This presentation will focus on how foreign terrorist organizations are utilizing human trafficking/exploitation to fund/facilitate their criminal activity. This presentation will also examine (pending case in Chicago) how domestic sexual exploitation could fund international terrorism. The presenter will examine the Islamic State/Yazidi genocide, Boko Haram/Chibok School incident, and emerging awareness and links to the U.S. homeland. In November of 2019, Jason Brown was arrested in Chicago, IL for attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Mr. Brown was a leader of Chicago-area street gang and allegedly attempting to provide monetary funds to assist ISIS soldiers engaged in combat. This presentation will explore the emerging nexus of international and domestic trafficking supporting and funding foreign terrorist organizations.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss how foreign terrorist organizations are utilizing human trafficking and exploitation to fund and facilitate their criminal activity

· Examine how domestic sexual exploitation could fund international terrorism through an emerging/pending case in Chicago

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The Institute of Medicine and the Center for Disease Control recommend that healthcare providers have knowledge of sex trafficking (ST) indicators and conduct screenings to identify people at risk. However, barriers for healthcare staff who conduct such ST screenings remain largely understudied. The research question that guided this study was, “What are the perceived barriers to ST identification among staff in a high-risk healthcare setting?” This collective case study occurred across 5 sites of a large, high-risk health care organization in a Midwestern state. Researchers conducted 23 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with medical assistants and clinicians (e.g. nurse practitioners). Organizational materials (e.g. ST training modules, screening/risk assessment protocols) were collected. Two research team members conducted independent deductive and inductive coding. Although staff routinely screened by asking “Have you ever traded sex for money or drugs?”, they tended not to introduce the question in ways that were conducive to facilitating disclosures, and/or provided minimal follow-up. Occasionally, staff provided strong examples of follow-up assessment practices that they found helpful in soliciting more information (e.g. assessed patient risk by asking where/how sex exchanges happened). However, participants primarily described avoiding further discussions of ST because they 1) aimed to be non-judgmental and sex positive, 2) viewed following up as someone else’s job, and/or 3) lacked confidence discuss it themselves. There may be some missed opportunities to assess patients for ST risk and use harm reduction strategies or safety plan to address patients’ needs. Implications for healthcare trainings and future research will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of a collective case study in a high-risk healthcare setting, including information on perceptions of indicators and healthcare staff's challenges to follow-up

· Discuss recommendations to normalize sex trading questions/disclosure and provide harm reduction strategies for use in healthcare settings

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