Dr. Mulk and Roma Raj will be sharing their humble experiences as Indian Healers (based in New Delhi, India) and experience working on coalition building with American health workers for finding ways to eliminate the problems of human trafficking and prostitution.
(the sentence before can be shared in the presentation)  In a recent report on social justice and determinants of health, the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that because of social inequities, it will take international efforts and massive political will to improve the health conditions of much of the world's population (2000). This presentation will discuss the word HEALTH as our objective and further analyze the adverse impact of human trafficking and prostitution on humanity. A focus on how pooling our resources together on a universal level and coalition building raises consciousness so we can muster a force to awaken humanity.

       Sexually transmitted diseases are not limited to HIV and Aids but genital herpes can be passed on just by skin contact without any intercourse. The American Center for Disease control (CDC) reported in 2000 that 45 million Americans (one in every six) are infected with genital herpes.
With support from the Bill Gates Foundation, CD's in every language of the world should reach vulnerable youth in the next two years with the goal to educate growing kids who are at risk of getting engaged in traps of the traffickers.

Objectives:
1) Increase understanding of the importance of universal (international) team work for coalition building and consciousness raising.
2) To explore strategies for reducing hate, ego, and violence as obstacles to coalition building and consciousness raising.
3) To chart course of action for key stone education, social justice, and will to share globally.

Read More

This presentation seeks to inform participants of the possibilities for successful interventions using occupational therapy frameworks to treat survivors and combat human trafficking.
 

Objectives:

1)       Participants will be able to identify basic principles and philosophy of occupational therapy.

2)       Participants will be able to identify specific needs of victims and survivors of human trafficking.

3)       Participants will be able to identify potential roles of occupational therapy to treat survivors and combat human trafficking.

The profession of occupational therapy has an extensive history of improving the lives of individuals affected by various types of trauma. Occupational therapy practitioners frequently provide client centered care to populations with similar needs as survivors of human trafficking. Occupational therapy research shows effective intervention with musculoskeletal and psychological diagnoses, traumatic brain injury, and domestic violence using occupation based treatment strategies. The domain of occupational therapy involves improving engagement and performance in daily life activities to positively impact health, wellbeing, and personal satisfaction (AOTA, 2014). Occupational therapy can play a unique role in the prevention, advocacy, and treatment of survivors of human trafficking. Occupational therapists can help combat human trafficking by providing individualized trauma specific intervention using occupation based techniques; consultation services to improve organizational outcomes; improve and/or develop programming for survivors; and further develop and investigate trauma specific interventions.

Read More

This presentation will describe the development and implementation of a one-day pop-up drop in center for persons with histories of or current involvement in prostitution. Twenty-three organizations and over a hundred people volunteers their services and thousands of dollars of donations were received to support the project held two weeks before Super Bowl 2015. A marketing strategy was developed and implement throughout the community. Thirty-four clients attended the event including 12 youth under the age of 18. Lessons learned and future program plans will be discussed along with an outline of how to implement the event in other communities.

Read More

Michigan currently ranks 5th in the nation for human trafficking (Shared Hope International). While Michigan legislature works tirelessly to enact laws that will change the shape of victims' services in this state, certain arenas remain untapped. According to a Stanford University study, the first uninvolved people to come in contact with human trafficking victims are medical professionals (Collins & Grace, 2009). Recently the State of Michigan passed into law a requirement for medical professionals to be trained to identify the signs of human trafficking in patients. While this amendment is extremely important, a lot of necessary information was left out of the Public Act itself: Who will conduct the training? What will the training? How long will the training be? Will the training be comprehensive enough that healthcare professionals feel comfortable identifying possible victims? Can healthcare professionals be held liable for reporting suspected cases? In order to address these questions and any others that may arie, the State of Michigan has created a small grant to be used via the Genesee County Medical Society through the Greater Flint Health Coalition as fiduciary to create a physician's toolkit through the compilation of multiple resources. The finished product will be given back to the State of Michigan, and will be disseminated in Genesee County. Physician feedback, competence, and reporting data will be monitored following the dissemination of the toolkit. The objectives through the creation and dissemination of this physician toolkit are to increase awareness of human trafficking as a public health issue among the health professions and to increase consistency in reporting human trafficking cases within the State.       

Read More

The Commonwealth Caribbean is far from immune to human trafficking, despite widespread belief amongst the population to the contrary. Many Caribbean islands are designated as source, transit and destination countries. All of the Islands in the region who submit data to the United States Trafficking in Persons report are classified as either Tier 2 or Tier 2 Watch List countries. Legislation is in its infancy, and many countries are in the process of developing a framework for the training of Immigration Officers and Police Officers. However, it is submitted that transplanting legislation from elsewhere is not the answer due to the unique geographical, societal and cultural factors which influence the Caribbean. This presentation seeks to analyze the distinctive problems experienced by small island developing states in combatting human trafficking, and consider alternative methods to assist in the fight against human trafficking in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Read More