Mapping the Intersections of Substance Use and Human Trafficking in Minnesota
Caroline Palmer, JD & Beatriz Menanteau, JD | September 22 | 1:45-2:45 pm
Topic: Programming, Direct Service | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
To increase understanding of the intersections between substance use and human trafficking (sex and labor), this presentation describes a project focused on creating a coordinated plan between the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Safe Harbor Human Trafficking Prevention and Overdose Prevention programs that are currently underway and will be completed in fall 2022. The project includes a literature review, environmental scan, engagement with program grantees, stakeholders, and persons with lived experience in different regions of the state, all culminating in a report providing qualitative data and interpretation to inform future state-level and community-based efforts based in health equity and designed to raise awareness while also supporting multidisciplinary prevention, harm reduction, and intervention initiatives. Of specific interest is the role substances play in survival sex and in tactics by traffickers, as well as challenges and opportunities for cross-informed, trauma-responsive care within both trafficking prevention and substance use treatment services. This project is conducted as part of Safe Harbor Director Caroline Palmer's Master of Public Health program practicum at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she is a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow in the Violence Cohort.
Presentation Objectives:
· Provide an overview of how state-based programs in human trafficking and substance use/overdose prevention can work together to support services responses
· Explain the findings of the literature review, community engagement, and final report
· Describe recommendations for next steps in terms of prevention, harm reduction, and intervention responses on the state level and in partnership with service providers and persons with lived experience