Mary David, Esq.

An advocate for women, girls, and victims of trauma, Mary has devoted her life’s work to empowering survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and human trafficking. As a prosecutor in Baltimore City, Mary was the lead on human trafficking cases in District Court and handled almost 2,000 criminal cases. She testified on behalf of the Office of the State’s Attorney for judiciary and public hearings in support of human trafficking legislation. She also created toolkits for Polaris Project to train prosecutors handling human trafficking cases. Formerly a United Nations Advisor on Women and Children’s issues, Mary has defended the rights of underserved populations at the UN General Assembly and other key institutions. She also served as Deputy Chair for the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, where she led state-wide trainings for emergency first responders and developed awareness campaigns to assist others in identifying victims of trafficking. In conjunction with the Maryland Governor’s Office, Mary helped draft some of Maryland’s first laws against human trafficking.

She currently serves as the Chief Communications Officer for Stopping Traffic, a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end modern-day slavery by raising awareness about trafficking through awareness campaigns, training, film production, media, publications, and seminars, support and empower sex trafficking survivors, and partnering with qualified non-profits to unify the movement against human trafficking.

For her work on these issues, Mary has been featured by the National Press Club, American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, and Georgetown University, as well as numerous media outlets including ABC, CBS, Fox, WUSA9 and the Huffington Post. Her honors include being named one of the Top 99 Foreign Policy Leaders in the World Under Age 33, a leadership award from the U.S. Department of State, and receiving the 2014 Global Impact Award from Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation in recognition of humanitarian service across the US and abroad.

Sub-specialities:
- commercial sexual exploitation
- domestic minor sex trafficking
- sex tourism
- metoo
- sex trafficking of BIPOC
- effects of domestic violence/sexual trauma on Asians/BIPOC
- intersectionality of social justice and performing arts
- links between social media and sex/labor trafficking
- sex/labor trafficking in Asian massage parlors
- dangers of sexual exploitation through the internet
- sex trafficking prevention
- building resiliency for survivors of trauma
- stigma/shame/trauma effects for Asian/BIPOC