Sex-Trafficking Education for Healthcare Providers
Publication Date
Fall 12-11-2024
Item Type
Text
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Sex-Trafficking Education for Healthcare Providers
Sex trafficking is a widespread crime and chronic societal issue that often flows imperceptibly throughout our communities, making healthcare professionals ideal identifiers by working in settings that are hotspots of those experiencing crises. The non-profit agency that we collaborated with focuses on building relationships with individuals working in the sex trade and offering services to support them into a life without exploitation. Our team has partnered with this agency to develop trainings designed for healthcare providers to educate them on the signs of sex trafficking and how to provide holistic, trauma-informed care. Increasing providers’ knowledge of sex trafficking, the signs, and effective interaction methods, will equip professionals with the tools to reduce rates of those who go through the healthcare setting undetected and unsupported.
Background
This project’s target population is comprised of victims of sex trafficking in Seattle. At the beginning, the group visited the agency that we worked with and performed a windshield survey around the area where the agency was located. We noticed that the area had older-style buildings with few parks, green spaces, and recreational areas; groups of homeless gathering on streets; and few businesses and grocery stores. The population of the agency is mostly African American women between the ages of 11 and 65. According to U.S. Department of State (n.d.), human trafficking is “a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex. When a person younger than 18 is used to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion involved”. Sex trafficking is a significant issue in Seattle where many victims are being exploited by traffickers. Victims usually are women and minors, who are coerced, manipulated, or forced into the sex trade by threats of violence, deception, or isolation from their families and friends. Many trafficked individuals come from poverty, homelessness, and lack of access to education, employment, and resources leaving them susceptible to sex exploitation.
“Most trafficking victims will have contact with health care during their exploitation including at primary care, reproductive health clinics, medical specialties, mental health, substance use disorder treatment, or most often, emergency departments... but many interviewed survivors remember feeling judged or discriminated against when they sought treatment while being trafficked” (Polaris, 2020). Many victims hesitate to share their experiences with healthcare providers due to fear, mistrust, or lack of awareness of their circumstances. This inhibits healthcare providers from providing the medical care and resource support that these victims need.
Activities with Rationale
For our project, we were tasked with generating three different training sessions for healthcare providers discussing the significance of sex trafficking in healthcare settings. These trainings varied in length, with the original training presentation being three hours and the others reduced to two- and one-hour presentations for a more consolidated format. According to a QI study by Arceneaux (2023), training modules provide enhanced awareness and preparedness amongst healthcare staff who participate in them. The goal of implementing these trainings is to increase the awareness of healthcare providers regarding the issue of sex trafficking and equip them with valuable knowledge in identifying and treating patients who may be victim to it. This then tied back to our partnered organization in helping them care for survivors of sex trafficking and helping them feel safe and understood by healthcare professionals when receiving care.
The information included in these trainings was derived from our agency’s toolkit, a resource that explores the definition of sex trafficking, the identification of survivors, and population-specific needs (agency, personal communication, n.d.). The two-hour training further specializes this information towards pediatric healthcare workers, while the three-hour training goes further in-depth, giving a larger, holistic overview of the sex trade. Furthermore, each training has different interactive training methods to help engage participants and supplement their learning, including breakout discussions, roleplay activities, and group case studies. The use of interactive training methods provides the chance to practice realistic situations. According to Alyami, et al. (2019) incorporating methods that provide a more hands-on approach has improved provider competency and capability to provide high-quality and patient-centered care.
Outcomes
Our group sought to improve healthcare providers’ knowledge of sex trafficking. The goal was to raise awareness about the issue, educate providers on how to identify sex trafficking, and inform them about the resources available for survivors through creating three trainings of different lengths. The content of the trainings can be evaluated to determine if healthcare providers learned these important topics that they can incorporate into their practice or if any knowledge gaps need to be addressed. We can do this by providing an opportunity for the providers to ask any questions they may have about caring sex trafficking survivors after participating in the training. The group was able to meet the goal of creating the three trainings, but did not have the opportunity to present them to healthcare providers during the limited time provided. Although we were unable to deliver our educational sessions to healthcare providers, we hope that future groups will have the opportunity present these trainings to providers around the area.
Conclusion
Over the quarter of partnering with our community’s agency, we have successfully developed a variety of trainings for health care providers on sex trafficking that can be tailored to different schedules and specialties. Our group has met our goals by building three different training formats. In addition, our agency’s leader was able to implement one of the training courses by presenting it to an official health care organization as of November 2024. Moving forward, this project could surpass its limitations by involving direct survivors’ input into future developments to produce training more specific to the reported needs of the population. The impact of this project focuses on spreading awareness on the prevalence of sex trafficking and curating greater health care environments that foster nonjudgemental, supportive spaces. This training is an essential addition to the current curriculum of education that health care providers receive and promotes inclusivity to the population of sex trafficked individuals.
References
About human trafficking. U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking/
Alyami, H. M. S., Almakayil, S. M. A., Almakayil, M. A. M., Altahi, H., Almakayil, H., Almakayil, A., Almakayil, M., & Alyami, A. (2019, March). Enhancing patient outcomes through simulation training for healthcare providers. SJR Publishing. https://sjr-publishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Enhancing-Patient-Outcomes-through-Simulation-Training-for-Healthcare-Providers.pdf
Arceneaux, S. P. (2023). Education improves emergency department providers’ knowledge of human trafficking. Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, 45(2), 138–144. https://doi.org/10.1097/tme.0000000000000455
Healthcare provider toolkit & resources. REST. (n.d.). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c915d3a94d71acd181a13a3/t/5edaba174d26e866f9b5038a/1591392792848/REST_HCP-Toolkit_2020-update.pdf
Human trafficking and the health care industry. Polaris. (2020, August 5). https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking-and-the-health-care-industry/
Recommended Citation
Fuertes, Roscella F.; Wittig, Fabiola; Dickey, Gabriella; Sia, Jasmine P.; and Kostohris, Royce, "Sex-Trafficking Education for Healthcare Providers" (2024). Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects. 54.
https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/shs_nlce/54
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