Abstract:

This interactive workshop has three primary aims: (1) to raise awareness of the importance of understanding the factors of engagement; (2) to understand how to utilize the spectrum of community engagement effectively; and (3) to foster positive and effective engagement skills that can be applied to community advocacy initiatives.

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PROTECT is a systematic, scalable, statewide prevention program. In collaboration with two other nonprofit organizations, 3Strands Global has helped launch PROTECT in partnership with the Office of the Attorney General for the State of California and the California Department of Education, joined together in the fight against human trafficking.

The joint mission of PROTECT is to help educators and students across the state identify and prevent instances of human trafficking through a standardized educational curriculum.

3Strands Global has helped created materials to allow 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th grade teachers to incorporate the topic of human trafficking into their annual educational calendar. These materials are grade-level appropriate, state standard-compliant and provide a holistic view of the problem. The materials also illustrate techniques that support identification and prevention.

Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S. With as many as 100,000 victims of human trafficking nationwide, education and prevention efforts are quickly becoming an imperative for local governments and school districts.

In this workshop, 3Strands Global will give an overview of the PROTECT program, demonstrate the online learning management system where educators and county workers can access PROTECT content, and give an overview of PROTECT training modules, curriculum, and protocol coordination.

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At the border between Nepal and India, citizens from the two countries are free to cross without being required to show identification. The porousness of the border has led to the flourishing of human trafficking from Nepal into India, as traffickers are able to transport individuals across the border unimpeded. In response, NGOs began setting up unofficial checkpoints along the border to intercept women and girls whom they believed were being trafficked. NGO staff watch for suspicious signs among travelers and question those they deem to be possible victims.

Love Justice International is an NGO that currently operates 20 border-monitoring stations in Nepal, and this presentation offers an analysis of over five years of data collected by THN about trafficking activity from Nepal across its border with India. THN began its border-monitoring work in 2006 and has collected extensive data from thousands of intercepts, including demographics of the trafficking victims (such as age, gender, education, economic status, and employment background), motives for going abroad, recruitment methods, promises offered, relationships to traffickers, trafficking routes, and destinations. This presentation will identify trends and compare them with the prevailing understanding of human trafficking trends in Nepal. THN also facilitates the filing of legal cases against traffickers, and this presentation will do a case study of approximately 60 convictions to analyze: 1) what substantive and procedural factors may lead to a successful conviction for trafficking, a conviction for a lesser offense, or an acquittal; 2) what proportion of intercepts lead to legal action; and 3) the factors relevant to whether legal action is taken.

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Presenters: Joy Kelleher, LCSW and Elizabeth Ziemba

Time: minimum 45 minutes; maximum 90 minutes

The issues surrounding the unique needs and challenges of the LGBTQ+ community are being viewed from a lens of safety and human rights. However, there is still a dearth in research that addresses multifaceted risk factors in the LGBTQ+ community in regards to the vulnerability of these youth. Human trafficking continues its insidious evolution within this group of society. According to the Polaris Project website, there have been nearly 21 million victims of human trafficking globally, with more than 26% of those victims being children (Polaris, 2018). The LGBTQ+ youth population are more vulnerable to human trafficking. This group makes up a disproportionate 40% of the homeless youth (this is in comparison to just 7% of the general population identifying as LGBTQ+) and they are 3-7 times more likely to engage in “survival sex” (Polaris, 2018).

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LGBTQ+ youth are at more risk due to the higher incidents of homelessness, family isolation, violence, discrimination, and economic hardships leaving them open to exploitation by traffickers who hone in on the absence of positive connections and security. Although LGBTQ+ organizations advocate for victims of trafficking, but often these youth do not have access to prevention measures or services because of the fear of societal and systemic discrimination (Xian, Chock, Dwiggins, 2017). These children are often victim to multi-layered vulnerabilities unique to their population: not meeting social norms; lack of safe environments to express their identity and lack of safety in home, educational, health care, and spiritual systems; disproportionate homelessness, and the absence of positive interpersonal relationships with others outside their social group.

Xian, Chock, and Dwiggins (2017) use the socioecological model to identify the need for specific advocacy, outreach, and survivor programs for LGBTQ+ trafficked youth; legal policies that protect from discrimination; and funding for programs that provide safe care. This presentation will provide an overview of existing research on the topic of risk. In addition, we will explore avenues of identification, prevention, rescue, and treatment. The context of this discussion will be viewed through the self-determination theory of sense of belonging as belonging is an essential facet of self-determination; we will highlight this theory as a means of addressing and impacting this complex issue.

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Health care professionals are among the most likely to come into contact with those that are currently or have been victims of human trafficking. A response to education and awareness campaigns worldwide has increased efforts to improve screening and referral for trafficking victims among the medical, legal, and social service communities. This presentation will describe a pilot study aimed at understanding what relationships exist between human trafficking victimization and health literacy among substance use populations. A pilot of 24 participants completed a screening for Human trafficking using and adapted version from the VREA assessment and the Newest Vital Sign a screening for health literacy upon intake into substance use treatment. Over one half screened at risk for human trafficking without self-identifying as victim. Pilot analyses reveal that there is a significant inverse relationship between health literacy and human trafficking risk. These results informed an implementation study to better screen for human trafficking victimization, make appropriate referrals to services, and implement universal precautions for populations with low health literacy.

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Sex trafficking of children, known today as commercial sexual exploitation of children(CSEC), is highly prevalent in Southeast Asia. The largest number of victims trafficked annually in the world comes from this region. This study examines distinctive aspects of CSEC in the region and research-related issues. A total of 69 studies were selected and reviewed for the purpose of this paper. The reviewed literature shows child prostitution and child sex tourism as the most prevalent forms of CSEC in Southeast Asia. Poverty was the major pushing and pulling factor of CSEC in the region. Southeast Asia is one of the globe's biggest child sex tourism hot spots due to the limited enforcement of child protection policies in the 11 countries in the region. Most studies on CSEC in the region focused more on the prevalence of CSEC than on consequences of the problem on victims. There was little research done on issues of mental health of victims. There was also limited research on the prevalence of CSEC among boys and LGBTQ youth. In addition, the reviewed literature showed the following: more qualitative research than quantitative and mixed methods studies; substantial number of conceptual articles on CSEC lacking focus on specific issues affecting child victims of CSEC; number of studies lacked details on research designs and recruitment strategies. Additionally, ethical issues in research about CSEC in the region were not identified or discussed in most of the reviewed literature. Social, cultural and economic environments of the problem were reviewed. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

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