Extant scholarly and activist literature strongly recommend that sex trafficking, sex work, and homeless/runaway youth organizations employ lived experience experts (i.e., those who experienced homelessness and/or the sex trades, which broadly include sex trafficking, sex work, and experiences that do not fit with either term or act). The process by which people with lived experiences become social service leaders is not well understood, particularly from the perspectives of diverse races, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities. The researchers sought to understand: (1) how do people with lived experiences become social service leaders; (2) what conditions influence their pathways; and (3) how does leadership influence their well-being? They used an intersectional, grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006) to conduct 26 in-depth interviews with lived experience experts who were currently in leadership in the U.S. Participants were ages 22-43; 50% people of color; 26% trans, genderqueer, genderfluid; 62% lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or queer. Twelve worked in anti-sex trafficking services. Findings suggest that participants moved into leadership with a collectivist or individualistic lens to the work (i.e., to improve collective community conditions vs. called to work due to individual experiences). A cycle of internal and external validation and invalidation emerged (e.g., insufficient pay; exploitation of their stories). Their lens and invalidation often led to conflict within the organization. When not repaired, participants reported differential ruptures from the community and exit from an organization. Practice, policy, and research implications will be discussed, including funding and compensation for lived experience experts, leadership development, and internal and external structural supports.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Discuss how lived experience leaders find motivation to engage in social service work

·  Explain the external and internal factors impacting diverse individuals’ leadership pathways

·  Discuss practice and policy changes needed to support lived experience experts

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Pregnancy and parenting are both challenging times that come with ups and downs of hormones, medical needs, child developmental concerns, attachment, and so many other considerations. For survivors of sex trafficking, pregnancy and parenting can come with the added layer of trauma, economic hardships, support deficits, and social stigma (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2015; Peled & Parker, 2013). Pregnancy is often a catalyst for leaving the life or finding means of escaping exploitation, but social support is necessary for success in finding a life outside of sex work (Cecchet & Thoburn, 2014; Torri, 2020). In this presentation, the presenter will discuss challenges faced by survivors of sex trafficking who are parents and/or pregnant, resiliency factors of survivors, and how to best support them as service providers.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Describe lived experience of pregnancy and parenting as well as interactions with healthcare and support providers

·  Describe ways for providers to effectively engage with survivors who are pregnant or parenting children from an empowerment perspective

·  Explain research related to pregnancy and parenting for those who have experienced trauma including effective intervention approaches

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Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have had substantial involvement in the anti-human trafficking movement (Gee & Smith, 2014). Yet, limited research is available on the crucial roles they play. This study explored FBOs' input in the anti-trafficking movement in the U.S. by examining their motivations to engage in human trafficking work, their distinctive competencies as key stakeholders, and their experiences and challenges in providing human trafficking services. A purposive sample of 16 representatives from 14 FBOs with anti-human trafficking work experience were recruited. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data. Thematic analysis of the interview data was conducted. The study included 13 FBOs of Christian denominations and one from a Jewish denomination. Faith was reported as the most significant, rallying, and inspiring influence in FBOs' engagement in the field. Study participants concurred that efforts to convert trafficking survivors to one's religion are unethical and counterproductive. Their agencies had experiences in various aspects of prevention, protection, and even assistance in prosecuting human trafficking cases and at multiple levels of intervention. The distinctive capacities of FBOs for policy advocacy, training, and housing services for trafficking survivors provide a glimpse of their leading roles in human trafficking policy implementation. Operating primarily outside public funding allows FBOs to develop services that help assist survivors more adequately and without time limits. All 14 FBOs reported using a non-discriminatory, survivor-centered, and trauma-informed approach in their human trafficking service delivery. The findings contradict proselytizing misperceptions about FBOs involved in human trafficking work. Implications for practice, policy implementation, and research will be discussed.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Examine the motivations of FBOs to engage in human trafficking work

·  Describe the distinctive characteristics and competencies that make FBOs key stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking

·  Examine the experiences and challenges of FBOs in doing human trafficking work

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LGBTQIA+ young people face homelessness, discrimination, and vulnerabilities aging out of foster care, combined with a lack of resources. Statistics show that LGBTQIA+ youth have higher rates of engaging in survival sex to meet their basic needs, and also face deeper rejection from law enforcement and social services. BIPOC Trans women are victims of attempted homicide and violence at higher rates than their counterparts. Specialized training and services are required to assist this population and minimize further exploitation. Mainstream systems are needed to provide culturally appropriate services to LGBTQIA+ young people, as this work continues to face societal homophobia and heterosexism. Participants in this training will learn about the connection between sex trafficking and survival sex, the added vulnerabilities of psychological manipulation and trauma bonding for youth engaging in the commercial sex industry, and the prevalence of sex tourism in impoverished communities. Participants will also be able to identify ways that they can provide trauma-informed wrap around services to assist this population.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Discuss risk factors for LGBTQIA+ youth in North America and Puerto Rico

·  Provide statistics and data showing the added vulnerabilities and violence experienced by this population

·  Explain the added risks of psychological manipulation and trauma-bonding and how to help with trauma-informed sensory based care and expressive arts programing

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Fatou Jagne is a survivor of human trafficking. Her experience as a survivor motivated her to become an exemplary leader in her network, to ensure that trafficking is abolished in the Gambia and Africa at large. Since she returned home in 2017, she has dedicated her life to fighting against human trafficking, irregular migration, and other human right abuses against women and girls. She wants to ensure that all perpetrators of human trafficking are brought to justice. Fatou volunteers with youth organizations such as Africans Rising, Activista, Network Against Gender Based Violence, and the National Youth Council, where she works to ensure that young women and survivors realize their full potential and become great leaders in the future. In 2020, the Network of Girls Against Human Trafficking (NoGAHT) in partnership with Action for Humanity helped bring back 38 women and girls back from Lebanon to the Gambia. After series of efforts, in October 2022, Fatou Jagne also worked to bring back others who were being trafficked to Dubai using false information to get them into a risky journey with hopes for a better life. After receiving funding from Jah Oil, The Gambia, and some Gambians for the payment of their air tickets to return home, Fatou was able to help these victims. Attendees will hear the story of Fatou’s human trafficking experience and what she has been doing since to help others. Trafficking is real and we still have more victims that need help!

Presentation Objectives:

·  Share her personal experience of human trafficking

·  Discuss all of the collaboration and funding secured to help other victims of human trafficking return to their home country of The Gambia

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Aura Freedom will share their upstream, intersectional feminist approach to preventing human trafficking by addressing root causes, upholding human rights, and advancing equity. This approach is the framework of Aura Freedom's ground-breaking online Human Trafficking Info Hub (www.aurafreedom.org/ht-info-hub) and is being shared with various school boards, victim services agencies, child welfare agencies, women's shelters, rape crisis centers, and other frontline organizations in Ontario. This upstream approach is also the heart and soul of all of Aura Freedom's work addressing violence against women and sex trafficking in Canada and beyond. With over a decade of grassroots human trafficking prevention and survivor support, as well as continuous consultations with their community and colleagues, Aura Freedom is one of the most active counter-trafficking organizations in Toronto, Canada and has worked with many other grassroots feminist organizations and Indigenous groups to address the systemic issues that create environments where human trafficking thrives. Learn about Aura Freedom’s award-winning and often-replicated method of preventing human trafficking and how you can incorporate it into your work. Gain knowledge about the root causes of human trafficking, targeted communities, and just how long of a road it is until we see the true eradication of human trafficking. “If you think you can ‘fix’ human trafficking in a few years, think again.” - Marissa Kokkoros

Presentation Objectives:

·  Present strategies for successful human trafficking prevention rooted in human rights, intersectional feminism, equity, and empowerment (working ‘Upstream’)

·  Demonstrate the power of human trafficking prevention that is survivor-centered, trauma-informed, intersectional, and fueled by compassion

·  Provide insight on how to meet survivors where they are, recognizing their diverse backgrounds, stories, and choices and how to refute the patriarchal ‘victim narrative’, including information on how to provide support to survivors of human trafficking (working ‘Downstream’)

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A call from a security guard reporting the use of minor children in the making of jewelry led to a raid conducted through the narrow streets of Chennai, India resulting in the rescue of 23 bonded child laborers. The term “child labor” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and dignity, and is harmful to physical and mental development (International Labour Organization). At least 8 million people are trafficking victims in India, with the majority of whom are bonded laborers. Children and women are the most at-risk demographics. Through the experience of the presenters, they seek to illuminate bonded labor in various industries through this presentation. They will discuss the background procedure, such as tipoff and the field visit that was conducted during pre-raid, as well as the government agencies involved, the rescue, and the circumstances from which they were rescued fall under. The presenters will also describe the experiences leading up to the raid, what happened during the raid, the actual rescue, and the aftermath involved in relief and rehabilitation, including the justice for the perpetrators. This presentation is a first-person account that highlights the skills a social worker needs when working with bonded laborers and the government’s role in regulating rehabilitation and post-release employment.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Describe the experience of a released bonded laborer

·  Discuss the role of a social worker in the rescue, relief, and rehabilitation of bonded laborers

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Organ trafficking, forced organ harvesting, and unethical organ transplantation is a global issue. A “world first” Legal Advisory Report and Policy Guidance, “Do No Harm: Mitigating Human Rights Risks when Interacting with International Medical Institutions & Professionals in Transplantation Medicine”, has recently been published in response to international calls to action. The Advisory explores the risks of international collaborations in transplant medicine, research and training, and the hard and soft law obligations that govern those partnerships. It highlights high risk countries such as China, provides practical advice for mitigating risks, and outlines circumstances where disengagement may be required. The Advisory provides advice and guidance to a range of stakeholders including hospitals, universities, professional societies, medical journals, independent professional bodies, medical schools, and associated medical professionals. This presentation will not only educate the audience about the real risk faced by medical institutions and their professionals of complicity in organ trafficking, but will also highlight the general complacency of the medical sector and what can be done about it. The session will also outline the legal remedies available to those impacted by the complicity of the medical sector. The audience will walk away with a deeper understanding of the global organ trade and an appreciation that compliance with business and human rights obligations within the medical transplantation sector is an effective way to tackle the issue.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Educate the audience about global organ trafficking

·  Describe a world first legal Advisory that shines a spotlight on western medical transplantation entities and the risk of complicity in unethical organ transplant practices

·  Explain and demonstrate how compliance with the Advisory is an effective way to tackle global organ trafficking

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The Phoenix Project, the London Abused Women’s Centre, Salvation Army Correctional Justice Services, and Youth Opportunities Unlimited use a wraparound approach to support victims of human trafficking. Together, with their unique skills and resources, they offer education, awareness, counselling, and exit strategies to support those who have been sex trafficked. One of the greatest challenges to victims is accessing justice. Together, these agencies have outlined pathways on the “Journey to Justice” which may include crisis intervention, connecting with community supports and counselling, police and judicial involvement, victim compensation, disclosure and anonymous reporting, and social justice action. Through their journey with the victim, together they facilitate pathways that meet the needs of the individual with the goal of creating the best possible outcomes on the path towards safety and healing. This collaborative, client-centered, and trauma-informed approach allows them to meet clients where they are at while helping them to build a safety net of supports and resources. This approach advances the likelihood that victims of sex trafficking will receive the best possible outcomes. Each program offers unique resources and perspectives, including the engagement of individuals with lived experience who continue to inform and evolve the programs of each agency. In this presentation, presenters will share some of the barriers, challenges, and opportunities that victims face while seeking justice. They will present promising practices based on what they learned from survivors, in their own words. Attendees will gain a better understanding of how to incorporate these practices into their work in helping survivors achieve justice.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Describe the Phoenix Project and direct service model to engage victims of sex trafficking on their journey to justice

·  Discuss risks and challenges for victims of sex trafficking who seek justice

·  Discuss wraparound service model to meet the needs of victims of sex trafficking

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Female perpetration of child sexual abuse and trafficking for exploitation is often overlooked by society and often goes undetected. The researchers will answer the question: What are the modus operandi and tactics employed by female perpetrators in cases of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSEA). This presentation will show the preliminary findings in a multi-year study based on exploratory research methods, in-depth literature review, survivor interviews, and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Darknet analysis. Empirical evidence is more limited when looking at the female as a perpetrator, instead of the victim. There is a misguided belief that women, including female family members, are always nurturing individuals who can be trusted with children which has engineered the notion that they are less likely to commit sexual crimes against a child in comparison to men (Hamilton, 2021). Yet, in Ena Lucia’s research, participants of child sexual abuse and trafficking reported the presence of female abusers, “buyers”, and/or traffickers (familial and non-familial), with high levels of sadism. Women abusers and exploiters present a unique criminological challenge because sexually abusive relationships can be difficult to identify (Turton, 2010), as female offenders usually hold a dominant or authority status over the male or female child as mothers, teachers, or caregivers (Hamilton, 2021). Additionally, female perpetrators also receive significantly lighter criminal sentencing for child sexual abuse and exploitation related crimes compared to men (Hamilton, 2021). This presentation will investigate the modus operandi of the ignored perpetrator, with real examples from survivor testimonies and online OSINT analysis.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Give an overview of research conducted on female perpetrators, traffickers, and buyers

·  Provide a deeper understanding of the male and female experience in child sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking done by female perpetrators

·  Present an in-depth analysis of the marketing and sales cycle of human trafficking

·  Discuss the modus operandi of female exploiters

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