Recognizing and Responding to Human Trafficking in Texas (Mandatory) 1 Contact Hour
By: John Makopoulos, MD and Dawn Demangone-Yoon, MD Learning objectives After completing this course, the learner will be able to: Describe the types and venues of human trafficking in the United States. Discuss communication strategies to assist with identification of trafficked persons. Course overview Human trafficking has been called a form of modern-day slavery. 1,2 It is a crime involving the exploitation of someone for the purpose of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. 1 Victims can be women or men, adults or children, citizens or noncitizens and occurs across the United States and throughout the world. Human trafficking does not require crossing of international or state borders.
Discuss the importance of safety planning and protocols. Identify resources for reporting suspected victims of human trafficking.
For clinicians and health care workers, human trafficking can be viewed as a serious health risk associated with significant physical and psychological harms. 3 The abuses suffered by people who are trafficked include many forms of physical violence or abuse (e.g., beating, burning, rape, confinement) as well as many psychologically damaging tactics such as threats to themselves or their family members, blackmail, extortion, lies about the person’s rights, and confiscation of vital identity documents. 3
INTRODUCTION
What Is human trafficking? Human trafficking is defined as:
● Being disabled. ● Belonging to a marginalized or stigmatized gender, ethnic, or cultural group. Traffickers use various techniques to control their victims and keep them enslaved. Some traffickers hold their victims under lock and key. More frequently, however, more subtle techniques ○ The public by limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any contact is monitored or superficial in nature. ○ Family members and friends. ● Control: ○ Confiscation or control of passports or other identification documents. ○ Debt bondage through enormous financial obligations or an undefined or increasing debt. ○ Control of the victims' money. ● Intimidation/threat: ○ Use or threat of violence toward victims or their family members. ○ Shaming victims by exposing humiliating circumstances to their families. ○ Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact authorities. “Victim” or “Survivor”? The terms “victim” and “survivor” can both be used to refer to individuals who were trafficked. The term “victim” has legal implications within the criminal justice process and generally means an individual who suffered harm as a result of criminal conduct. 1 are used such as: 9 ● Isolation from: “Survivor” is a term used by many in the health services field to recognize the strength it takes to continue on a journey toward healing in the aftermath of a traumatic experience.
“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” 4 The phrase “human smuggling” is often confused with “human trafficking” but they are two quite different crimes. Human smuggling involves the provision of a service—typically transportation or fraudulent documents—to an individual who voluntarily seeks illegal entry into a foreign country. 5 Also sometimes confused is the difference between sex trafficking and consensual commercial sex (sex work). Sex trafficking is when an adult takes part in the sale of sex through threat, abduction, or other means of coercion, whereas sex work involves the willing and consensual exchange of money for sex and does not infringe on the human rights of the participants. 6 ( Note : Children cannot technically be prostitutes or sex workers because they cannot legally consent to commercial sex.) Many victims of human trafficking are forced to engage in sexual practices through threats or other types of coercion, but trafficking also occurs as labor exploitation in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Many victims are lured with false promises of well-paying jobs or manipulated by people they trust. 1 They are forced or coerced into prostitution, domestic servitude, or other types of forced labor (e.g., agriculture, construction, fisheries, mining industries). Victims can be found in legitimate and illegitimate labor industries, including sweatshops, massage parlors, agriculture, restaurants, hotels, street peddling, door to door sales, begging, and domestic service. 1 Although anyone can be at risk for being a victim of human trafficking, most are women and girls. 7 Risk factors for being vulnerable to human trafficking include: 8 ● Extreme poverty. ● Minimal education. ● A history of abuse or family instability.
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Book Code: MTX1323
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