Holly Smith, author of Walking Prey, did a Q-and-A with survivors of human trafficking in the article about federal efforts
to help survivors. Here is an excerpt:
Last month, the White House administration announced a five-year “Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the Unites States…, a collaborative effort involving more than 15 agencies across the Federal Government.”
...In response to the Plan, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families created a technical working group with the goal to enhance the health care system’s response to human trafficking.
What are the needs of human trafficking victims (both short and long-term) as it relates to healthcare providers?
One very important need for both short and long-term care is quality trauma-informed psychotherapy. Victims deserve to have a legal right to these services. Receiving such services from a counselor who has the training and understanding of trauma and its complexities can make all the difference in the world to a survivor’s process of healing.– Margeaux Gray
Do you have any advice for health professionals regarding the signs of human trafficking and/or how to identify potential cases of human trafficking? How do victims of human trafficking present in healthcare settings?
Oftentimes, when a medical professional is with a patient, they may not even know it. Even if the professional is suspicious of the patient’s behavior, the last thing many American medical professionals ever consider is human trafficking. This is the reason I provide trainings that provide tools on what exactly sex trafficking looks like and how to talk with victims; this assists both patients and medical staff in ensuring a positive outcome for all parties involved. For example, in my training I include red flags and indicators of sex trafficking in a medical setting, including the following: no insurance/cash pay; tattoos of traffickers name or initials and/or any tattoo referring to money or “daddy” especially in a provocative location that would only be visible during an exam; patient is not alone, often with a controlling male or another female claiming to be a friend or relative.– Rebecca Bender
You can read the other questions and responses at:
http://www.commdiginews.com/life/survivors-offer-insight-to-federal-anti-trafficking-efforts-8865/
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