Hello, my name is Carolina, and I am a Caseworker Advocate at Hestia’s Modern Slavery Response Team. I am originally from Spain where I studied my degree in Psychology specialising in Social Psychology. I have done many investigations in the areas of ethnic prejudices, witness memory and the influence of stereotypes on the attribution of crimes, which were published in several journals and presented in different Criminal Psychology Congresses.
When I moved to London, I completed a MSc in Forensic Psychology and oriented my work on victims of trauma, torture and PTSD.
As a child, I was raised with a strong understanding and gravitation towards “justice”. I always worked in the area of Human Rights and being an advocate for survivors of Modern Slavery is a great part of my vocational professional journey.
As advocates we provide support to people who have been or still are in exploitation. Not one day is the same. We work with people with so many different backgrounds, stories, experiences, and sensitivities. With different needs that can range from encouragement and accompaniment during their journey, to assisting with criminal proceedings, immigration cases, evictions, medical appointments, referrals to specialised services, counselling, community support, education, children support, donations, opening bank accounts, assisting with obtaining ID documents, arranging Embassy appointments, liaising with social services, provide interpreters when needed, and much more.
I love working as a frontline worker and getting an understanding of the many different realities of our service users. Witnessing how, even coming from the hardest and most challenging situation, with the right support, people can flourish, move on, and start again, and build a life free of abuse and pain.
I love having the opportunity of giving a voice, accompany, protect, and dignify the most vulnerable members of our society, those who have been tortured and marginalised. Some may not even have a right to work or study or even being recognised as citizens (like it is the case of many of our service users who are asylum seekers).
I would recommend this job to anyone who is truly passionate about advocating for human rights and are looking forward to learning how to navigate the system (and challenge it) but overall, who is willing to support and fight a lot for our service users’ needs.
There is a lot of responsibility in our role, which can’t be taken lightly. I love the team and the support we provide amongst each other, the flexibility of the job, and the trust I receive always from management. I have been in this service since September 2019, and I hope to carry on learning and getting more specialised knowledge to prepare for a Doctorate.
