Although there is limited empirical research that evaluates knowledge base and self-efficacy among healthcare professionals and frontline personnel, there seems to be no previous research that evaluates the awareness, knowledge, and self-efficacy of occupational therapists (OT). OTs, given their professional training and skills, have an important role in the holistic rehabilitation of human trafficking (HT) survivors. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge, self-efficacy, as well as perspectives for future academic training ideas in HT among doctoral OT students. Doctoral OT students (N=67) enrolled in a Midwestern University were recruited via e-mail for this study. They represented two regions of the country (Midwestern and Western). The data was collected through an online cross-sectional survey. The survey instrument included a total of 30-items that focused on domains such as awareness, knowledge, self-efficacy, and curricula expectations. Data was collected in June 2020. The analysis of the data employed a univariate descriptive statistics approach using SPSS. Content analysis was applied to analyze qualitative data. The findings of this study suggest that although doctoral OT students were aware of HT, they possessed limited knowledge and low self-efficacy in potentially assisting survivors of HT in their rehabilitation process and their future clinical practice. However, study participants recognized the importance of HT training as an integral component of their academic training and conveyed their perspectives on how HT content should be incorporated into their future training. These findings have important implications for OT education, clinical practice, and informing future research.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of the study focused on evaluating the awareness, knowledge, and self-efficacy of doctoral occupational therapy students on human trafficking

· Describe doctoral OT students’ views on HT curricular delivery modes in their future academic training and their recommendations based on study results

· Discuss the implications of the study to occupational therapy education, curricula development, and clinical practice

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Since 2020, Freedom Business Alliance (FBA) has led a series of research initiatives focused on the future of freedom businesses. This presentation will share findings from a phenomenological study where social enterprise partners offered their experiences leading businesses employing survivors of human trafficking. A series of roundtable discussions were held, where freedom business leaders collaborated to give feedback on the standards of excellence needed to develop best practices in the ethical employment of human trafficking survivors. Then, follow-up interviews were conducted with freedom business leaders who ranked their own approach to business practices as highly effective and profitable. These interviews were conducted around a large set of research questions, using phenomenological interviewing skills to allow the data to be informed by unique experiences of practitioners. Interviews were then analyzed for overarching themes, and recommendations were formed by the researchers based on the themes drawn from interviews. The authors will present the recently published Freedom Business Code of Excellence, as well as provide recommendations for a social enterprise model that incorporates the accounting needs of freedom businesses. The presentation will address 1) non-negotiable commitments to which every freedom business should hold, 2) components of a comprehensive, trauma-informed standard of care for human trafficking survivors in the workplace, and 3) models for profitable freedom business which account for business costs alongside the financial burden of holistic social services. This research has significant implications for the sustainable livelihoods of survivors. This research also impacts the future of policy aimed to incentivize the private sector to prioritize employment for survivors.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the methodology and findings from roundtable discussions that produced the Freedom Business Code of Excellence

· Provide a comprehensive explanation of the challenges facing Freedom Businesses

· Present a recommended model that offers guidance for the financial and programmatic goals of profitable and scalable Freedom Businesses

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Four survivors of child sex trafficking describe their escape and healing journeys. They share their challenges in recovering from ritual abuse (RA) and mind control (MC) and how, in their quest for freedom, they overcame their abusers' attempts to control them. All of the panelists had symptoms of their abuse that were not recognized for many years. These included Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), nightmares, daydreams with violent content, brutal low self-esteem, tremendous guilt, addictions, and suicidality. The panelists experienced inexplicable attraction to macabre subjects or cult symbolism. Although very talented and intelligent, they often struggled to function in daily life. For the panelists, healing is a way of life. Despite the horrors of their childhood and the challenges they face in their life today, by accepting, appreciating, validating, and supporting themselves and others, they find a sense of peace and even joy. The panelists will describe their continuing work to empower themselves and other survivors. Peer counseling, workshops, art shows, and creating safe spaces for RA/MC survivors to share their experiences are just a few examples. They will also describe how they reach out to the general public through blogs, websites, podcasts, and videos. The panelists' goal is to dispel some common myths about ritual abuse and mind control. They hope that those working with sex trafficking victims will learn to recognize survivors of RA and MC and be able to support them in all aspects of their experience and healing.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe their healing from mind control, ritual abuse, and child sex trafficking

· Share the challenges and joys they have found in freedom

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Building stronger teams is crucial to developing successful and responsive services to victims and survivors. Melissa was the first Human Trafficking Navigator for North Dakota (ND) and will use her experience to enhance attendees' confidence and give direction to attendees in this session. Melissa will provide examples of team maintenance to attendees based on her experience in developing a new task force and several multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) in ND. This training will provide attendees with insight on priority areas when developing a team comprised of service providers, medical personnel, legal supports, and law enforcement. Attendees will understand the importance of MDT collaboration to ensure person-centered responses to victims’ needs, as well as considerations for team dynamics and norms and best practices specific to survivor and victim experiences. Additionally, the presenter will discuss MDT best practices, such as how to develop a trauma-sensitive team, cross-discipline training, and team transparency. Melissa will use her experience within team development over the last six years to answer questions and will include information on considerations when working with teams in bordering states or in other states and territories. The goal of this session is to enhance a team’s ability to respond to victims while ensuring that barriers and concerns are recognized, ensure any/all appropriate team members are included, gain greater perspective and confidence in team building, develop team goals, and provide ideas for team guidelines and responses to meet victims’ needs.

Presentation Objectives:

· Explain the importance of building strong teams and lessons to be learned throughout the process

· Provide information on creating community buy-in and how it relates to effective meeting facilitation

· Discuss what MDT are and how to have successful, productive meetings

· Provide suggestions on how to advocate for and ensure your team is trauma-informed and person-centered

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Countries of the Global North dedicate millions of dollars per year to assist nations of the Global South to combat and address human trafficking, with the U.S. government alone dedicating well over USD$100 million to this end each year (GAO, 2020; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022). A good portion of these funds go to projects to strengthen the institutional capacity of national governments and their relevant agencies to prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and protect victims – with varying degrees of success. Winrock International, an international non-profit organization working in over 40 countries, has implemented such TIP capacity-building programming around the world since the late 1990s, and the presenters believe that Winrock, its expert practitioners, and their collective experiences can complement a growing body of academic and scholarly literature on the topic (Foot, 2016; Winterdyk 2018) with practical, real-life lessons from the field applicable to future international efforts. As such, this presentation will present best practices and lessons learned in strengthening government capacity to combat trafficking in persons, as determined by a literature review of evaluations of previous and ongoing Winrock projects to be triangulated with qualitative data from focus group discussions with experienced Winrock professionals in this field. Findings will focus on four main areas: Project Design, Stakeholder Engagement, Activity Implementation, and Monitoring Results. Many findings will likely apply to domestic capacity-building efforts in the U.S. The session will end with a discussion about ongoing capacity-building work in which they may be engaged.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen government capacity to address trafficking in persons within the context of international development programming

· Identify and describe best practices in Project Design, Stakeholder Engagement, Activity Implementation, and Monitoring Results

· Explore connections and applicability of Winrock best practices and lessons learned to participants’ anti-TIP work

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Sugaring is marketed as a mutually beneficial financial relationship between a younger, more financially insecure individual and an older, wealthier individual for dating and companionship (Upadhyay, 2021). Sugaring is prevalent in university communities; however, there is limited research on public perception of this common phenomenon and its associated health risks. The two guiding research questions of this study were: (1) What is the level of acceptance of sugar relationships by students and faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)? and (2) What is the level of awareness among students and faculty of sugar relationships in the VCU community? A survey that measured acceptance and awareness of sugaring was distributed to students and faculty on both the undergraduate and graduate campuses of VCU. Survey responses were analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Fisher’s exact test to compare differences between the two groups. Faculty had a statistically significant lower acceptance of sugar relationships compared to students (6.0 median score compared to median 17.0 score respectively, p <0.001). Students demonstrated a significantly higher awareness of the prevalence of sugaring compared to faculty (p< 0.003). There was similar awareness of the unintended health risks of sugaring between students and faculty. Further research is warranted to elucidate the factors associated with levels of acceptance and awareness of sugaring. Educational efforts are needed to increase awareness of sugaring prevalence, especially on college campuses.

Presentation Objectives:

· Define the phenomenon of sugaring and establish the importance of research on this topic

· Explain the reasoning behind carrying out the study at VCU

· Illustrate the research methods and share results

· Discuss the impact of the study and areas of future research based on findings

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There has been a growing push to pass state safe harbor laws to align governmental and community responses to the reframing of the issue of sex trafficking of minors (STM) that was ushered in with the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Kentucky enacted a safe harbor law, the Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act (HTVRA), in 2013, which mandated a comprehensive protective system response (Shared Hope International, 2015). A research study was conducted to examine the effect of legislative change on system responses to sex trafficking of minors. The research question was “What changes in systems’ processes for identifying and responding to STM have occurred since the enactment of the law?” First, change from pre-implementation to post-implementation of the safe harbor law in awareness, knowledge, and practices for responding to STM was examined in key informant surveys (n = 365). Second, state administrative data was analyzed to examine several policy outcomes related to the immunity, protective, and rehabilitative provisions of the law. Findings include the need for increased awareness and training and adoption of protocols, including screenings, in systems that work with at-risk youth has occurred in the post-implementation period. Child welfare’s mandated role to accept reports and to investigate alleged trafficking of children has centralized a formal response. However, the increased screening and reporting of trafficking of children has not resulted in a meaningful increase in criminal charges. Positive impacts and challenging obstacles in Kentucky’s responses to sex trafficking of minors will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

· Summarize and evaluate the impact of a safe harbor law, with particular attention to positive impacts and recommendations for improvements

· Describe the varied ways children are trafficked in commercial sex in metropolitan and non-metropolitan communities across one state

· Share methods for evaluating the impact of safe harbor laws, including the use of secondary data

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This training will address the dynamic intersections of systemic discrimination of vulnerable populations and how these intersections connect to the criminalization of trafficking survivors. Marginalized communities are not sufficiently identified as victims and are disproportionately criminalized. Topics will cover cultural relationships with different trafficking survivors and the victim-offender intersectionality. Next, the training will discuss opportunities to overcome criminalization of survivors through: (1) policy work, (2) access to legal support, and (3) community education. Policy changes have shaped important relief for survivors in many states, and the presenters will provide some examples from California and New York. Likewise, they will discuss how trauma-informed lawyers representing survivors leads to more empowering legal interactions and case results. Lastly, they will discuss the importance of training legal stakeholders including prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and probation.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss the ways in which trafficking survivors are criminalized and how systemic discrimination of marginalized populations plays into the criminalization of survivors

· Describe the various changes to the applicable laws around the country

· Discuss the various legal needs and remedies available to survivors and how access to a lawyer is a critical component of accessing justice

· Explain the importance of educating legal system stakeholders as a means to create a more trauma-informed and victim-centered experience for survivors

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The instructor and several members of a class on disparities, diversity, and social justice in social work will discuss the results of their work over a semester using arts-informed inquiry to self-reflect and critically analyze theories of privilege and oppression. Weather knitting (also known as temperature blanket/scarf/project) is a folk-art form where women knit or crochet each day using the temperature to decide the color of yarn used. Most recently, weather knitting has been used as a science-art-community effort to better understand the impact of global warming. Dr. Sloane and her students use weather knitting as a way to considering how we make advocacy choices daily and better understand the limitations of concepts like cultural humility and cultural competence as they relate to social work education and social work practice. Students involved in this class chose their art medium - yarn, collage, or poetry. Art-informed research requires the artist/researcher to stop and reflect on their actions and become aware of the discrimination and privilege that surrounds them, much like paying attention to the weather. In this presentation, students will share excerpts from their journaling of their advocacy activities and representing their actions in artwork based on a color key of advocacy they created at the beginning of the semester (Myzelev, 2021; Shopa, 2021). Because the knowledge creation of women is often dismissed, this class uses traditions of women’s art inquiry as a legitimate method to better understand power/political dynamics and the environment of discrimination.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe ways that art can be used for self-reflection and consciousness raising about discrimination

· Consider the ways in which knowledge creation by individuals on the margins of society are dismissed

· Demonstrate how art can be used as data collection and a legitimate form of inquiry

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Although it is important to recognize that human trafficking can happen to anyone, it is necessary to have critical awareness about the intersections of racism, sexism, and systems of colonization which disproportionality increase the vulnerabilities for people of color. In a two-year review of all suspected human trafficking incidents across the United States, 94% of suspected sex trafficking victims were female with Black females accounting for 40% and Latinx females accounting for 24% (Rights4Girls, 2018). Furthermore, data shows 40% of women who were victims of sex trafficking identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native, despite representing only 10% of the general population (NCAI Policy Research Center, 2016). Oppression is the use of power to disempower, marginalize, and silence individuals who are often thought of as “others”, while continuing to uphold the power and privilege of those who oppress. The selling of Black and Indigenous women and children for sexual purposes has occurred for centuries and it’s time to call it out and dismantle the oppressive systems which continue to allow its manifestation. Attendees will learn more about how human trafficking connects to broader systems of structural oppression, explore how society’s values, ideas, and power relationships have normalized the violence experienced by people of color, and learn about our collective responsibility to eradicate and respond to human trafficking through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens.

Presentation Objectives:

· Evaluate the occurrence of trafficking through the lens of intersectionality

· Define anti-racism and anti-oppression

· Call out the structures of oppression and societal values that normalize violence against “others”

· Identify the individual and collective actions that can be used to apply an anti-racist, anti-oppression lens towards anti-human trafficking work

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