James Dold

USA | Child Labor | CEO and Lawyer | 20 drawing hours

James Dold is the Founder & CEO of Human Rights for Kids (HRFK). He is also a survivor of child labor, sexual exploitation and trafficking.

James met his abuser through Cub Scouts, who seemed to be a devoted 28-year-old mother of two. She also did what every child predator does - affirmed his feelings, and stoked the bitterness and resentment he felt toward his parents from their response to prior sexual abuse. She manipulated James until he decided to run away from home to live with her.

After moving in, the love she first showed to him was slowly replaced by anger and mistreatment - emotional, verbal, and physical. He was called the N-word often due to his darker complexion as a means to degrade or punish him or inflicted injury for some perceived slight. From 8th grade through sophomore year of high school, he functioned as a live-in servant and took care of his abuser’s kids, washed dishes, cooked food, mopped floors, and cleaned every room in the house, whilst being belittled and abused, emotionally, physically, and sexually.

After escaping, James worked to pass the 2013 Nevada bill AB 146, which criminalized the involuntary servitude of a minor. He went on to help pass 40 new laws to combat human trafficking. James is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland and is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.