Sex Trafficking: Treatment Process For Victims

Human trafficking is a public health problem within the United States and Internationally. The victims subjected to the lifestyle of human trafficking can have sexually transmitted disease, HIV virus, and AIDS. It is an estimated 30,000 victims of human sex trafficking dying each year from abuse, disease, torture, and neglect. According, to U.S. government an estimates, of 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, and up to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year (Hodge, 2008). “According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30 million children have been sexually exploited through human trafficking” (Random Facts, 2015, para. 24).

Paola Monzini notes that prostitution and sex trafficking are two different things. Prostitution involves the selling of sexual services. Trafficking, by contrast, is defined as:

Every year thousands of people of all genders, race, and age become victimized in sex trafficking. These people who become victims are usually vulnerable and are living in poverty structured areas. Many countries around the world are dealing with this serious issue, even in the United States. The United States federal law has defined sex trafficking as an act, “in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” (Polaris Project). Sex trafficking is not only seen as a crime but is also seen as a business of supply and demand to many people. This business makes a profit of about 9.8 billion dollars a year. In recent events it has been shown that sex trafficking increases during big sporting events. As a result, some actions have been taken to combat the issue, but not enough. Therefore, due to the fact that sex trafficking is a worldwide issue and it is increasing over time; I will argue how there needs to be changes to the approach we have on the issue of sex trafficking.

In the article, Characteristics of survivors of juvenile sex trafficking: Implications for treatment and intervention initiatives, the authors conducted the survey to understand what factors could have possibly contributed to the decision made by teenagers to consider the act of sex trafficking. The belief amongst the authors was that those who have survived juvenile sex trafficking have had experienced some abuse/neglect or even trauma (Hargreaves-Cormany & Patterson, 2016, p. 32). Not only are the researchers wondering about the abuse/neglect, but do the young women have a secure attachment with their family and peers or more of an insecure attachment. By having a secure attachment means that the child has a close relationship with those around them and s/he feels as though their basic needs are being met; physically and emotionally. The teenagers with an insecure attachment are not surrounded with love, respect and nurturing; all the things that one needs to grow in a positive way. The group of individuals that would be interested in this type of research would be that of counselors in trying to figure out what would entice young ladies to want to be sex traffickers and how would one implement interventions and counseling methods. In having teenagers experience situations such as neglect, lack of support, homelessness or even stress, one could be at risk in pursing the act of juvenile sex-trafficking.

Nothing drives emotions out the window more than hearing about innocent children being used for sex. In Cambodia, sex trafficking has grown into a troublesome issue. Sex trafficking has become one of the fastest growing crimes occurring internationally. It is the third largest crime-business in the world, after drugs and arms trafficking. Women, girls, and even men and boys are victims of the billion-dollar sex trafficking industry. Sex trafficking occurs everywhere, and it is not culturally specific, but a gender specific issue. There are numerous cases of sex trafficking within Cambodia, however child sex trafficking is extremely captivating and distressing to learn about.

Human trafficking, commonly known as modern day slavery, is a secretive crime that has generated billions of dollars worldwide and currently enslaves more than twice the total number of people involved in the 350-year African Slave Trade (Bates & Soodalter, 2009 cited in Richards, 2014). Approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders and 14,500 to 17,500 of those individuals are being trafficked within and across the United States border annually (Richards, 2014). Trafficked individuals experience many health issues and nurses are one of the first health professionals to be in contact with trafficked individuals during their captivity and upon their release (Holland, 2014). The researchers are gathering information to educate nurses on evidence based practice for victims of human trafficking and the key health assessment techniques. Providing community resources and patient and family education are topics that will be discussed pertaining to the nurse’s role in intervention. With the assistance of the Colorado Human Trafficking Council, the researchers were in contact with a local registered nurse involved and human trafficking advocate. The findings will be discussed.

Human trafficking has received increasing global attention over the past decade. Trafficking of women and girls for forced sex work and, to a lesser extent, domestic servitude, were the sole focus of advocacy and assistance. There is recognition in today’s society that women, children, and men are trafficked into many different forms of labour, and for sexual exploitation. In her article, “Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women”, Cathy Zimmerman and Heidi Stockl focus on the commonality of human trafficking and how evident it is in everyday life. They bring in the health effects and possible solutions to human trafficking to help validate their opinion and argument. In the solutions they offer, Zimmerman and Stockl shine a light on policy-makers/decision-makers, health-care providers, and researchers/funders and what each of these groups of people can do to help combat the issue of human trafficking. In a quote from their article, Stockl and Zimmerman say: “Health care providers and organizations involved with trafficked persons should increase their capacity to identify and refer people in trafficking situations and provide sensitive and safe services to people post-trafficking”. This quote shows how Zimmerman and Stockl believe human trafficking should be combated by caring and talking to those affected by the issue but how they also believe awareness should be made about human trafficking so as to allow people surrounding the issue to identify and help victims of this issue. Zimmerman and Stockl’s view on the ways human trafficking should be combatted relate to those of Soroptimist due to the fact that the two groups of people are focused mainly on helping women and girls who have been trafficked and trying to get them to a better life after getting out of the trafficking situation. Both groups focus on helping men as well, providing options to help them such as raising money and awareness, and getting educated on being able to identify victims of human trafficking.

Many life changing stories have been publically announced through Covered. Their advocacy has shown the need for more education, awareness, and assistance in the area of sex trafficking; this is where the health care profession can play our part. Studies show that women often end up in a medical facility where nurses have the opportunity to identify and intervene to help make a difference (Konstantopoulos et al., 2013). Nurses have multiple capabilities to advocate and provide care for this demographic.

Kotrla, K., & Wommack, B. A. (2011). Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2 (Iss. 1), article 5.

In the area of human trafficking, many falsely believe this includes only victims brought to the US from other countries. Another common misconception is that children are not often victims of sex trafficking. Creating a broader understanding of what human trafficking is and how sex trafficking affects every region of the United States is instrumental in bringing about awareness, and most importantly change.

In 2013, Konstantopoulos et al. performed a research study trying to determine how public health effects sex trafficking victims. The study consisted of interviews in eight different cities around the world. They interviewed 277 anti-trafficking stakeholders to look at sex trafficking at a local context. The authors looked at questions that consisted of: who is being trafficked, what causes these individuals to be trafficked and how does healthcare impact these individuals? The study was conducted through interviews that took around sixty minutes to conduct and the study lasted for twelve months. The cities that was included in the study consists of: Los Angeles, New York City, London, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Kolkata, Mumbai and Manila (Konstantopoulos,

It has been estimated that up to 30% of all human trafficking victims will have contact with healthcare provider during the period of time that they’re being victimized. (Perkins, 2015, page 37) The healthcare facilities that may be accessed by the victims here in US may be the following; hospitals particularly the emergency department, urgent care clinics, community health centers, gynecologist or obstetrician offices, family planning centers like Planned Parenthood, and private doctor’s offices. The most common health care setting reported by 63% of trafficked respondents was the ED. (Hachey and Phillippi, 2017, page 36) The healthcare workers especially the nurses are the first ones to come in contact with victims through admission and assessment, therefore, they play a very essential role in identifying possible human trafficking victim. The emergency department(ED) has been identified as the most frequented setting where trafficked victims seek medical care. As a result, it is critical that the healthcare providers are able to identify and appropriately manage the care of the patient who has been trafficked to achieve optimal health and legal outcomes. (Stevens and Berishaj, 2017 page 49) If a nurse believes or feels that

According to the Bureau of Justice, human trafficking is becoming the nations second largest problem, following the war on drugs (“Anti Human Trafficking Initiative” 1.) Statistics on human trafficking in the United States are very scarce and there have not been many studies conducted on the issue. Of the studies done, many of the studies focus only on minors. 100,000-300,000 children are prostituted each year in the United States. In the Ohio, 1,078 people will be trafficked into the sex trade each year. Between January 2003 and June 2006, 15 human trafficking cases were identified in the Columbus and Toledo area. Human trafficking is not something that only takes place in foreign areas, which is why the Polaris project is working to fight human trafficking not only in foreign areas but also in the United States.

Many Americans remain ignorant of human trafficking within the United States, believing that this inhumane act only occurs in third-world countries. No one likes to believe that it can be happening in our own country let alone in some of our own states and cities. Society rarely takes the time to understand these women and what lead them into trafficking and what factors contributed to them staying in trafficking. This study seeks to voice the ability to raise awareness, enhance penalties for the traffickers/violator’s, and offer rehabilitation for the victims.

The role of a social worker in cases of human trafficking is vital because they are the first line of contact with these victims. These women have gone through emotional, psychological and physical trauma that require immediate services to prevent them from revictimization. A social worker must be able to identify these three important issues, identification, exit from trafficking and restoration. The identification process is an essential skill a social worker must have in order to not lose a potential victim. In some instance, many of these women are ignored or overlooked because either they fear retaliation from their abuser or are embarrassed of what is happening to them, so they tend to stay quiet. This becomes a missed opportunity for