UNSCR 1325. •Collect data and conduct field research.•Co-authoring the "Civil Society Monitoring Report Kenya 2014".

Greater Chicago Area

• Performed legal research and drafted memoranda, pleadings, and court orders for DV/IPV survivors.• Assisted in the intake, interviews, and legal representation of survivors in court proceedings.

Nairobi, Kenya

•Conducted legal research on the prevalence, status, and effects of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in East Africa,with a particular focus on FGM, rape, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.•Drafted policy proposals, legal documents,Op Eds, and legal memorandum. •Analyzed and compiled data and jurisprudence on the effectiveness of current domestic and international law and policies as it pertains to SGBV.•Assisted in providing legal advocacy and litigation support on behalf of victims of SGBV.

Greater Chicago Area

Human Trafficking, Cold Cases; Special Prosecutions BureauJuvenile Delinquency; Juvenile Justice Bureau•Assist in pre-trial and trial preparation, including preparing and tendering discovery, issuing subpoenas and summons for witnesses, and filing motions. •Conduct legal research, write memorandums, briefs, motions, and answers.•Assist in Cold Case Homicide investigations, including viewing and transcribing taped interrogations and jail calls, analyzing cell phone records, and monitoring and compiling Internet activity.

Greater Chicago Area

•Assisted survivors of domestic violence in filing for Emergency Orders of Protection (EOP).•Conducted initial interviews with survivors and drafted their affidavits.•Accompanied survivors to court hearings.

Lusaka, Zambia

•Designed and executed a rapid assessment on the conditions of juveniles in the Lusaka prisons, justice system and law enforcement agencies. •Collaborated with Zambian attorneys to co-author a report for UNICEF on the conditions of children who come into conflict with the law in Lusaka and surrounding compounds.•Developed and continue to maintain program linking U.S. sponsor’s with students at school for vulnerable or orphaned children.

Doctor Of Law (J.D.)

Activities and Societies: President of IHRLI Student Board; Executive Board Member and Editor of International Human Rights Journal.

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Legal Studies And Human Rights

Activities and Societies: Studied in Hua Hin, Thailand and Leiden, The Netherlands.