Occupational therapy (OT) interventions provide a means of empowering human trafficking survivors through the integration of OT process, theories, and models of practice while enabling survivors to understand and process through the intrinsic and extrinsic barriers of achieving increased overall well-being and occupational performance (Cerny, 2016). OT practitioners provide client-centered interventions that concentrate on the value of active participation and engagement in healthy occupations. Interventions provided to survivors take place in many settings, including community-based programs, community clinics, hospitals, mental health centers, rehabilitation centers, and schools. The purpose of this program is to integrate the holistic approach of providing occupation-based interventions, where we live, into the restoration process for human trafficking survivors. In order to integrate, OT and health care practitioners will be provided with education regarding assessments and interventions to be utilized. Skills learned during this session will equip participants to facilitate occupational justice/rights of survivors to access opportunities and resources to engage in their chosen and meaningful occupations and to create a new narrative by forming new habits, routines, and roles. Areas of restoration to be specifically addressed are conflict resolution, coping, budgeting, sleep restoration, time management, healthy leisure skills, meal planning and health and wellness.

Presentation Objectives:

· Identify appropriate assessments for human trafficking survivors in order to establish plans of appropriate intervention

· Identify the role of OT in addressing the needs of human trafficking survivors

· Provide insight and education to OT practitioners, social workers, case managers, counselors, and volunteer staff regarding human trafficking survivors

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A lot of anti-trafficking activities focus on victims/survivors, public policy, law enforcement, and more recently on the integrity of supply-chains. But what about the people who perpetrate the horrendous acts of abuse and exploitation that constitute human trafficking and modern slavery? Following on from the Emancipation Nation Episode 98 and the article, "Perpetrator-Centric Strategies for Addressing Modern Slavery" published in the Journal for Human Rights Practice, this presentation considers the importance of understanding and engaging with the people who perpetrate human trafficking. The group most directly involved in abuse and exploitation are rarely the focus of anti-slavery research or practice. Who are the traffickers? What's their demographic, cultural, and personal background? What external drivers influence their behaviors? What are their internal motivations? How do perpetrators interpret the abuse and exploitation they impose on others? Most importantly, what would it take to undermine or redirect those external drivers and internal motivations so that perpetrators changed their behaviors? Is increasing the threat of incarceration the most effective approach? This presentation argues that addressing such questions is an essential prerequisite to ending human trafficking. Examples of research and practice that do focus on perpetrators will be highlighted. Implications for our theory of change and strategic planning will be discussed, including data from a global survey of anti-slavery organizations. At the end of this presentation, attendees will understand the shape and intention of perpetrator-centric strategies for ending human trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

· Highlight how little we know about the people who perpetrate the abuses and exploitation of human trafficking and modern slavery

· Describe what a perpetrator-centric approach to ending human trafficking means

· Explain why such an approach is important

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The largest part of the customer base for the commercial sex trade is male. Human trafficking occurs when individuals use force, fraud, or coercion to facilitate these activities. Are men really silent? Do all men think this is okay? Often, men are unaware that some of their actions may be contributing to human trafficking. Men have requested a way to show that they take a stand against people being trafficked. For example, during presentations and informal conversations with staff at the Convergence Resource Center, men have asked how can they get involved and how they can help. Additionally, women involved in the fight need a way to include the men in the fight. The presenters provide a way for men to visibly show that they do not agree with or co-sign human trafficking. Men are educated, awareness is raised, a pledge is taken, and men take a stand to show that they stand against these illegal activities. Men wear apparel, including shirts and bands, as conversation starters. They use these to encourage and educate other men. These items will be shown during the presentation. How did we get over 65,000 men in 11 states and 3 countries to visibly say “no’ to human trafficking? Information, methods, and techniques used will be shared. The opportunity for men to join this fight and take a stand will be provided.

Presentation Objectives:

· Raise awareness to behaviors that contribute to human trafficking

· Share methods to involve men in the fight against human trafficking

· Provide an opportunity for men to take a stand

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Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) is the fastest growing crime in the United States (Country-Roswurm & Bolin, 2014). Vulnerable adolescents are primary targets of sex traffickers (Fedina, 2019). DMST delays adolescent development following their treatment during and environmental conditions while in the life (Busch-Armendariz et al. 2014; Hopper, 2017; Le, 2017). The research question for this study was, “What is the elopement process of adult survivors of sex trafficking during adolescence?” The multiple qualitative case study design employed semi-structured interviews, participant observations, participants’ voluntary elicited text, and member check. The thematic analysis within the cases and across the cases identified the major theme “Out of the War.” Two related themes were “The War” and “Conquering the War.” This qualitative study reveals elopement decisions are fraught with barriers to elope and seeking safety. The research uncovered a non-linear process that affects their development, as yet described in the conceptual models: The War MAZE© and Conquering the War MAZE©. These new insights help healthcare providers identify readiness to elope and elopement victory by recognizing the adolescent’s barriers to elopement. The results explain DMST elopement from a developmental perspective by analyzing qualitative data from survivor voices, which supports gender equity and empowerment of women. The findings inform healthcare providers in planning inclusive trauma-informed care approaches and unbiased research designed to safeguard DMST survivors during their recovery processes.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of the study, research question, methodology, and findings

· Introduce a new, non-linear elopement process from DMST

· Describe the implementation of trauma-informed care approach and trauma-focused interventions based on the research for healthcare providers

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Anti-trafficking organizations, in recent years, have increased their use of survivor voices in fundraising, hiring of survivors, and increased survivor visibility within organizational teams. While empowerment is the goal, tokenism can be the outcome when organizations do not engage survivors ethically. This session, led by sex trafficking survivor and professor Dr. Beth Bowman, and Safe House Project COO Brittany Dunn, seeks to improve survivor engagement practices in organizations. Recommendations for avoiding re-exploitation by ethical survivor engagement, inclusive practices which benefit both survivor leaders and organizational mission, and organizational culture and power dynamics will be reviewed. The target audience for this workshop is organizational leadership at agencies which may serve trafficking survivors (or overlapping populations such as DV, child welfare, or criminal justice).

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe current efforts to engage survivors in informing policy and practices

· Define the concepts of ethical engagement, trauma-informed, empowerment-based, and organizational culture

· Discuss research related to ethical engagement of survivors as staff in anti-trafficking work

· Describe recommendations for practice

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The Trafficking Victim Protection Act (TVPA) was enacted over 20 years ago; however, the anti-trafficking work has been heavily focused on sex trafficking with less effort to uncover labor trafficking (Farrell, A., Bright, K., de Vries, I. et al., 2020). The Enitan Story (TES), building on a grant from The Bush Foundation Community Innovation Grant to raise the consciousness of Minnesotans and effect a change at the state level to meet the needs of labor trafficking victims and survivors, began the process of changing legislation. Partnering with state agencies like MDH and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, allowed TES to highlight their expertise while seeking guidance on approaching the legislators. If passed, this bill will create a multidisciplinary workgroup to study the need for a statewide labor trafficking response and provide recommendations to the legislature. Survivor leaders are an important and critical part of efforts to end human trafficking. This project shows how survivor leaders can effectively harness the systems knowledge and experience of state personnel to move the industry and the states forward.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the effect of nonprofit and government agency collaboration to influence policy change for better outcomes for victims and survivors of trafficking

· Explain how to combine the strengths of Subject Matter Expert Survivor Leaders and that of state agency staffs for effective collaboration in the anti-trafficking work

· Help Subject Matter Experts learn how to find and choose the correct partners for policy change

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Outreach is an important part of the anti-trafficking efforts to increase awareness and referrals to the service providers so that they can find additional human trafficking cases and connect the victims to services. Unfortunately, there is limited funding for organizations to conduct outreach, especially targeted outreach. Moreover, benefits from website visits are highly uncertain and change based on the correctness of the site information, safety of the site for the outreach specialist to enter, and the workers’ willingness to talk with the outreach specialists. Thus, organizations have to be effective in their planning to deploy successful outreach strategies. Assessing the impact and effectiveness of anti-trafficking interventions is also a complex issue. Through twenty-eight semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed in NVivo using a hybrid approach with two coders, the presenters investigate the definition of success for outreach, the factors impacting the outcome of outreach, and how to measure the success of outreach operations for planning. The interviews cover insights from as many industries as possible to comprehensive strategies for organization working in different forms of trafficking and different populations. They present an outreach planning example utilizing the best practices accumulated by interviews along with using potential data applications. Based on the research, attendees will gain an understanding of the suggested recommendations to create an optimal outreach plan for their operations and service areas.

Presentation Objectives:

· Present definitions of success for outreach

· Introduce success measures for outreach efforts

· Describe best practices for outreach planning and highlight gaps and opportunities for planning state-of-the-art outreach strategies

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Speaking up and reporting power abusers, whether it is in the workplace, on campus, or in the family context, is very complex for many reasons. #MeToo highlighted an epidemic of not only harassment, but also power abuse and misconduct of all kinds. Our tech solution that has been used by thousands of people to report issues, the #NotMe app provides the most empowering and practical tech solution to prevent and address these abuses. How? By making it easier for individuals to safely speak up and for organizations to become aware and respond— earlier. #NotMe is not a faceless bot, not just another piece of software. The mission is to bridge the gap between victims or witnesses of abuse or misconduct and organizations that can help them by empowering them to report and address the misconduct they’ve experienced or witnessed. Whether it be harassment, discrimination, sex trafficking, bullying, and more, this is the easiest and best way to speak up, report, and get help. Speaking up and reporting abuse and/or misconduct is incredibly difficult. Oftentimes, victims cannot put words on situations they experience. Tools for reporting are not very user friendly, are mostly archaic, and require a lot of efforts on the part of the victims and witnesses. #NotMe, with its smart and easy-to-use mobile app, takes down as best as possible obstacles and barriers to reporting and provides the safest and most trusted speak-up experience to individuals who want/are ready to speak up and report. Technology can be a force for good and change. #NotMe does that by helping people speak up and report power abusers and by allowing them to tell their story, safely through smart technology.

Presentation Objectives:

· Increase awareness of the #NotMe app

· Explain how the app can be used for reporting of human trafficking and other abuses by victims or witnesses so they can get the help they need

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