Human trafficking victims often suffer many physical and psychological health consequences. It’s often challenging to identify victims of human trafficking because they often do not self-identify, are isolated, have increased self-hatred, and fear retaliation. While being exploited, 9/10 victims come in contact with health care providers but sadly are under recognized. Health care professional are in a unique position to help identify and treat these victims. Thanks to the momentum of education and awareness on this topic over the last five years, we are coming to know that human trafficking exists in the United States. This presentation will give a general overview of the health implications and give health care practitioners effective strategies to help work with these difficult mindsets and the health complexities and consequences that intersect while being trafficked.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Present current literature as it applies to the intersection of health care and sex trafficking

·  Discuss the health implications of sex trafficking victims

·  Discuss the mindset of human trafficking victims and why they stay

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This session will present an overview of Project NO REST, a five-year effort funded by the Children’s Bureau and VOCA, and its approach to strengthening and supporting North Carolina’s infrastructure for addressing the trafficking of vulnerable youth in the state, especially those with a child welfare connection. It will cover the project’s development of a comprehensive plan to address both sex and labor trafficking. The presenter will describe the recruitment and experiences of five pilot sites, containing 17 counties, as well as information on the 477 individuals they served in the first two years. He also will describe the outreach campaign to connect survivors to services.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Provide information on Project NO REST and its plan to address trafficking in North Carolina

·  Articulate the project’s collaborative network approach to address trafficking

·  Describe the operation of five pilot sites and present information on the individuals they served

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Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world today generating $9.5 billion yearly in the United States, with 98% of sex trafficking victims being women and girls. This photovoice project aims to 1) to increase awareness of the issue of human trafficking; and 2) to improve the ability of systems to appropriately and effectively respond to human trafficking in a trauma-informed manner, in order to reduce stigma and promote resilience. Project STAAR (Survivors of Trafficking creating Art, Agency, and Resilience) is a survivor-informed photovoice project that utilized grounded theory analysis techniques to facilitate critical conversations with two cohorts of survivors of childhood sex trafficking. A photovoice approach, with grounded theory analysis techniques was used to conduct two cohorts of data collection involving critical conversations with survivors of childhood sex trafficking. The resulting compilation of photos and narratives shared by the artists (the survivors) will be shown as a 20-minute silent short film. The film is powerful and conveys the many ‘photovoices’ of survivors of child sex trafficking. Following the film, the Project STAAR team will present lessons learned and findings (photography and narratives) from the project. Recommendations for improving advocacy, outreach and services will also be discussed. Dr. Lesley Harris, Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville, Dr. Maurice Gattis, Associate Professor at the University of Louisville, and Angela Renfro, Executive Director of the Kristy Love Foundation are contributors of this presentation.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Increase awareness of the issue of child sex trafficking in the United States

·  Enhance knowledge and understanding regarding the dynamics of child sex trafficking and its impact on children

·  Reduce stigma and promote resilience among child trafficking survivors

·  Improve the ability of systems to appropriately and effectively respond to child sex trafficking in a trauma-informed manner

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The presentation reports findings from an innovative study with young people who were trafficked as children into and within England. Creative methods of music and dance were utilized to access, engage young people and build trust. In-depth qualitative interviews and focus groups were held with 20 young people aged 15-21. This qualitative research examined lived experiences of trafficking and how children experience services within the child trafficking framework in England. Although a victim-centered approach is espoused in child trafficking policy, this research reveals how the binary opposite is experienced by children and young people in front-line services. Young people experienced immigration-driven and prosecution-focused practice and were treated as complicit in their situations. They reported how they were not listened to, not believed and further blamed by practitioners for their situations. Young people were criminalized, either as illegal immigrants or prosecuted for trafficking related crimes, creating further harm. The findings strongly support depoliticizing child trafficking policy away from a criminal justice approach towards policy and practice that centers on children and young people’s welfare needs and protection. An urgent cultural shift is required in practitioners believing young people when disclosing abuse. This relates to wider concerns of disbelief in children’s accounts of abuse in organized child sexual abuse scandals across England. The key message for social work education and practice is that Children Services need to realign their practice with migrant children as anti-discriminatory and reaffirm social work’s role in upholding children’s rights to equal access to protection.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Share research findings from listening to children how they experience services

·  Provide an English perspective of how child trafficking policy and practice is experienced

·  Discuss implications of findings on practice

·  Explore what we can learn from similarities/differences between the English and American anti-trafficking contexts

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The goal of this presentation is to assist with awareness and understanding of human trafficking when working with Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (DD). The session will cover DD Individuals Risk Factors and why they are so vulnerable. The presenters will share stories about experiences with their population who have been trafficked, how to report, how to recognize the signs, how to support individuals and families if they experienced human trafficking. The session will also cover some labor trafficking stories in order to protect the DD population from employers who have immoral practices. Attendees will take away how their individual vulnerabilities have made them targets in the United States as well as overseas. They will share resources to assist the DD individuals and general population about Human Trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Discuss the risk factors and vulnerabilities for the DD population

·  Describe how our DD systems need to work together for positive outcomes of the victim

·  Explain the importance why the DD and Learning-Disabled population need to learn prevention

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Labor trafficking across the United States is a serious and pervasive national problem that has remained largely unexamined. Media reports indicate that labor trafficking occurs in both rural and urban areas in the United States, targeting victims who are both U.S. citizens and immigrants of any gender, race, age, and sexual orientation. The ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research examined labor trafficking arrest cases throughout the United States from 2011 to 2018. The study identified 180 traffickers arrested for labor trafficking of both migrants and U.S. citizens and 273 victims of labor trafficking during this time period. The research team focused on arrest cases for which there was evidence qualifying the incident as labor trafficking under the U.S. federal, Trafficking Victim Protection Act definition. The team used the three constituent elements of human trafficking (action, means, and purpose) to identify potential labor trafficking arrest reports in the media and governmental agencies. Details about the cases will be explored and characteristics such as transportation, recruitment, and control tactics will be presented. Recommendations for future research and community action will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Provide information to develop specific training for law enforcement and prosecutors on characteristics of labor trafficking in the United States

·  Explore the distribution of arrests of labor traffickers of migrant and domestic workers in the United States,

·  Explore patterns of different types of labor traffickers of migrant and domestic workers (females, staffing agency-involved, solo vs. group offenders)

·  Add to the literature regarding the vulnerabilities of migrant and domestic workers exploited by labor trafficking

·  Fill a gap in the knowledge about the scope of arrests of labor traffickers of migrant and domestic workers in the United States

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