Social workers (RSWs) are on the frontlines of responding to vulnerable and marginalized individuals, including those who are experiencing human trafficking and gender-based violence (Mahapatra, Faulkner, & Schatz 2016). It is therefore increasingly important that RSWs are adequately trained to 1) recognize risk factors associated with human trafficking, 2) provide immediate and appropriate support after identification, and 3) aid and advance long-term recovery (Dell et al., 2019; Donnelly et al., 2019; Hodge, 2014). The Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW) online education programming aims to address knowledge and practice gaps by providing social workers with targeted knowledge on identifying and supporting persons who have experienced human trafficking. This evaluation study seeks to identify what differences, if any, these online training opportunities made to the knowledge, confidence, skills, and practice of social workers in the context of human trafficking. Using Donald Kirkpatrick’s evaluation framework of continuing education for adults, the evaluation is comprised of: (1) a post-webinar survey to assess change in knowledge, satisfaction, and intention to change practice; and (2) a 3-month follow-up survey to assess how change in knowledge is retained and used in practice. Early findings from participants are overwhelmingly positive. Participants report increased knowledge (91%) of different types of human trafficking, supporting the process of exiting human trafficking (81%), and increased confidence identifying signs of human trafficking (91%). Additional analysis from follow-up surveys will be shared. Future directions for social work education and how to eliminate practice gaps for social workers in supporting human trafficking survivors will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

· Highlight the increasingly critical front line role social workers play in supporting persons experiencing or exiting human trafficking

· Review the importance of social workers being equipped to identifying signs of human trafficking, facilitate safe and appropriate exit from human trafficking, and support long-term recovery of survivors

· Share findings from a recent program evaluation study on virtual education offerings aiming to increase skills, knowledge, and confidence of social workers working with individuals who are experiencing or have experienced human trafficking

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In 2015, the North Carolina General Legislature passed Session Law 2015-279, mandating the inclusion of “sex trafficking prevention and awareness” in reproductive health education in North Carolina schools. With a state mandate in place, North Carolina school districts were responsible for selecting a human trafficking prevention curriculum for their district. Current human trafficking prevention curriculums are variable, as curriculum is developed and created by organizations with differing lenses and levels of experience with violence prevention. Curriculums also vary in their foundation in and adherence to best practices for violence prevention education. With a multitude of available curriculums that have differing lenses or elements, school districts planning to implement human trafficking prevention education are left to identify which prevention curriculum would be best to use in their schools. In 2020, in partnership with the NC Sexual Violence Prevention Advisory Council of the NC Department of Health and Human Services, NCCASA developed a “Human Trafficking Prevention Curriculum Matrix” to assist NC education agencies in determining an appropriate curriculum. This presentation will explain the process used to create the matrix, present the findings of the survey process, and provide recommendations for the future of human trafficking prevention curriculum development.

Presentation Objectives:

· Explain the need behind the matrix and the gap that it fills

· Provide an overview of the process of creating the matrix

· Review the findings and final product of the matrix

· Describe lessons learned in the process of creating the matrix and recommendations based upon those lessons

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This session will lay the foundation for understanding familial sex trafficking or when a child is commercially sexually exploited by an immediate family member. The session will explore how familial trafficking relates to but is distinct from incest and briefly how laws help or hurt our identification of this type of trafficking. The presenter will summarize the limited body of knowledge we have on the profile of victim and perpetrator(s) and explore the relational dynamics between the child and familial trafficker, pre-, peri, and post-trafficking. The session organizes around the justice processes of case identification, investigation, prosecution, and victim services, understanding how this type of trafficking presents unique challenges in each of those areas. This presentation is based on the work of Sprang & Cole (2018); Reid, Huard, & Haskell (2015); and a research study conducted by the presenter to be published in Criminal Justice Review in 2021.

Presentation Objectives:

· Define familial trafficking and help attendees understand how it relates to but is different from incest

· Give attendees a general understanding of the prevalence of familial trafficking

· Give attendees a basic knowledge of the profile of the victim and perpetrators of familial trafficking

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The sexual exploitation of young men has been largely neglected. The main research question of this study is “What is the evidence that young men are exploited?” A series of research projects have been conducted in Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines by up” International using ethically considered mixed method surveys. Interviews are conducted by local social workers who are trained in doing research with male sex workers and street boys. All of the research papers indicate a high level of sexual and physical violence, stigma, and discrimination against young men providing evidence that they do sex work for survival similar to their female peers. Cultural misunderstandings continue to abound that imply young men are not at risk of sexual exploitation and that if they do sex work, it is relatively safe due to their inherent resilience; that they choose to do it rather than be forced into it as is perceived of their female counterparts. Social workers and Non-Profits working in this sector need to consider how they can support young men in prevention and aftercare. Funders and researchers need to include and not deliberately or otherwise exclude young men/boys in their programs and research. Funding needs to be available to determine prevalence and proportionate resources provided.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the cultural misunderstandings of why young men are not adequately considered in programs and research addressing sexual exploitation

· Provide evidence of how young men are exploited in SE Asia and so should be considered in research and programs addressing sexual exploitation

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According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (2015), 75% of counties are classified as rural, with one quarter of Americans living in communities with populations lower than 2,500. Yet so much attention and funding for anti-trafficking work is focused on large, urban areas. Since 2012, Fierce Freedom has worked to navigate through a sea of rural communities in Western Wisconsin. Participants will hear a recent example from this past Fall 2020 when our team was asked to respond to the call from another rural, in-state agency who had an alleged victim of human trafficking that required direct services from our Survivor Advocate. The series of exasperating and somewhat chaotic events that unfolded that day will be shared with participants - and the Fierce Freedom team will identify the ways they collaborated well along with the steps they missed. Through this experience and others like it, attendees will learn practical strategies centered around navigating interagency relationships, finding a balance of leading from the head and the heart, and figuring out how to best offer direct services in an area of limited resources.

Presentation Objectives:

· Explain what front-end questions to ask when working interagency before getting involved

· Discuss how to maneuver the missteps many rural direct service agencies make and how to avoid them

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Social service providers who are likely to encounter youth who engage in sex trading should be prepared to observe sex trafficking red flags and ask risk assessment questions. The goal of this research study was to understand whether and how social service providers observe sex trafficking indicators and screen for sex trafficking. A cross-sectional, web-based survey was disseminated to social service providers from organizations that are known to encounter youth at risk of sex trafficking: child welfare, youth justice, and non-profit social services (e.g., runaway youth, sexual violence). Participants (n=267) were asked to indicate whether they provided direct services to minors (n=245), adults (n=148), and families/foster families of minors (n=163). Participants were asked to determine the extent to which they asked clients sex trafficking risk assessment questions on a Likert scale, and how often they identified 45 sex trafficking indicators across 5 domains (e.g., behavioral health, physical health, client presentation, system involvement, social support/abuse). Assessment question means ranged from 1.4-2.5 (1=no clients, 5=all clients) across all questions and provider groups. The most commonly identified indicators across provider groups included behavioral health indicators (e.g., depressive symptoms, shame and guilt), history of child protective services, and weak ties/lack of social support. Least commonly identified indicators showed more variation between groups but generally included signs of torture, false IDs, and hotel involvement. Providers who work in systems that encounter youth who trade sex may not be consistently assessing for sex trafficking, even though they are consistently identifying sex trafficking indicators. Implications will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide overview of a study of social service providers in a region of a Midwestern State

· Describe this sample’s perceptions of sex trafficking risk assessment questions and indicators

· Discuss implications and recommendations from the research study

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In Haiti, one out of four women aged 18 to 24 years experienced at least one incident of sexual abuse as a child, about 4% of females aged 18 to 24 years received money, food, gifts, or other favors in exchange for sex prior to age 18 year, and more than one in 10 Haitian women have faced sexual violence at some point in their lives (CDC, 2015; DWB, 2017). Today, the number of girls and women who report experiencing sexual violence continues to be alarmingly high. Longer-term, safe, and secure shelter solutions remain one of the greatest and most urgent needs for a lot of survivors. The presenter will explore the importance of the mental health program of Nadege Inc., a non-profit organization that is implementing an empowerment center, focused on providing holistic care to women who have been trafficked and/or have experienced sexual exploitation in Haiti. He will investigate the five-phase system (acceptance, empowerment, creating safety, understanding, and community application) that is designed to help the residents move toward independent living and self-sufficiency. The healing services provided are focusing on psychological, physical, vocational, social, and spiritual well-being. The presentation not only describes the program and its positive results, but it also discusses risk factors of sexual violence for women survivors in the Haitian context, such as lack of social services for follow-up and protective care, inaccessible medical and psychological care for all rape survivors, political unrest, bad living conditions, insecurity, and the rise in kidnappings.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe process and strategies for providing holistic care to Nadege Inc. safe house survivors of sexual violence

· Discuss risk factors of sexual violence for women survivors in the Haitian context

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Human trafficking investigations require collaboration not only within law enforcement, but also with other organizations such as social service providers and private organizations. Potential stakeholder organizations that have never been mentioned regarding collaboration with law enforcement agencies about trafficking investigations are private investigations agencies. There is no empirical literature about the knowledge of private investigators (PIs) in regard to the problem of human trafficking, and their ability to conduct investigations of trafficking cases and rescue trafficking victims. An exploratory, cross-sectional survey research design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. A total of 81 participants completed the survey. The findings show that most of the PIs in this study had substantial experience in specialties that are important for investigations of human trafficking. Most of the PIs were former law enforcement officers. The findings show that the majority of the PIs not only had a good level of knowledge of the problem of human trafficking, but also that they had the ability to identify trafficking victims. In addition, the findings highlight PIs’ professional skillset and experience to investigate human trafficking cases, which can be crucial contributions to efforts of recovering human trafficking victims and prosecuting perpetrators. Implications for practice, policy, and research will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe what private investigators (PIs) are

· Describe PIs’ knowledge of human trafficking

· Explore skills that make PIs potential stakeholders in investigations of human trafficking crimes and the rescue of victims

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Even though the case management credo is to walk along survivors toward healing and restoration, many advocates are not familiar with how to effectively work with survivors from the beginning of the professional relationship to the end. Even when the general practice of case management is understood, effective and successful case management with human trafficking survivors is not well understood. This session will provide case managers and those that desire to work directly with survivors with key information to increase your level of knowledge, decrease your doubts, and increase your potential to be more successful in your work with survivors.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss the components of case management practice with human trafficking survivors

· Describe the barriers and fears of many case managers working with human trafficking survivors and how to counter those

· Explain the components leading to more successful outcomes with survivors

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Human trafficking has been increasingly recognized worldwide as a major public health problem. It is a crime based on exploitation of the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals of any community and is a violation of human rights. Children are especially at risk of victimization and may experience considerable physical and mental health consequences. Adding these problems to pre-existing vulnerabilities and adversities makes human trafficking a complex health issue that needs to be addressed by a multidisciplinary team including health care providers. Professionals working with children have the responsibility to screen and report suspected child trafficking and offer services as appropriate. This presentation will focus on what makes children, in particular, vulnerable for being trafficked and how to prevent trafficking in children. It will help the attendees recognize child victims of human trafficking and address their needs in a trauma sensitive approach. It will also focus on what the medical evaluation entails and why it is important in high-risk children to address the health consequences of being trafficked. It will be case based, and attendees will learn from different examples and cases throughout the session.

Presentation Objectives:

· Define human trafficking, specifically in children

· Describe child victims of human trafficking

· Explain the health consequences of human trafficking

· Identify tools for medical providers to use for victim identification and assessment

· Explain the health care needs of child victims

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Homelessness is a complex issue, affected by individual, familial, social, and structural factors (Mago et. al., 2013). To be effective, interventions should be customized to address individuals’ needs (Woodward & Johnston, 2008). Such customization requires coordination among social services agencies. This presentation will describe a successful community organizing effort in a rural/suburban county to provide services to the homeless population. Starting in 2013, agencies and community groups in the county utilized an Asset Based Community Development framework to collaborate in developing Project Homeless Connect (PHC). For this annual event, area service providers collaborate to serve individuals/families in need and to raise awareness of homelessness among community members. PHC has helped the community and service providers to foster stronger relationships, work interdependently, and have a positive impact on each other. Nearly 50 community agencies participate in PHC to serve 300 homeless and at-risk clients/year. The average age of participants was a little above 40 years, 75% of them were White/Non-Hispanic, approximately 70% were females, 42% were single, 18% had previously been evicted, 29% did not have reliable transportation, 18% reported having criminal records, and the average number of services that participants wished to be connected to was 5. Evaluation of PHC indicates that clients are helped during the event and throughout the year via referrals to community services. The event also has impacted community organizations, with 62% of providers reporting that their understanding of homelessness has changed as a result of their participation in PHC.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe common challenges experienced by homeless individuals in a rural/ suburban geographical area

· Identify strategies to connect homeless population to various resources utilizing PHC model

· Utilize theoretical framework to engage community and various stakeholders in the community organizing initiative

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Juvenile delinquency continues to be a concern for parents, schools, communities, and the various systems (criminal justice, behavioral health, child welfare, and education to name a few) that collaborate to support, rehabilitate, and develop healthy, productive young adults. One method that many consider, although others question its effectiveness, is a restorative justice approach to juvenile criminal matters. Restorative justice intervention can directly contribute to the youth’s ownership of behavior and harm to others and the community. As youth discover new skills through restorative justice intervention, they learn how to more appropriately respond to various stressful, pressured, or unhealthy situations and avoid re-offending behavior in the future. There is room at the table for alternative approaches to be considered as youth and their families should not be “boxed into a one size fits all approach”. One goal of this research was to understand how youth internalize positive change in behavior. The various stakeholders: youth, parents, community members, and the legal system, will gain alternative avenues that support youth long-term in developing pro-social skills. This can also be helpful to justice practitioners working in organizations that try to help offenders following an offense.

Presentation Objectives:

· Review how youth gained pro-social skills as a result of the intervention

· Examine the case studies and data gathering instruments

· Discuss the structure for conflict mediation with youthful offenders and their victim(s)

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The purpose of this presentation is to critically examine multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of its global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on the surge of children in street situations in the oil-producing communities. A total of 2,400 respondent households were sampled across the communities of the Niger Delta. The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching (PSM) and logit model indicate that GMoU interventions generate significant gains in the household struggle against the surge of children in street situations, and if enhanced, will lift many children out of the street. It implies that if the host communities do not feel that the GMoU interventions will create sustainable child welfare and social service systems, they will keep neglecting household members taking to the streets, which breeds violence and creates a hostile environment for multinational enterprises (MNEs). This research adds to the literature on child abuse and neglect from a CSR perspective and rationale for social projects demands by host communities in developing countries. It concludes that businesses have an obligation to help in solving problems of public and global concerns.

Presentation Objectives:

· Show the mapped out spread of street children along sex and age across the cities of host communities

· Examine the level of interventions of the multinational oil companies (MOC’s) CSR in providing welfare in the cities of host communities

· Analyze the impact of MOC’s CSR on reducing the surge of streets children in the host communities

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Human trafficking survivors face a diverse range of legal obstacles that arise from the circumstances of their exploitation, including criminal record impediments, family law obstacles, and immigration challenges. Yet, they often lack the knowledge and the financial means to secure skilled legal representation. Known as the “Justice Gap,” this inability to secure legal assistance often impedes survivors from moving toward a brighter future. In this presentation, Nate Knapper discusses the urgent need to close the Justice Gap through the establishment of a national network of “Legal First Responders” -- an army of attorneys committed to servicing the legal needs of human trafficking survivors on a pro bono basis.

Presentation Objectives:

· Familiarize attendees with the most prevalent legal needs of human trafficking survivors

· Describe the severity of the Justice Gap among the survivor population

· Propose a solution that will close the Justice Gap among survivors wherever they are encountered

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A persistent challenge in addressing labor trafficking is the lack of training and awareness among law enforcement of how to identify and effectively respond to potential labor trafficking cases. Minnesota is building on its strong track record in addressing sex trafficking by improving its response to labor trafficking and working with law enforcement as a key component of that response. The Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Taskforce (MNHITF) is in the middle of a multi-year project to develop a protocol for state and local law enforcement on responding to and investigating labor trafficking. In collaboration with a working group of law enforcement, prosecutors, civil enforcement agencies, victim advocates, survivor leaders, service providers, and researchers, the MNHITF is drafting a protocol including materials for patrol officers, investigators, and administration. The presentation will explore the process of developing the protocol and the content of the protocol itself. Presenters will share the challenges and successes of the working group and how they were addressed. The presentation will also provide a look forward at the implementation stage where the working group will analyze how the protocol was used in a pilot case. Participants will use the framework of the Minnesota process to evaluate how they could conduct a similar process in their own community.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss how Minnesota is working to develop a labor trafficking protocol for law enforcement

· Identify the key stakeholders, issues, and lessons learned during the process

· Provide space for attendees to evaluate how a similar process could work in their own communities

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While raising awareness is an important step to ending human trafficking, little is known about the extent of public awareness of the phenomenon. A Google search reveals no data, only the push of anti-trafficking campaigns to increase awareness. General education courses, a degree requirement for most colleges and universities, offer a unique opportunity to raise awareness about human trafficking among undergraduate students. Additionally, anecdotally, undergraduate student interest in the topic has greatly increased in the past two decades, creating a perfect condition for offering such courses on college and university campuses. A global studies, general education course on human trafficking was developed to meet these needs. While meeting the university’s requisite student learning outcomes for such courses, it additionally promotes student understanding the type and scope of human trafficking globally, the biopsychosocial impacts on persons who have been trafficked, and ways students can address this complex human rights and social (in)justice issue. An unintended consequence is increased student interest in working in the anti-trafficking field. This presentation will describe the process of developing the course (e.g., research, informational interviews with service providers and students), review the course format and content, explore opportunities for educators and community providers to collaborate on public awareness efforts, and share students’ reactions to the course and materials. Presenters include the instructor, a Graduate Teaching Assistant from the class, and two community provider guest speakers. Each will provide her perspective of the collaborative experience of co-creating these awareness opportunities and the value of such content.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of course development

· Describe course content and learning modules

· Discuss collaborations with community partners

· Share student reactions to the course and content

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This is a first-hand account of efforts made to expand a social justice writing mentoring internship during the COVID-19 changes to universities and public schools starting March of 2020. Fearless Writers was created 5 years ago as a way to introduce interprofessional college students to the lived experience of people from different neighborhoods with the hope of countering the impact of neighborhood segregation common within the United States while also fostering high school student voice and advocacy. Fearless Writers serves as a creative writing community and a space for youth research on topics like neighborhood segregation, gun violence, and the historic contribution of the Black community to the Toledo area. Over the past year, the group created small written pieces as evidence of thoughts and feelings shared by members during a time of health and racial crisis. The presenters will reflect on the experience of continuing Fearless Writers in a virtual format for academic year 2020/2021 with the risk of not knowing what would happen to the project that was constantly shifting while the local and state government were scrambling to plan for community safety. The audience will have an opportunity to consider the importance of youth voices to an understanding of social injustice and learn about creative solutions to raising awareness about important issues to youth in our communities.

Presentation Objectives:

· Consider the importance of creative expression to developing political agency

· Discuss the importance of youth perspective on healing after an international health crisis

· Describe the impact a writing community can have on social separation and act as an intervention to raise awareness about implicit bias

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This presentation will be conducted by Anne and Melissa, who are Human Trafficking Navigators that have worked together in bordering communities for the last three years. Through their experience, cases of human trafficking and providing person-centered and trauma-informed responses to victims are more successful when there is a healthy, functioning team response. The presentation will cover ideas for creating and maintaining successful multi-disciplinary teams and includes components in each section of the training specific to communities bordering state lines and/or communities that border a reservation where trafficking cases may overlap. Anne and Melissa will discuss what they have learned through team development and provide ideas for ongoing rapport building within the team, how to increase trust, how to navigate dynamics of local teams, the importance of proper education, and concepts for managing conflict. Attendees will learn new ideas for team engagement with an understanding of the importance of including trauma-informed and socio-ecological concepts when creating and maintaining their local teams. The goal of this presentation is for teams to understand potential barriers to victims receiving efficient services and responses to their trafficking experience, with an emphasis on the additional barriers and dynamics when involving bordering communities and reservations. Attendees will gain perspective on the importance of prioritizing relationship-building within their team and communities to ensure success in these cases and, more importantly, victim recovery.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of local multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) and their importance in human trafficking responses

· Discuss personal experience in creating MDTs, including the successes and conflicts/barriers that arise and how to navigate them

· Explain the importance of proper education and incorporating trauma-informed and socio-ecological concepts within team development and maintenance

· Provide ideas for implementation strategies to utilize while engaging local MDTs in bordering communities and on reservations

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Sex workers are denied or forcefully deprived of their very basic rights which are required to live as a human being (i.e., education, health, privacy, and most importantly dignity or self-respect). The very simple understanding of the universal definition of “human rights” is that every human being, irrespective of his/her sex, caste, creed, religion. or any form of identification, has certain basic rights which is a priori (George, Vindhya & Ray, 2010). But when it comes to sex workers, the principles of human rights are ignored, and their profession is labeled as immoral. In the Constituent Assembly Shri Brijeshwar, Prasad argued in favor of legalizing prostitution considering it to be an “old institution” which according to him cannot be abolished. If it is done, it will create a black market and will go underground (Glanville, 1990). The presentation will focus on the following points: 1) Who is a sex worker- legal status in India in the past & present. 2) Society, Morality, and Prostitution: There is something “right” about prostitution, which the law violates by criminalizing it (Shrage, 1994). The role of society in making sex workers untouchables/miserable and promoting discrimination (socially, economically, and legally). 3) Legality of Prostitution in India, and the role of intermediaries in trafficking, corruption, and violence. 4) Health issues in the Red-Light areas in India. 5) And finally certain basic suggestions and recommendations for the same.

Presentation Objectives:

· Identify and describe the socio-legal status of sex workers in India

· Describe the consequences legal loopholes in Indian legislation relating to prostitution

· Propose the proper action plan and policies containing minimum standards of living to all including sex workers

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The worldwide collateral effects of COVID-19 are unequally and disproportionately affecting vulnerable and marginalized populations, among them people in the sex trade. Aid organizations are forced to quickly adapt to this new pandemic reality. Thus, the crisis creates new challenges and exacerbates existing hardships for both the people in the sex trade and aid organizations. Accordingly, the main research question was: "What are the experiences and challenges faced by Israeli people in the sex trade and the aid organizations aiming to help them during the COVID-19 pandemic?" Findings are based on a thematic analysis of naturalistic qualitative interviews conducted during May to December 2020, with representatives of 23 Israeli aid organizations and 20 people with sex trade experience. The interviews with aid organizations' workers revealed an increase in referrals and material and emotional needs among their clients. Focusing on provision of materiel needs while neglecting psychotherapeutic, medical, or advocacy interventions has inevitably influenced aid-work in three central areas: therapeutic relationships, self-perception and self-worth of aid workers, and in revealing organizational strengths. Interviewees in the sex trade described how and to what extent working in sex helped them to cope with COVID-19 related needs, and the obstacles and facilitating factors met when trying to secure aid. Both groups related to the role of online and distance therapeutic interventions during the crisis. The implications focus on policy and direct service recommendations directed at the alleviation of obstacles to providing people in the sex trade with the required assistance in times of crisis.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of the study, including main questions, methodology, and findings

· Describe research implications for policy and practice

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