Calling all Health Professionals!

Health Professionals: this blog update is for you!

Health care professionals have one of the biggest opportunities to identify and help victims of human trafficking. Often, victims are only allowed out of the house when they are doing their assigned jobs, or when they are so sick they can no longer perform for the trafficker. Thus, the trafficker has no choice but to bring the victim to a hospital or clinic. It is at this point that the health professional can intervene and make a difference. But, how? 

Below is a human trafficking protocol developed at an ER in Dallas, TX. All health care providers can use this screening tool to help educate themselves on how to assess victims of human trafficking. This is a great starting point for the health care provider!

The deeper the health care provider delves into the subject of human trafficking, the more the ramifications of trafficking on the health of all US citizens become apparent.

This could not have been more true for me as I did research on the subject of HIV and human trafficking this past week. Although there are few scholarly articles on the subject at this point, the seriousness of the link between the two is undeniable. Victims of human trafficking have an increased vulnerability to contracting HIV due to the activities they are forced to engage in.

Activities that are risk factors for contracting HIV are:

Drug Use 

The trafficker will use drugs as a way to maintain control over his victim. He will actually force his victim to take drugs, thus eventually making the victim addicted to the drugs. Once the victim is addicted, she/he is forced to be dependent on the trafficker for access to the drugs. The victim has an increased risk for contracting HIV because the trafficker may use dirty needles to inject the drug into the victim (and these needles may be shared by other trafficking victims).   

Lack of Contraceptive Use

It is the trafficker and/or the buyer that determines what kind of contraceptives to use, if any at all. Because the buyer will typically pay more for unprotected sex, the trafficker is likely to force the victim to not use any kind of protection. Because the victim is forced to engage in sexual activity multiple times daily, the risk for contracting HIV is even greater.

Young Age at Onset of Trafficking

The average age of entry into prostitution is 12-14 years of age. The young age of the victim being trafficked gives a false sense of security to the buyer. The buyer perceives the victim as being "safe" (not having any STDs or HIV), and thus sees no need to wear a condom or use protection. If the trafficking victim has HIV, the buyer will contract it and possibly spread it to countless others outside of the trafficking ring. Because human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world today, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) believes that something must be done in order to halt the alarming rate of HIV transmission.

It is becoming alarmingly clear that health care providers cannot sit back and feign ignorance on the subject of human trafficking. If human trafficking continues to grow as it has been, no one is safe from the ramifications this will have. HIV is just one of the many growing concerns as a result of this horrific crime. If we as health care providers do not intervene, who will?