I chose sex trafficking in health care settings for my topic this week. I chose an article that evaluates identification and care in health care of trafficking victims based on information from trafficking survivors. I had originally been researching sepsis related articles, but four different people in four different places brought up sex trafficking in the news and in Kansas. I chose this article and topic for a few different reasons. All four people had different understandings and information of what is involved with trafficking. Most victims see a health care provider and yet this situation is completely out of control. I chose this article over others because we fundamentally do not have enough information on this topic, and I was impressed with this analysis of information from the source. For my fishbone diagram, I chose basic problems within the health care system that are obstacles to identifying and intervening with trafficking. In fact, the diagram quite basic and unfortunately this is how basic health care workers need to get when addressing this issue. This is a new idea to health care, yet not a new issue in society. I am a charge nurse on my unit and have had to jump through hoops to figure out how and what I was dealing with pertaining to sex trafficking. I still do not know enough about the subject, but I do know that at my hospital (a very large hospital), most of the people that I have worked with are unaware of the fundamentals when dealing with trafficking. The information is not readily available, the managers don’t know about most of the resources, and many employees just skip over any suspicious behavior or don’t notice it altogether. Trafficking is a perfect example of what this diagram is meant to be used for because all elements are truly lacking (where I work), and it seems that it is self-taught among nurses. Up to 98% of people that are being trafficked visit a health care professional, and the majority go unaddressed.
Resource:
Armstrong, S., & Greenbaum, V. J. (2019, September). Using Survivors’ Voices to Guide the Identification and Care of Trafficked Persons by U.S. Health Care Professionals: A Systematic Review. Retrieved from https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=5056769&Journal_ID=646631&Issue_ID=5056435
Cmatthews3, nice post! I agree that not much is said or done about sex trafficking in the healthcare setting. According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (n.d.), 87.8% of trafficking survivors reported accessing healthcare services during their trafficking situation, and 68.3% of them were seen at an emergency department. Sadly, some of these cases go unidentified or addressed. Per a survivor, she visited hospitals, urgent care clinics, women’s health clinics, and private doctors while still on the street, and no one ever asked her anything.
Interestingly, anyone in a health care setting may be in a position to recognize human trafficking – from clerical staff to technicians, and other health care professionals. It is imperative to build awareness among staff to foster the recognition of victims and the opportunity to connect them with much-needed support and services.
Reference
National Human Trafficking Resource Center. (n.d.). Recognizing and responding to human trafficking in a healthcare context. Retrieved February 25, 2020, from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sites/default/files/Recognizing and Responding to Human Trafficking in a Healthcare Context_pdf.pdf
Your post is spot on with things that need to be addressed. You are very correct in that there isn’t enough being done to educate medical staff on how to identify sex trafficking and how to help them if they do see something that seems fishy. “The Stop, Observe, Ask and Respond (SOAR) to Health and Wellness Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in February. It proposes providing health care professionals with training on how to identify and appropriately treat human trafficking victims.” This would be beneficial to help those that are in regular contact with these potential victims.
Waugh, L., & Brangoccio, K. (n.d.). Human Trafficking and the Health Care System . Retrieved from https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/human-trafficking-and-the-health-care-system.aspx
Human sex trafficking is prevalent throughout the world. I was born and raised on the Island of Jamaica. Although there was a human-trafficking law, women and young girls throughout the Island were being exploited due to poverty or other reasons. Some women, especially younger girls aged 13 to 20 years, were forced into having sex with older men for jobs, the exchange of gifts, or money to take to the family. As a child about 11 years old, I was approached by an older postman, who asked me for sexual favors. I told him “no” and ran home. One week later, I was walking home from school and was approached by that same man; he wanted me for his sex slave. Suddenly, an older man from my community who knew my parents ran up and asked him, what’s going on. My attacker let me go, and I ran home. I never shared this experience with anyone because I was afraid and ashamed. At the age of 15, a girlfriend’s sister introduced me and her sister to a group of older men who would take care of us financially if we did what they said. Those words did not sound right to me, so I never took the offer. I never thought about sex trafficking or sexual exploitation until I migrated to the United States and learned about the problem. I finally shared this information with my mother and siblings after my niece revealed her sexual abuse from older men. I am sharing these stories because your article brought back memories and tears to my eyes. The authors of the article (“What Health Providers Should Know About Human Sex Trafficking”) stated, “Raising awareness and providing information to all healthcare workers may be the first steps needed to end sex trafficking. Healthcare providers, especially those working in emergency departments, medical-surgical units, or emergent care environments, should educate themselves concerning red flags that can be used to identify possible sex trafficking victims and, if indicated, assist them to report” (p. 351). As nurses, we need to let our voices be heard.
References
Bauer, R., Brown, S., Cannon, E., & Southard, E. (2019). What health providers should know about human sex trafficking MEDSURG NURS, 28(6), 347-351.
After reading your comments, I wanted to add a personal observation that I have noticed within my hospital and community. I mentioned that people don’t really know too much about it or have misinformation, but I also think that even healthcare staff that have basic education on the subject sometimes ignore it. All of your posts give examples of situations of victims going unnoticed, however I also think that many employees are just ignoring the situation. I think sometimes they know something isn’t right, but they don’t act or intervene. Maybe it’s more paperwork, adds to their complicated day, maybe a situation they aren’t comfortable addressing, I am not sure to honest. Addressing your story about growing up in Jamaica, I really appreciate you sharing your personal story. I think it is horrible that you felt too ashamed to tell anyone. I think that it will still have a stigma for quite some time but we as a country are moving in the right direction (somewhat) with not feeling ashamed to be the victim. It is a work in progress I suppose. Thank you for your comments!
Wow, this topic is heart-wrenching to read about and the research is unsettling. It is hard to believe that human trafficking is happening right under our noses and is so difficult to identify. I am glad that you are focusing energy into this important topic and I hope health providers can be used as resource to aid and identify victims of HT so we can help put an end to this disgusting abuse of children.
Fraley, Aronowitz, and Stoklosa (2020) analyzed studies in which health providers were given education about HT through various means. The studies purpose in providing HT education was to determine if education helped health providers to identify potential victims of HT. The HEAL network was listed as a potential resource for health care providers to use in screening and learning more about HT. Fraley et al (2020) found that certain populations of children were at increased risk for becoming victims of HT such as those who live in urban areas, those living in poverty, children who are homeless, foster children, or who aren’t living at home for various reasons.
Three startling facts that I learned from Fraley et al (2020) study are:
1. “Many youth continue to attend school despite being trafficked”
2. It is becoming more and more common for children to be contacted by human traffickers through electronic devices such as the internet, social media, texting, and gaming.
3. Not only are many health providers unaware of HT, but many have negative attitudes toward children most at risk of being victims of HT and toward youth who have been identified as victims of HT . Negative perceptions from health providers arise because providers are viewing HT as youth engaging in “sex work” instead of seeing these children as they really are: victims of child abuse.
Reference
Fraley, H., Aronowitz, T., Stoklosa, H. (2020). Systematic review of human trafficking educational interventions for health care providers. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 42 (2), 131–142. DOI: 10.1177/0193945919837366.
Sex trafficking has slowly become more of a concern for Americans, but it has been happening for years in other countries. With this being said it makes it more of struggle for nurses and health care providers to help individuals that may have came from other countries due to most health care providers and nurses unaware of what is acceptable to ask and what is not beyond the typical nursing assessment questions to be able to gather the information need to care for these patients.. Providers also lack training in identification and response many victims go unrecognized and unaided (obstetrics & gynecology (2015).
Chaffee, T., & English, A. (2015). Sex trafficking of adolescents and young adults in the United States: healthcare provider’s role. Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology, 27(5), 339–344. https://doi.org/10.1097/GCO.0000000000000198
I agree human trafficking is a major public health problem. Health care providers are often the only professionals to interact with trafficking victims who are still in captivity. I work also in a very large hospital and feel like we don’t really screen for this on admission. Our admission assessment only ask about if they feel safe at home and when the patient states yes we just move on and don’t really ask enough questions. I feel that if healthcare professionals received adequate training in properly identifying victims of human trafficking, we could respond to this public health emergency. According to the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal (2017), approximately 87 percent of sex trafficking victims had sought care during their captivity, predominantly in emergency departments. The first point of care in the healthcare system for trafficking victims is critical. Each health care encounter provides a window of opportunity for an exploited individual to disclose her or his trafficking situation.
Identification and Management of Human Trafficking Victims in the Emergency Department. (2017). Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, 39(1). doi: 10.1097/tme.0000000000000139
Sex trafficking has become all to prevalent. We screen all patients that enter the hospital to identify if they feel safe. Patients, especially children may not tell you the trust with the caregiver in the room. Education has to be provided to the staff to look for those subtle cues.
The first steps to a successful encounter are getting the client alone (victims are often accompanied by another person), finding an interpreter if necessary, and building a trusting rapport with the client. Because the client is unlikely to identify herself as a trafficking victim, the provider needs to pay attention to subtle and nonverbal cues.
Dovydaitis T. (2010). Human trafficking: the role of the health care provider. Journal of midwifery & women’s health, 55(5), 462–467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmwh.2009.12.017