Approximately 90 million migrants are living and working outside their home countries, many seeking security and sustainable livelihoods. These migrants often take on "3D jobs" characterized by low wages, little security, and hazardous conditions. Forced labor affects millions globally, with 49.6 million individuals trapped in modern slavery in 2021, including 27.6 million enduring forced labor. Of these, 17.3 million suffer exploitation in the private sector, and 3.9 million are victims of state-sanctioned forced labor. Shockingly, 6 million women and girls, along with 12% of children, are subjected to forced labor. Addressing decent work deficiencies in the informal economy is vital in combating this issue. This study aims to evaluate safeguarding strategies for individuals affected by forced labor exploitation-related human trafficking and child trafficking along the Mediterranean migration route, aligning with sustainable development goals. Semi-structured and qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with experts from Italy and Turkey. A total of 46 participants, including 15 from Italy and 31 from Turkey, were involved. Grounded theory guided data analysis using MAXQDA 2020 Pro Analytics software, revealing 2,942 codes, 17 sub-themes, and 4 main themes. These themes covered victim profiles, available services, challenges in service provision, and proposals for an effective protection system. The conclusion and discussion section compared results within the Council of Europe Convention framework, allowing for a comparative analysis between Italy and Turkey. Recommendations were made to address identified gaps in combating forced labor exploitation.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Discuss protective measures for those impacted by forced labor exploitation, specifically human and child trafficking along the Mediterranean migration route

•  Describe how to seek alignment with sustainable development goals to ensure effective safeguarding strategies

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This presentation will examine familial exploitation from a family-system perspective.  Take a deep dive into the behavioral indicators, family dynamics, and offender characteristics that contribute to family-controlled exploitation. Exploitation of this kind involves family members selling their minor children for money, drugs, or something else of value (e.g., access, prestige, or recreation) and typically includes manufacturing of child sex abuse material. Families who exploit their children commercially often have adversities, dysfunctions, and disorders that create a household dynamic of coercion and secrecy, making identification and intervention extremely difficult. These children often attend school, church, and other community functions, but go unnoticed as needing assistance. Exploitation of this kind causes severe psychological trauma, negatively impacting the individual throughout their lifespan. While identification is difficult, it is not impossible. Join this session for a closer look at familial exploitation, examine key identifiers, and discuss intervention strategies throughout the lifespan.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Provide a thorough understanding of familial trafficking, including dysfunctional household dynamics

•  Identify key behavioral indicators of the family system and victim/survivor

•  Explore survivor-informed intervention strategies across the lifespan

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It is well known that individuals with complex trauma and especially those with marginalized identities have not received quality mental health care. Many of these reasons stem from budgeting and other systemic challenges of providing therapy in community mental health. However, with individuals connected to commercial sex, clinicians are also missing key cultural and trauma informed pieces. Therapists often even over focus on trauma in commercial sex, often fetishizing the individual, or they feel they cannot go near those experiences and discuss them and avoid them at all costs. This presentation will explore providing therapy as an ally and how to provide quality care. It will explore the benefits of trauma informed therapy, use of EMDR, and particularly Dolores Mosquera’s progressive approach theory to provide healing for individuals connected to commercial sex. She will discuss the challenges of using standard protocol of EMDR with individuals who have been connected to the commercial sex trade. She will explore common themes that occurred when attempting to provide EMDR. She will discuss her protocols that allowed individuals to benefit from therapy and experience relief. She will explore how to provide EMDR to individuals currently in the life without flooding or re-traumatization. She will provide case examples and discuss the benefits seen. Finally, she will explore the importance of culturally attuned care as well as having access to quality and thorough trauma treatment to survivors. She will expand on how providing quality care is a social justice and rights issue for individuals connected to commercial sex.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Increase knowledge regarding therapy provided to commercial sex trade survivors

•  Explore how EMDR can support healing for commercial sex trade survivors

•  Support attendees to identify how they can increase their clinical support of individuals in commercial sex through their organizations

•  Identify how providing quality care to individuals connected to commercial sex is a social justice issue

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Effective partnerships between law enforcement and the communities they serve are a key component in effectively identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking and investigating and prosecuting traffickers. Agencies that focus on the three principles of community policing – partnerships, problem solving, and organizational change - have seen success in building trust and strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve; including populations that may be particularly vulnerable to trafficking. This session will focus on promising practices in community policing approaches to human trafficking with the goal to explore how the law enforcement response to human trafficking might be strengthened throughout the field. Panelists will also discuss available resources and technical assistance available to the field.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Identify promising practices for combatting human trafficking

•  Provide collaborative strategies for engaging with services providers and survivors

•  Identify investigative strategies using community policing approaches

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Coercive control is a cornerstone of sex trafficking. It entraps survivors in the vicious cycle of abuse and keeps them under the trafficker’s power - even though the door is “wide open” for them to leave. Understanding coercive control and its deep impacts on survivors is key to understanding the nuances of sex trafficking and supporting survivors in a transformative way. Using an intersectional feminist approach that is trauma-informed and survivor-centric, Marissa will explore coercive control in the context of sex trafficking. This knowledge is a feature of Aura Freedom's award-winning human trafficking prevention work and their ground-breaking online Human Trafficking Info Hub. Through various examples, Marissa will examine the many forms that coercive control takes, as well as the different control tactics used by traffickers and how they affect survivors when accessing services. Pulling from her own experience supporting survivors, as well as from Aura Freedom’s survivor-informed curricula, Marissa will share how to provide trauma-informed survivor support that acknowledges, considers, and understands coercive control. She will examine the criminalization of survivors as a form of coercive control, and stress the importance of employing the UN Non-Punishment Principle in the anti-trafficking movement. Attendees will gain frontline strategies and grassroots community knowledge to inform their work, support survivors in a good way, and ultimately prevent human trafficking. Most importantly, attendees will learn how to flip the script from “Why don’t they just leave?” to truly understanding coercive control.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Provide insight into the complexities and nuances of sex trafficking by exploring coercive control and its intense effects on survivors

•  Present frontline survivor support strategies for successful human trafficking prevention rooted in human rights, intersectional feminism, equity, and empowerment

•  Highlight transformative, trauma-informed service provision to prevent re-exploitation and disrupt cycles of intergenerational trafficking

•  Examine the criminalization of sex trafficking survivors as a form of Coercive Control, and the importance of the UN Non-Punishment Principle in the anti-trafficking movement

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Deaf individuals are at a higher risk of maltreatment and trafficking than the general population due to systemic vulnerabilities. Specifically, without culturally responsive and linguistically accessible services, Deaf clients (both adults and children) may struggle with reporting maltreatment and receiving services for trauma after experiencing maltreatment. There is an increased risk of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adults who have been maltreated, and as estimates show that deaf children have a high risk of abuse, it is likely that deaf children and adults experience CSEC at a high rate due to systemic issues. This training will discuss the needs of Deaf populations related to trafficking service provision and collaboration with interpreters, Deaf serving agencies, and other supports. Attendees will learn about Deaf community considerations in terms of risk and protective factors in anti-trafficking; cultural and linguistic accessibility; and specialized needs for safe houses, case management, and other types of service provision, including how to work with Deaf led organizations, interpreters, and consultants.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Explain how to reduce risk and safety issues with Deaf youth and adult clients as providers in anti-trafficking

•  Discuss how to engage with Deaf survivors from an empowerment framework and resources for support

•  Discuss how to find resources for accommodations and cultural competency building

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Human trafficking has a complex relationship with artificial intelligence (AI). AI serves as both a powerful ally and potential adversary in the battle against modern-day slavery, with our prioritization of humanity determining the victor. While acting as Project Manager for a human trafficking abolition organization, Property Manager for the Anchorage, Alaska Emergency Women’s Shelter, and Criminal Justice Technician in the Sex Offender Registry for the Alaska Department of Safety, Sabrina faced sex traffickers preying on the vulnerable and learned how they run their businesses. The presenter will critically examine the darker side of AI and ethical considerations in the development and implementation of AI tools, with a call to prioritize human rights and privacy. While AI holds immense promise for bolstering anti-trafficking efforts, it simultaneously poses risks and ethical concerns that demand vigilant consideration. Highlighting the positive aspects, the presentation explores how AI technologies can enhance the identification, prevention, and intervention strategies employed by human trafficking advocates. From predictive analytics to data-driven awareness campaigns, the potential for AI to revolutionize the field is underscored. In conclusion, the presentation offers recommendations for a balanced approach, urging the integration of ethical guidelines into AI initiatives. It calls upon the audience to actively participate in shaping AI policies that prioritize the welfare of vulnerable populations. The talk serves as a thought-provoking exploration of the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of AI and the fight against human trafficking, urging a collective commitment to responsible and human-centric AI practices.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Provide a comprehensive exploration of the dual role played by artificial intelligence in the context of human trafficking

•  Highlight specific instances and applications where AI has positively impacted anti-trafficking efforts, showcasing how AI tools can be leveraged for identification, prevention, and intervention strategies

•  Actively engage the audience in a discussion about the ethical implications of using AI in anti-trafficking initiatives

•  Offer recommendations for a balanced and ethical approach to utilizing AI in the fight against human trafficking

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The dearth of available information on early onset commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) is a serious knowledge gap. This study sought to identify common patterns and variations in the life histories of adults who experienced CSE prior to the age 11. A community-based participatory research approach was used to conduct interviews at two and three timepoints with 10 adults whose CSE began below age 11. Most participants (n = 8) identified as cis women (Mage = 38). The average age of CSE onset was 4.78 years. Primary traffickers were biological family, step/adoptive caregivers, daycare provider, and a neighbor. Reflective thematic analysis was used to identify six themes: (1) Stolen identities and isolated childhoods; (2) Hidden lives amid severe, chronic abuse; (3) Indifferent to bad to worse family dynamics; (4) Structural oppression: Churches, cults, and patriarchy; (5) Surviving complex trauma; and (6) In the pursuit of justice. Surviving chaotic and unpredictable childhoods that included caregivers’ severe mental illness and chronic abuse resulted in a range of cognitive, somatic, and behavioral responses, such as dissociation and self-injurious behaviors. Although participants were not offered services after exiting CSE and traffickers were never prosecuted, they displayed a strong commitment to help prevent and stop future child exploitation. This is the first study to center the experiences of adults initiated into CSE at very young ages and to use a community-engaged approach to do so. Implications for research, policy, and practice will be discussed.

 

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Describe pathways into CSE that were initiated at very young ages by trusted adults

•  Explore differences in CSE pathways and life course development as compared to those initiated into exploitation during adolescence

•  Evaluate gaps in current prevention and intervention strategies in the anti-trafficking field

•  Consider policies and programs that could better support those who experience early onset CSE

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