Alexandra believes that more often than we care to think, trauma is the gateway that leads to trouble. She shares how unaddressed childhood sexual assault led a young girl from a seemingly “picture perfect” family down the rabbit hole into a world of drugs, specifically methamphetamine, and a violent relationship. After nearly losing her life, Alexandra spent three and a half years alternately in hiding from and in court against her abuser, until one fateful night when a random encounter resulted in his death. Despite recognizing her circumstance as domestic violence, it wasn’t until more than a decade later that Alexandra realized she had also been sex trafficked. This realization spurred the motivation to co-found Uprising, an anti-human trafficking non-profit organization. The more understanding there is surrounding difficult topics, the more opportunity there is for victims to be able to put a name to what is happening to them and then seek appropriate resources to help. Alexandra wants to help start this conversation in a way that makes it more approachable as she chooses to heal from her trauma through activism, human connection, and laughter.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the survivor's lived experience

· Discuss critical vulnerabilities that lead to further traumatization

· Explain what was learned through her experience and ways to prevent other victimizations

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Mrs. Kent will introduce some of the investigative barriers law enforcement are encountering when investigating human trafficking suspects and the solutions that can be found by using open source tools. This will lead directly into a discussion of what open source is. The speaker will then provide examples of open source tools, in real time, that can be used to obtain information on and evidence of human trafficking suspects and associated criminal activity. Online resources will be broken down into the following groups: social media, reverse person search, reverse photo search, reverse phone number search, mapping, video downloading, and secure searching. Mrs. Kent will provide of list of all resources to attendees and emphasize the laws, policies, and procedures of using open source tools and information. She will also discuss the nature and purpose of fusion centers and their role in assisting law enforcement in investigations. She will end the presentation with recommendations to make this process easier and for organizing collected data, then open the floor for questions.

*This presentation is specifically for law enforcement ONLY.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss barriers to human trafficking investigations

· Do a real time review of open source tools that can be used in investigations

· Discuss laws, policies, and procedures of using open source data in an investigation

· Discuss fusion centers and their role in aiding law enforcement

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Many qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used to explore the experiences of trafficking survivors for sexual exploitation, living with HIV, in Nepal. However, the more participatory aspects of social justice research, such as inviting (and concretely supporting) the women to become more involved in precisely and intentionally advocating for their rights are still marginal. Therefore, this research was initiated to promote transformative outcomes, through photovoice and street dramas, in collaboration with survivors living with HIV in Nepal. Photovoice is a process in which people – usually those with limited power due to poverty, language barriers, race, class, ethnicity, gender, culture, or other circumstances – use video and/or photo images to capture aspects of their environment and experiences and share them with others. The session begins with an overview of the study process followed by a brief examination of the challenges the survivors living with HIV experience from intersectionality lenses. Then, the study highlights the multi-faceted power and strength of survivors in educating the general public and political leaders to this social issue through photovoice and street dramas. This session concludes with a brief video clip and the invitation to scholars for their involvement in future collaborative research. Overall, this session provides participants with an opportunity to consider and contextualize the broader social problem in a democratic and inclusive manner, and will encourage participation through discussion and critical dialogues.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide a brief overview of how photovoice as advocacy and empowerment tool was used

· Discuss the challenges experienced by trafficking survivors living with HIV

· Share a brief video of street dramas

· Invite researchers and practitioners for future collaborative research

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This presentation aims to educate and encourage victim advocates and advocacy programs wishing to expand upon their ability to serve survivors of human trafficking. In the presentation, participants will develop a better understanding of how their work as a victim services provider overlaps with anti-human trafficking work. The goal is that victim advocates, particularly those working in communities with limited resources for human trafficking survivors, will realize that they have a greater capacity to serve trafficking survivors than what they may have previously thought, and that they will leave the presentation with some ideas on how to capitalize on their already established skill set. This presentation is geared toward advocates who are predominantly working with survivors of domestic/intimate partner violence and/or sexual violence and Court Advocates. Through guided discussion and hypothetical case examples, participants will learn to utilize their victim services skills and knowledge to develop a case plan specific to the needs of a trafficking survivor. Participants will also be given the opportunity to reflect upon the services currently offered at their agencies and begin thinking about how those services can adapt to fit the needs of trafficking survivors. The presenter will discuss all services from this lens, including shelter services, case management, and legal advocacy. The hope is that this presentation will begin to diminish some of the feelings of fear and inadequacy that service providers have when it comes to serving survivors from specialized populations, such as human trafficking survivors.

Presentation Objectives:

· Define human trafficking (HT), sexual violence (SV), domestic violence (DV), and intimate partner violence (IPV), including specific victimization types

· Discuss the overlap of SV, DV, IPV and all forms of HT, and identify similar patterns of conduct and survivor responses

· Define the role of Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Resource Centers in their most basic construct, and discuss the nuances between centers, with an emphasis on barriers for smaller rural programs

· Present hypothetical case examples to illustrate the ability for most DV and SV Resource Centers to serve HT survivors in some capacity

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The University of Toledo’s Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute’s F.R.E.E. program funded by the ECMC foundation provides scholarships and support for survivors of human trafficking. Specifically, the program has four phases, (1) Foundation, (2) Readiness, (3) Education , and (4) Employment. The acronym F.R.E.E. signifies each survivor’s potential to achieve economic and psychological freedom and empowerment. The presentation will discuss community partnerships and the efficacy of the four phases of the program. The Foundation phase includes the selections and screening process of adult survivors from across the country. An overview of the Readiness course is designed to achieve four objectives (1) To get students prepared for school, (2) To encourage students to tap into and use resources offered to be supported, (3) To empower students to achieve, and (4) To get students to be committed to complete their educational and career goals. The Education phase provides a $2,000 scholarship to an accredited vocational or degree program anywhere in the US. During the Employment phase, participants are assigned a job coach that provides a series of online virtual sessions that focus on job search, career exploration, personality assessments, soft skills, effective interviewing techniques, resume building, and more. Participation in the program involves comprehensive case management services on an ongoing basis. The services include incentives, mentoring, academic coaching, and emergency assistance. F.R.E.E. Participants will share their success stories while enrolled in the program. Learn more about program development and successful interventions for survivors of human trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss the efficacy of the F.R.E.E. Program component

· Discuss collaborations with community partners

· Share survivor’s success stories regarding support and interventions that prepared, supported, empowered, and helped them stay committed to obtaining their educational goals

· Present findings of successful interventions for survivors in the program

· Discuss the development, implementation, and evaluation of the F.R.E.E. Program

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