Ending The Game: Understanding the Problem and Process of Psychological Coercion in CSEC and Exploring One Promising Solution
Rachel Thomas, MEd & Angie Conn | September 22 | 3:15-4:15 PM
Topic: Programming, Direct Service | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
Over the last decade, thousands of domestic sex trafficking victims have been identified and offered services. Though there is little evidence-based research on the mental health treatment of victims of human trafficking, one disturbing trend cannot be ignored: victims oftentimes exhibit strong attachments to their trafficker and/or the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation. Whether resolute to return, wavering in ambivalence, or desperately trying to suppress a desire to return, many victims experience some level of attachment to traffickers and/or “the game”. It is a troubling and perplexing reality that many victims feel powerless to combat. One resource, a survivor-written coercion-resiliency curriculum, is being utilized in over 100 victim-serving facilities in 38 states with extremely promising results in minimizing victims’ bond to traffickers and the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation. Ending The Game (ETG) educates and empowers sex trafficking victims by providing a structure and framework to uncover harmful psychological coercion (a.k.a. “The Game”) that victims may have been subjected to during their exploitation. It was recently praised in the Journal of Women & Criminal Justice (March 2021) for showing “…positive trends in improvement of regulatory capacity, relational capacity, sense of self, and future orientation.” This workshop will explain key foundational knowledge about psychological coercion in human trafficking and familiarize participants with the ETG Curriculum.
Presentation Objectives:
· Provide foundational knowledge concerning coercion in trafficking and its role in recidivism
· Explain why victims exhibit strong attachments to their traffickers and/or “the game”
· Describe Ending the Game, a first-of-its-kind “coercion resiliency” curriculum that reduces feelings of attachment to traffickers and/or “the game”
· Describe The Cool Aunt sex trafficking prevention talk series for youth