Survivors Of Human Trafficking Research Articles

Human trafficking education: A guide for nurse educators.

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery involving exploitation, abuse, and suffering of victims. Survivors of human trafficking often seek medical care for severe health issues resulting from psychological and physical abuse. Nurses play a critical role in identifying, advocating for, and assisting victims of human trafficking to safety. Sadly, trafficked patients often remain unrecognized due to health care providers' lack of awareness and understanding of human trafficking. Undergraduate nursing programs are uniquely positioned to address this problem; educating nursing students about human trafficking should help improve graduates' ability to help rescue victims. A dearth of knowledge exists in the literature regarding the implementation of human trafficking as a content area in undergraduate nursing curricula. This manuscript provides suggestions for how to deliver human trafficking education to undergraduate nursing students including optimal courses and timing in which to integrate the topic, a review of four key content areas of human trafficking, and creative teaching strategies to consider for classroom use.

Survivors’ conceptualizations of human trafficking prevention; An exploratory study

The purpose of this study was to explicate a conceptual framework for the prevention of human trafficking from the perspective of those most impacted: human trafficking survivors. In doing so establishing an empirical foundation for human trafficking prevention research. To achieve this aim, researchers employed Group Concept Mapping (GCM). GCM is an integrated, mixed-method, research design that analyzes qualitative data via quantitative approaches, namely multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses. All participants (N = 35) identified as human trafficking survivors from one of four states in the United States. Results indicate that survivors in this sample conceptualize prevention via a 10-cluster solution. Furthermore survivors rated the cluster on Education and Awareness (9) as the most Important (4.60), as well as the most Feasible (4.28). This paper will review extant literature related to human trafficking, explicate results from this study, and discuss pragmatic prevention implications related to findings.

Modern Heroes, Modern Slaves? Listening to migrant domestic workers’ everyday temporalities

This essay draws on multi-sited, performance art-led research with Filipinx migrant domestic workers in the UK and Lebanon. It explores a dichotomy at work in the portrayal of some workers as bagong bayani or ‘modern heroes’—a phrase coined by then Philippine president Corazon Aquino—and as ‘modern slaves’, a term more recently associated with the humanitarian and state processing of survivors of human trafficking and labour abuse. Simultaneously victimising and venerating workers, I argue that both terms spectacularise experiences of migrant domestic work, untethering it from lived, material conditions. In so doing, the everyday nature of exploitation and abuse encountered by many migrant domestic workers is obscured, as well as the everyday expertise that enables them to evade, de-escalate, and survive it. Through making collaborative soundwalks with migrant domestic workers—a creative form similar to site-specific audio guides—my research identifies ways in which performance methodologies can be attentive to the specific temporalities of their lived experiences and to their decisions about self-representation.

At the Intersection of Method and empowerment: Reflections from a Pilot Photovoice Study with Survivors of Human Trafficking

ABSTRACT As human trafficking research increases, attention to ethical research methods with trafficking survivors is important to ensure equitable processes and reliable results for policy and social services. This article first describes Photovoice, a participatory research method that asks individuals to take photos and then to narrate the significance of those photos to develop critical consciousness, and second reflects on the Photovoice method for use with survivors of human trafficking. We outline a pilot Photovoice research project with survivors of human trafficking (n = 4) to consider the strengths, challenges, and opportunities that Photovoice offers for basic and applied research. When implemented as part of a trauma-informed and resilience-oriented framework, Photovoice promotes participants’ sense of empowerment, self-competence, and self-esteem. We discuss how Photovoice can support vulnerable populations, including survivors of human trafficking, while also generating rich and nuanced research data. Our reflections on the lessons learned conducting Photovoice research will support others to implement the method to empower individuals who have survived human trafficking and will promote research contributing to a more just, peaceful, and inclusive society.

A Qualitative Analysis of the Intervention Experiences of Human Trafficking Survivors and At-risk Women in Ghana

ABSTRACT This study documents the positive and negative intervention experiences of 37 trafficked and at-risk women from a residential care facility in Accra, Ghana. In-depth interviews were analyzed with the Atlas T.I. software using a primarily inductive approach in thematic analysis. Participants recommended provision of necessities, psychosocial support, continued support, and provision of financial capital to start a micro-business after program completion. They also requested that the program could have extended the length of training and provided more marketable skills. The study shows the importance of victim-centered programs for female survivors of trafficking and other exploitations.

Surviving trafficking, seeking asylum: waiting, status and the state

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the support available from identification through to recovery for survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking in the United Kingdom (UK) following the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act in 2015.Design/methodology/approachTwenty-nine semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) providing direct support to survivors and law enforcement engaged in initial identification, rescue and support.FindingsThematic analysis identified that survivors' experiences of support and negotiation of state processes is challenging, requiring lengthy periods of waiting. This experience is often compounded by variations in knowledge of processes and systems by front line staff, resulting in negative impacts on outcomes for survivors.Research limitations/implicationsThe small number of research participants could be regarded as a limitation but is common in qualitative, exploratory studies. A larger study should be conducted to test these initial findings. The implications propose a revision of policy especially for asylum-seeking survivors.Originality/valueThe study was conducted two years after the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act, 2015, during a period in which gaps in processes and support for survivors were beginning to emerge. This study offers a timely assessment of these gaps and argues for a review of policy and its implementation.

Survivor’s Perceptions of Human Trafficking Rehabilitation Programs in Nigeria: Empowerment or Disempowerment?

ABSTRACT While disagreements about the value of rehabilitation programs persist, these programs are still largely seen as essential for the protection of the human rights of survivors of human trafficking, and the facilitation of their recovery and empowerment after trafficking. Consequently, it is not surprising that rehabilitation programs are a core component of the Nigerian government’s anti-trafficking policies. However, only limited efforts have so far been directed at ascertaining the extent to which these rehabilitation programs result in the empowerment of survivors in Nigeria. To address this gap, this paper explores the extent to which survivors’ perceptions and experiences in the rehabilitation programs reflect the ideals of empowerment. Drawing on qualitative data, we show that the government’s conceptualization of human trafficking influences their collaborative rehabilitation efforts, and that such efforts seem to simultaneously empower and disempower survivors.The paper concludes by considering the policy implications in the African context.

Human trafficking: The relationship between government efforts & survivor punishment

ABSTRACT Human trafficking is a global public health and human rights issue, although it remains unknown how governmental-level systems impact survivors of human trafficking. Survivor punishment (where federal or local officials arrest, fine, imprison, deport, or otherwise punish survivors) is evident even with global promotion of survivor-centred approaches to human trafficking. This study serves as an initial investigation of how government involvement in survivor services and prevention progress are related to survivor punishment. This cross-national study utilised the 2011 Human Trafficking Indicators. Although this dataset heavily relies on the U.S. TIP reports, our analyses are guided by a human rights framework that recognises the importance of prevention and partnerships in mitigating the vulnerability of survivors. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine factors associated with survivor punishment. Findings indicate that countries categorised by the U.S. as showing substantial prevention progress have a lower likelihood of survivor punishment (OR = 0.30; 95% CI [0.15, 0.62]). Government survivor service offering was not significantly associated with punishment (OR = 0.65; 95% CI [0.33, 1.28]). Findings call for the development of global measures resulting from international partnerships to characterise stocks and flows of human trafficking, as well as the quality and effectiveness of governmental efforts and partnerships.

Multiplicity of stigma: cultural barriers in anti-trafficking response

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to contribute to the social understanding of stigma as a societal and cultural barrier in the life of a survivor of human trafficking. The findings illustrate several ways where stigma is internal, interpersonal and societal and impacts survivors’ lives, including the care they receive.Design/methodology/approachThis study used qualitative methods. Data collection occurred during 2018 with efforts such as an online survey (n=45), focus groups (two focus groups of seven participants each) and phone interviews (n=6). This study used thematic analysis of qualitative data.FindingsThe research team found that a multiplicity of stigma occurred for the survivors of human trafficking, where stigma occurred across three levels from micro to meso to macro contexts. Using interpretive analysis, the researchers conceptualized how stigma is not singular; rather, it comprises the following: bias in access to care; barriers of shaming, shunning and othering; misidentification and mislabeling; multiple levels of furthering how survivors are deeply misunderstood and a culture of mistrust.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study was conducted in a single US city, it provides an opportunity to create dialogue and appeal for more research that will contend with a lens of seeing a multiplicity of stigma regardless of the political climate of the context. It was a challenge to recruit survivors to participate in the study. However, survivor voices are present in this study and the impetus of the study’s focus was informed by survivors themselves. Finally, this study is informed by the perspectives of researchers who are not survivors; moreover, collaborating with survivor researchers at the local level was impossible because there were no known survivor researchers available to the team.Practical implicationsThere are clinical responses to the narratives of stigma that impact survivors’ lives, but anti-trafficking response must move beyond individualized expectations to include macro responses that diminish multiple stigmas. The multiplicity in stigmas has meant that, in practice, survivors are invisible at all levels of response from micro, meso to macro contexts. Therefore, this study offers recommendations for how anti-trafficking responders may move beyond a culture of stigma towards a response that addresses how stigma occurs in micro, meso and macro contexts.Social implicationsThe social implications of examining stigma as a multiplicity is central to addressing how stigma continues to be an unresolved issue in anti-trafficking response. Advancing the dynamic needs of survivors both in policy and practice necessitates responding to the multiple and overlapping forms of stigma they face in enduring and exiting exploitative conditions, accessing services and integrating back into the community.Originality/valueThis study offers original analysis of how stigma manifested for the survivors of human trafficking. Building on this dynamic genealogy of scholarship on stigma, this study offers a theory to conceptualize how survivors of human trafficking experience stigma: a multiplicity of stigma. A multiplicity of stigma extends existing research on stigma and human trafficking as occurring across three levels from micro, meso to macro contexts and creating a system of oppression. Stigma cannot be reduced to a singular form; therefore, this study argues that survivors cannot be understood as experiencing a singular form of stigma.

CONSEQUENCES EXPERIENCED BY WOMEN SURVIVORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Trafficking of women for domestic and sexual exploitation has devastating consequences for women survivors rescued in South Africa. Empirical findings revealed that women survivors of human trafficking (WSHT) suffer and endure intense and unspeakable traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, economic and social experiences. Trafficked women are denied fundamental human rights, including basic and broadly accepted individual freedoms. The article discusses a qualitative research study designed to explore the perceptions of women survivors concerning the consequences experienced by WSHT using one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted in residential shelters for women in Gauteng province, South Africa. Recommendations are suggested regarding support for WSHT.

A qualitative needs assessment of human trafficking in Ethiopia: recommendations for a comprehensive, coordinated response

BackgroundHuman trafficking is a global human rights violation that has profound health, economic, and social impacts. There has been little investigation of service needs and response options for human trafficking survivors in Ethiopia. The purpose of this study was to understand the potential service needs and response options for human trafficking in Ethiopia from multiple stakeholder perspectives.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative needs assessment and used content analysis to analyze individual interviews with key stakeholder groups including service providers, academics, lawyers, and non-government organization (NGO) workers between the summer of 2015 – spring of 2016.ResultsIn total, 17 individuals participated and content analysis elicited four overarching themes related to post-trafficking needs, including mental health considerations, barriers and facilitators to providing survivor services, survivor service needs, and comprehensive care models.ConclusionsThis qualitative needs assessment suggests that trafficking survivors may require professional and community services throughout their trafficking experiences, including medical care, economic and job opportunities, legal advocacy, and mental health services. Interventions should harness preexisting community strengths such as Ethiopia’s “social healing system,” health extension workers, and mobile technology. Future studies should explore tailored interventions and comprehensive models of care implemented within the pre-existing healthcare, social service, and community structures.

Lifeline: A Qualitative Analysis of the Post Intervention Experiences of Human Trafficking Survivors and At-risk Women in Ghana

ABSTRACTPurpose: With the increasing number of assistance programs that target trafficking survivors around the globe, there is a need for documentation of evidence that can inform such programs. This paper examined and documented the post-intervention experiences of trafficked and vulnerable women who had received services at Lifeline, a residential care facility in Ghana, West Africa.Method: The study employed a secondary qualitative analysis of in-depth, face-to face interviews with n = 37 participants. Data analyzes were conducted using thematic analysis and themes and sub-themes were then extracted.Findings: Three major themes emerged from the study: major achievements after leaving Lifeline; challenges after leaving Lifeline; and family dynamics and relations after leaving Lifeline.Conclusion: Despite experiencing various social, psychological, and economic challenges after the intervention, participants reported that this particular agency had positively impacted their lives.

From Victimization to Restoration: Multi-Disciplinary Collaborative Approaches to Care and Support Victims and Survivors of Human Trafficking

ABSTRACT In 2000, the United States (U.S.) enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law that defined Human Trafficking (HT). Between 2000 and 2019, every state has enacted laws criminalizing HT. In 2015, the U.S. government encouraged health-care providers to gain awareness of this issue and utilize identification protocols to screen and assist HT patient-victims. Although HT became part of the health-care discourse, few states have enacted laws requiring training for health-care providers or protocols for the identification of patient-victims. Thus, HT victims continue to go unidentified or under-screened in medical settings. The health outcomes of HT victims continue to be negatively impacted long after being trafficked; hence, intervention is crucial and requires a multi-disciplinary response. This analysis proposes the collaboration of medicine, public health, law, and human rights fields as an optimal model. It also provides the historical progression of federal and state human-trafficking laws and recommendations to ensure the protection of human rights of HT victims. Key recommendations include: (a) mandating continuous training of health-care providers for the identification of HT patient-victims, (b) mirroring federal laws at the state level to ensure the protection of HT victims’ human rights, and (c) collaboration across noted fields.

Social work interventions for human trafficking victims’ in Nigeria

Human trafficking victims require holistic and long-term services if their social conditions are to be improved. This study aims to explore the nature of social work services for human trafficking survivors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a cohort of social workers in a statutory anti-trafficking organization in southern Nigeria and the results were analyzed using thematic analysis. While the social workers reported providing services to trafficking survivors, these services were mainly rehabilitation-driven and short-term-focused. Although the research relates to a small-scale study, it has far-reaching implications for social work professionals and the Nigerian political leadership.

Characteristics and Healthcare Needs of Women Who Are Trafficked for Sex in the United States: An Integrative Literature Review.

Human sex trafficking is a major public health issue. The United States is the second largest market for sex-trafficked women, yet few healthcare interventions, designed for women specifically, have been identified. The purpose of this review was to present a systematic review of the literature on the characteristics and healthcare needs of women who have been trafficked for sex in the United States. This literature review was conducted following the methodology outlined by Whittmore and Knalf and written using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses criteria. Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health, PsychInfo, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched. A quality assessment tool was used to determine rigor of the studies included in this review. Nine publications met the inclusion criteria. Three studies specifically explored health. Four studies were composed solely of women born outside the United States, and two studies reported differences across many variables, including overall health, between women born outside the United States and women born within the United States. A lack of resources and an inadequate response by the health system resulted in care that was not optimal. There are differences between U.S.-born and non-U.S.-born victims. Evidence on the healthcare needs of U.S.-born women trafficked for sex in the United States is extremely limited. Research focusing on the health perceptions of women survivors of human sex trafficking may shed light on how they perceive health, care, and the health system and what they identify as important for key stakeholders to understand.

Identifying and Assisting Human Trafficking Survivors: A Post-Training Analysis of First Responders

Identifying and Assisting Human Trafficking Survivors: A Post-Training Analysis of First Responders

Understanding Health Care Access Disparities Among Human Trafficking Survivors: Profiles of Health Care Experiences, Access, and Engagement.

Human trafficking is associated with a profound burden of physical and psychological trauma. Survivors of trafficking interact with the health care system during and after their experiences of trafficking. Socioeconomic isolation, stigma, shame, guilt, fear of judgment, fear of retribution by traffickers, fear of law enforcement authorities, and other factors known to inhibit disclosure can exert a formative influence on survivors' health care experiences, health care access, and health services engagement. Using a mixed qualitative-quantitative social science research method, known as by-person factor analysis (or Q-methodology), the current analysis systematically examines the scope of trafficking survivors' health care experiences and perceptions of medical care, health care access behaviors, and degree of engagement with health services. Among 33 survivors of human trafficking surveyed, 21 met inclusion criteria for this analysis. Three distinct profiles of survivor health care experiences and health services engagement-Avoidant, Distrustful, and Constrained-are identified from the aggregate of survivors' perceptions of medical care. Although there are salient differences across the three survivor profiles, a feeling of disenfranchisement is a common thread and directly related to health care access behaviors and health services engagement. Understanding that the feeling of disenfranchisement functions as a filter through which trafficking survivors perceive and experience medical care can help health care professionals take appropriate countermeasures. Implications for improving health care access and engagement include the implementation of trauma-responsive, culturally sensitive, and survivor-centered care practices.

Systematic review of facilitators of, barriers to, and recommendations for healthcare services for child survivors of human trafficking globally

BackgroundChild trafficking is associated with multiple physical and mental health problems, yet relatively little is known about the factors that facilitate or hamper delivery of high-quality health care services to trafficked children. ObjectiveTo summarize information about identified facilitators of, barriers to, and recommendations for medical and mental health service provision to trafficked children. Participants and settingA systematic review was conducted of the English-language, peer-reviewed literature on medical and mental healthcare of trafficked children published since 2010. MethodsInclusion criteria were: (1) the study population or focus included, wholly or in part, individuals under the age of 18 years; (2) the study focus was clearly defined as human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation; (3) a main focus included health services or barriers to care, and (4) the article contained original data. ResultsOf the 29 articles meeting inclusion criteria, 19 included facilitators of health service provision to trafficked populations, 22 included barriers to that provision, and 25 included explicit recommendations for service improvement. 45 distinct facilitators were identified a total of 140 times, 118 distinct barriers were identified a total of 174 times, and 52 distinct recommendations were identified a total of 100 times. The majority of facilitators, barriers, and recommendations fell under the locus of the healthcare provider and healthcare organization. ConclusionsExisting research reveals abundant areas of opportunity for healthcare professionals and healthcare administrators to improve access to, and quality of, medical and mental health care for trafficked children.

Taking a wider view

PurposeResponding to the call for an extension of social marketing scope and application, this paper aims to outline implementation of a multi-stream, multi-method formative research approach to understanding human trafficking in the global South context of Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a multi-method, multi-stream research design. The study used alternative methods allowing a critical perspective to be taken.FindingsContradictions between upstream discourses and the lived experiences of trafficked individuals emerged. Specifically, moral and rational agency ideology, which conflates human trafficking with prostitution, unintentionally promotes human trafficking and underrepresents other forms of trafficking was evident. Experiences of socioeconomic oppression, traditional practices and an aspirational culture fuels positive attitudes towards human trafficking. The lived experience of human trafficking survivors while varied was underpinned by the common theme of job seeking. Participants perceived human traffickers as benevolent users rather than oppressors, and their rescue as oppressive and disempowering.Research limitations/implicationsApplication of a multi-stream approach is limited by research context, sample size, time and cost constraints. Future research extending the multi-stream research approach to other research contexts and groups is recommended.Practical implicationsMulti-stream formative research design assisted to yield wider insights, which informed the design of a multilevel pilot intervention to combat human trafficking in Nigeria.Originality/valueExtending understanding beyond individual, myopic approaches that have dominated social marketing formative research.

Deconstructing Underlying Assumptions about Trafficked Minors and Children

In Trafficked Children and Youth in the United States: Reimagining Survivors, Elżbieta M. Goździak (2016) not only explores the experiences of children and youth who have been exploited by their traffickers, but she also addresses the system in the United States that seeks to intervene and assist them. In order to understand this apparent process of victimisation, Goździak articulates the need to deconstruct popular conceptions of human trafficking itself, particularly as she seeks to give voice to the survivors and lend credibility to the trauma that they have endured. In order to accomplish this larger purpose, Goździak begins by identifying service providers which assist in the aftercare process for those impacted by human trafficking. She then spends time visiting these aftercare facilities, listening to the children and youth survivors of human trafficking, and documenting their stories and life circumstances.