Dr. Vincent Filetti is the co-developer of the ACEs which is highlighted in the current presentation. This is a rare event, a seminal workshop that Dr. Filetti is graciously providing to participants of SAFE 2019. The talk is unique in its addressing human trafficking and how ACEs impacts the vulnerability of youth and adults to human trafficking. His speaking engagements are very limited at this time, and we are honored to have him give us his time.

https://youtu.be/v3A_HexLxDY

Focus: Describe collaborative efforts, coalition building, community advocacy efforts.

Stop the Silence^®, a respected U.S.-based, international non-profit with a mission to prevent, expose, and stop child sexual abuse (CSA) and other adverse childhood events (ACEs) and award-winning management, and its international partner, Trust MYRIVR, based in Auckland, NZ have developed, tested, and vetted an internationally-applicable model for radically altering the way people report a problem and get information about and obtain and use services. Through a free, downloadable App, the public can easily choose from thousands of trained-by-the-Team providers of various types (psychologists, police, social workers, doctors, etc.) who are able to coordinate with each other in real time; a country-wide advocacy program gives info to the public and providers; the App gathers and run analytics used to show concrete results while providing info to enhance the program. Encouraging providers, employees, and the public to collaborate and to access health and social services in their communities can position all those involved to vastly enhance access to and use of services, improve the health of millions, and save millions in disease prevention and treatment.

I would like to propose this presentation entitled "Missing Children, Runaways and the Human Trafficking Connection" as an awareness and educational forum mainly to the law enforcement community and child welfare professionals. I feel that this is important because in this day and age its to easy to dismiss a runaway as just a "runaway." Believe it or not, I personally see it happen too frequently. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, "Of the nearly 25,000 runaways reported to the NCMEC in 2017, one in seven were likely a victim of child sex trafficking. Of those, 88% were in the care of social services when they went missing. (1) In this presentation, I plan on discussing the statistics, the contributing factors as well as discuss real life missing child cases, resources and tools.

Human trafficking is sometimes presented by those working within the field as “modern day slavery” -- framing the United States’ modern efforts to prevent and end trafficking and support those who have survived it as a continuation of historical abolition of chattel slavery.While these narratives are useful in garnering public support, awareness, and funding, they do so at the expense of racial equity work that brings awareness to systemic racism’s historical roots. This presentation will trace the historical lineage from chattel slavery to the current systems and institutions in the United States which carry on its legacy of racism, and explore the modern anti-trafficking movement’s historical roots as instead located in the White Slave Traffic Act (Mann Act) of 1910. Presenters will then propose shifts in language and framing for use in U.S. advocacy that honor the continuing work of racial equity without minimizing the urgency of ending human trafficking. (Presentation would be co-presented with Robin Colbert, Associate Director of NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Chair of the NC Coalition Against Human Trafficking)

One of the biggest challenges that the field of anti-human trafficking is facing is the lack of effective methods for victim identification. There are tools like hotlines, police investigations based on reports and training to relevant stakeholders but these fall short and many victims of trafficking are never found. To complement these actions it is necessary to implement surveillance systems among vulnerable populations such as migrants, agriculture and factory workers, fishermen, sex workers, internally displaced people and many other groups who are likely to experience or have experienced severe forms of exploitation. We propose the sentinel surveillance, a methodology borrowed from health sciences in order to track the prevalence, patterns and vulnerability factors among populations likely to encounter trafficking. This methodology has been applied before in the context of human trafficking by the UN at the Thai-Cambodian border to measure the prevalence of trafficking victims among Cambodians being deported from Thailand. This paper will explore the possibility of applying the methodology among demobilized combatants from illegal armed groups in Colombia with the hope of finding a relationship between recruitment into criminal gangs and human trafficking.

The health care team is a vital partner in addressing the human trafficking situation in the U.S. and around the world. This presentation takes on the extraordinarily hidden and complex challenge of screening for human trafficking in the health care system. One study notes that approximately 88% of sex trafficking victims had contact with a health care professional (Chisolm-Straker, et al, 2014). Each of these contacts is an opportunity for identifying and assisting a victim. It is a goal of this talk to provide an increased awareness of the trafficking situation to all members of the health care team. Included in this presentation is the identification of the multiple trafficking types, behaviors and dynamics which play out in these situations, as well as "red flag" warning signs. Stereotypes surrounding this issue, barriers to screening, and the unique challenges faced when trying to identify trafficked victims are also discussed. Most importantly, techniques for effectively screening victims, as well as follow-up recommendations and resources, are provided. As a result, it is hoped that all members of the health care team are empowered to incorporate effective screening techniques into their every day practice, along with strategies for identifying and assisting trafficking victims.

Three advanced clinical specialists will combine their expertise to provide a conference workshop that will address different aspects of mind/body wellness, focusing upon healing the physical/emotional/spiritual self post traumatic experiences. Jane Conron, Ph.D., a practicing licensed clinical psychologist, faculty member and allied medical staff at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, will address the relationship between evidenced-based mind/body treatments, including mindfulness, meditation, as well as the emerging field of sensori-motor psychotherapy to address the trauma healing process. Nancy Heap, LCSW, Program Director for the Faculty Scholars Program at the Osher Center of Integrative Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, will explore and identify the way Ikigia Therapy addresses mind/body healing for trauma survivors and how she uses mindfulness and natural healing to address trauma in her own practice. Avanti Singh, MD, a traditionally trained physician and now a trainer, advocate to physicians in major medical centers on natural healing, (Northwestern Hospital, Rush Hospital, etc.), will review "teaching patients how to heal themselves by unleashing their innate healing power and educating students and practitioners how to support such self-healing using meditation, yoga, breath and food – which she believes is true medicine. Dr. Singh will engage in beginning instruction on ways to find one's inner healing resources to recover strength and resilience after trauma.

Human trafficking is one of the largest criminal enterprises involving the force, fraud, and coercion of human beings as a commodity for profit. The trafficking of persons for sex, labor, and organs means a victim can be sold and exploited on multiple levels and repeatedly. Natural disasters such as Katrina and Maria can fracture the lives of individuals, families, and communities leaving them open for even greater vulnerability to traffickers for intersecting forms of victimization and exploitation.

Direct and indirect victims (families/communities - involved and receiving) can suffer physical, emotional and psychological trauma and scars from displacement and loss, however, there are at greater risk for trauma exposures and experiences which can be directly attributed to human trafficking victimization and significant ignored.

Because of this, there is a need for more targeted emergency preparedness response systems that are coordinated, cooperative and consistent -- that includes recognizing, responding and reporting trauma and vulnerabilities directly related to human trafficking schemes and victimization to the public. Coordinating culturally informed, responsive and responsible services and support. Providing a consistent continuum of care that exists across professional disciplines and community partners that are not sitting on the task force.

Governmental leaders and agencies often identify price gouging in alerts and media notifications, however, first responders, (medical, mental health, law enforcement, social workers) fail to recognize the significant dangers of lurking above and beneath the surface of nearly every interaction. Response teams need to recognize all vulnerable populations including but not limited to those most discussed for trafficking (children/women) but also those least recognized; minorities, immigrants, refugees, homeless, veterans, returning citizens and persons with disabilities.

State and federal legislation has strengthened the fight against human trafficking and billions of dollars have been allocated across the globe to combat this modern-day form of slavery. Unfortunately, many sex and labor trafficking survivors continue in their healing journeys without receiving proper medical treatments, causing negative impacts on their quality of life. It is vital that anti-trafficking nonprofits, healthcare professionals, and government agencies take the time to listen to survivors as they identify lingering medical and trauma symptoms that need to be addressed that negatively impact their lives. As education and responses to the continuum of care for human trafficking survivors continue, it is imperative to ensure that adequate legislation, funding, and medical treatments are pursued in each state and in every country. Service providers must ensure that medical conditions experienced by trafficking survivors are identified and treated and that health insurance is attainable to treat those symptoms.
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After United Against Slavery concluded our 2016 Pilot Study with survey respondents representing 47 states and 70 countries, we launched the 2018 Lingering Medical Symptom Pilot Study, with participation from 27 sex trafficking survivors in 15 states. More than 80 lingering medical ailments were identified. Survey respondents confirmed that this was not an exhaustive list of symptoms that they previously experienced or were still suffering from. The lingering medical ailments in this study reflect the extensive trauma to the body during repetitive sexual exploitation. Many symptoms reflect direct trauma to the body as a result of being abused and exploited. Survivors also listed secondary medical symptoms that resulted from not receiving proper medical treatment after they were freed from enslavement. The lingering medical symptoms collected in this 2018 Pilot Study will be included in the upcoming National Outreach Survey and will target survivors of all forms of human trafficking; anticipation is that there will be different medical symptoms experienced by sex and labor trafficking survivors and will vary by survivors in different countries.

It is vital that we engage the medical community and influential leaders to acknowledge that we have fallen short on providing adequate care to survivors of abuse, trauma, and exploitation and to listen to the voices of survivors sharing roadblocks that prevent them from becoming all that they want to become in life. Survivors of violent crimes need support to help equip and empower them to become overcomers in their healing journeys as they thrive again to pursue their hopes and dreams. We hope that the data collected in this 2018 Medical Pilot Study and in our upcoming National Outreach Survey will support local, state, and federal efforts to increase resources and support to survivors. Survivors want to thrive again and we have the power to impact lasting change for each of them.

This session co-presented by the director and a research assistant at Free Our Girls will provide a format of what employment can look like after exiting the life. We will discuss some of the requirements for successful employment after exploitation, the barriers that many victims face, and how allies and employers can work together to create economic opportunity for survivors.

In my time working with professionals and communities in this field to help train and equip them to identify survivors in their midst as well as how to communicate with them and work with them effectively since 2012, our work has been transformed since working directly with the survivors themselves since opening the restoration home in 2015. The survivors themselves have deeply impacted and educated our work and efforts to more effectively identify them, communicate with a trauma-informed and strength-based approach. We believe strongly that they are not victims, but survivors and it has been an honor to be able to walk alongside them. We work with professionals on all scales, whether primary care physicians, dentists, law enforcement, OBGYN, educators, pastors, etc in how to better work with the women we serve to more effectively communicate and journey with them in their healing process.

We have been told numerous times that our trainings for law enforcement and medical professionals was far more effective than many of their previous trainings because of how we integrate the actual experiences of the women we've served at Eden's Glory.

Forensic neuropsychological advances will be discussed and presented during this 45-minute presentation and discussed in terms of the cutting edge state of the art research. Attendees will learn treatment strategies that work based on the neuropsychological underpinnings of trauma specific to victims of sex trafficking.

We are living in the emerging complex security challenges era. It is important to strategically and comprehensively understand every vector that successfully drives our societies towards more democratic, secure and resilient setting. Existing global and regional powers are inevitably shaping the future of international relations and power dynamics, but smaller nations and countries like Serbia and other Southeast European countries were always important segment of global concerns, due to their important Geo-political and Geo-strategic position as well as their historically implicated influence on contemporary balance of powers within the international arena. Addressing of Human Trafficking is an important segment for bridging and synchronizing wider security policies of the region but more importantly it represents a contemporary security challenge that should be addressed pro-actively through cross-sector collaboration, multilateral partnerships and intelligence and information sharing. Serbian response is directed towards modern and comprehensive strategic approach, including successful implementation of the National Strategy for Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Humans, Especially Women and Children and Protection of the Victims, from 2017-2022.

Western Balkans is a relatively small but culturally and demographically very diverse region of Europe. It is one of the regions currently vastly affected by the irregular migrations with the high influx of refugees and migrants from the Middle East, hence, the problem of Human Trafficking along the migration routes is emerging and rising every day. The Republic of Serbia is geopolitically positioned in the center of the Balkan route. Although the problem of Human Trafficking is addressed with high priority in Serbia, there is still much more to be done in respect to cooperation and coordination between various organizations and agencies, resulting with creating of synergy for countering this rising problem. Through the recent years, the understanding of this important security and humanitarian concern has developed and Ministry of Interior of the republic of Serbia is constantly synchronizing and adapting its legislation and regulations towards comprehensive and adequate response through partnership and cooperation with various organizations and stakeholders present in the region and globally. The importance of regional and international cooperation is definitely crucial. Many cases of Sex and Labor Trafficking are organized and transnational in their nature and only strong and sustainable international cooperation can bring us to satisfying results such is adequate protection of victims and dismantling of the criminal groups of perpetrators. A case study of child sexual exploitation that took high publicity in Serbia in 2017, and its international criminal nature involving Germany, Austria, USA, Australia and Sweden should be thoroughly analyzed as an example of emerging shapes of Sexual Exploitation of Children with using Internet by traffickers as a highly efficient asset.

After the closure of Romania the adoption agencies opened up Ethiopia for intercountry adoptions. Thousands of children have been send abroad.

The adoption program was riddled with trafficking from day one. Scandal after scandal came out and in 2018 Ethiopia finally stopped intercountry adoptions.

What did exactly happen ? Why and how do we deal today with the victims of this trade ?

Service providers and other stakeholders working with survivors face the problem of not knowing what resources are available to them in their country or in the home country of the survivors with whom they are working. Victims and survivors seeking services also do not have an easy and centralized resource where they can identify service providers that are close to them and provide the specific services they are searching for.

Due to the fragmented nature of the anti-trafficking field, key stakeholders, who are interested in creating or funding anti-trafficking programs are finding it hard to know what the specific gaps and needs are in a specific region or sector, often leading to the duplication of efforts. A tool is needed in order to help these stakeholders determine where and how to invest in targeted strategies and tactics to eradicate human trafficking in communities, slavery-proof communities for the future, and prevent the root causes of trafficking.

The anti-trafficking field needs comprehensive real-time information and insights in order to fully understand the anti-trafficking service provider and population landscape in a particular city, country, or region.

THE GLOBAL MODERN SLAVERY DIRECTORY (GMSD)

The purpose of the Global Modern Slavery Directory is to create a central, publicly accessible resource so that anyone, in any country, may easily access information about the global anti-trafficking field. Service providers, government agencies, task forces, as well as law enforcement agencies make up the GMSD.

The GMSD is not just a website but a functional application built around data. This data has already proven to be in demand for different stakeholders and constituencies. By building a more functional application around valuable data, the data then not only becomes more accessible but its value is magnified.

The GMSD is also being used by the National Human Trafficking Hotline to coordinate international case response through the creation of emergency protocols for countries and regions.

By highlighting the tool and the use it has for not only services providers but as well as other stakeholders doing research, the GMSD is able to help bring about change to the anti-trafficking field.

Nikolaos Al-Khadra has been a public speaker covering the topic of sex trafficking for 7 years now. He has written and shared his survivor testimony with the Huffington Post and has provided written testimony to U.S. Senate. Nik has also appeared in numerous documentaries as well. Not only does Nik just share his story he also trains direct service providers in how to work with LGBT clientele. In addition to the speaking working towards obtaining a masters degree in family therapy.

Many survivors of human trafficking have arrests and convictions that occurred because of their trafficking. A survivor’s criminal record can be a barrier to finding gainful employment and securing safe housing, among other things. Specifically, 73% of respondents in a National Survivor Network survey of trafficking survivors reported losing or not receiving employment due to their criminal records, while 58% experienced barriers to accessing housing because of this. In addition, a criminal record can prevent or limit a survivor’s ability to continue or begin their education.

Over the last few years, all but six states have enacted criminal record relief legislation for trafficking survivors. Under these laws, survivors can have their criminal records expunged or vacated, which removes this heavy burden and empowers survivors to better pursue the life they want after they have left their trafficking situations.

In order for survivors to benefit from these laws, they first need to know what options are available to them in their state and what steps they need to take to have their records cleared. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of state expungement and vacatur laws, available resources that can assist survivors in applying for relief under such laws, and tools for the trafficking community to use to increase awareness and empower survivors through these laws.

Whereas stakeholder engagement in policy implementation and service provisions to victims of human trafficking is substantially documented in the literature, there are almost no studies on stakeholder engagement in the process of research on this global problem. Yet, input from stakeholders is critical for most studies about human trafficking. Based on an international research study on child prostitution conducted in the West African region, the present paper examines the characteristics of stakeholders and the key ways they were engaged in the research process, from the preparatory stage to the translational stage. A total of 133 stakeholders in 13 major categories were involved in the research process. The paper shows how the involvement of various stakeholders in the development of the study helped improve the outcomes of the research, and most important, helped increase the likelihood of acceptance and dissemination of the findings. The paper also describes examples of implementation of the study findings by stakeholders and discusses implications for future research.