The presenter’s testimony begins at the age of 13 yrs old when she became the object of attention of a group of men that worshiped the devil. It spans over 13 years of drug addiction and abuse. The story continues after almost 20 years of proper recovery and involves a hard spiritual walk through where God has taken me. The presenter advocates for having the proper care for women after they have been rescued and is actively trying to bring this level of care to Middletown, OH. Although the presenter shares her story, the aim of this presentation is to emphasize the importance of appropriate aftercare.

This basic overview of human trafficking is most appropriate for those new to the field. Presenters will focus on both labor and sex trafficking in the United State. Topics will include the definition of human trafficking, how traffickers recruit, indicators for victim identification, and where and how to report suspected trafficking.

Mainstream social work education takes pride in a radical past, but rarely links this past to current day social work practice in a critical way. This paper will look at social work’s focus on becoming a legitimate profession in answer to Abraham Flexner’s claim that social work was not a profession in the early 1900s. The following social work concerns will be investigated through a cultural history lens: settlement house systems, abortion, xenophobia, and discrimination directed toward the disability community. Looking back at these social justice concerns over time is helpful in giving much needed historic context to macro social work practice today. Panel participants found it helpful to look at the strengths and the challenges of social work practice over time as a way to thoughtfully approach social justice action today. Historical context helps social work remember that the struggle for freedom is an ongoing one.

Firsthand account of what it's like to be a victim of labor trafficking in the U.S. along with the challenges to survival, getting help and becoming a "survivor". This presentation helps the audience to understand the gaps in identification and getting connected with the people who can help. Audience members will also be exposed to the continual cultural barriers which prevent victims from seeking help or be able to reach out, as well as the many ways in which culture can be used to exploit an entire family. This presentation will highlight the assumption of becoming a survivor, but what that true experience can be like from the insiders’ perspective. Becoming a survivor can be a life long journey, learning to live with the past and not simply try to move beyond presents a new challenge almost every day.

Today we live in a society where human trafficking is a hot button issue. Various disciplines, levels of government, institutions and organizations are all involved in the pursuit of social justice for this population yet none of them realize an understanding of the dynamics and best strategies for addressing this social problem were laid out over a century ago. The purpose of this presentation is to change that.

Individuals exposed to distressing events through work with traumatized children and adults consistently report symptoms of secondary trauma and PTSD. Even with training, professionals working in human trafficking experience acute symptoms at rates of over 85%. For organizations using volunteers, this information is profound and demonstrates the need for formal training for both professional and non-professional staff. Many of us who witness these tragedies know that it is easy to become overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem and can also become so focused on the work that we forget to look after our own emotional needs. This training discusses the newest research in unconscious empathy, somatic countertransference, sleep disturbance, and preventing and/or managing compassion fatigue. We will discuss the best means to train individuals who work with human trafficking by giving them the language to combat compassion fatigue as well as prepare for what they may see, experience, and feel. Research has shown that relatively simple things can impact one’s ability to cope with the impact of secondary trauma. Objectives for this training are to 1) identify signs that someone is experiencing the symptoms of vicarious trauma or PTSD, 2) understand the conscious and unconscious origins of secondary trauma, 3) learn ways to prevent or combat compassion fatigue and somatic symptoms and 4) discover elements that can be added to your existing training programs to assist in understanding complex emotional reactions. Preparation and training with an eye toward emotional readiness allows our programs and our missions to keep thriving.

This workshop will focus on the historical perspective of human trafficking and prostitution in India, a legacy of the British Empire since the ingress of the East India Company in 1612 till 1947. Participants will be enlightened with British plans of dominating India by making Indian culture seem inferior, and actions initiated by the Government of India and active NGOs to update the laws for controlling human trafficking and prostitution.  This presentation will discuss how police are being trained to combat the tactics of the traffickers and pimps and training and empowering the victims to escape from their clutches.

In this presentation attendees will learn the basics of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer folk. There will be discussion of each letter within the LGBTQ acronym and how these identities can influence one’s life. A short LGBTQ history will be given at the beginning to better understand historical and modern oppression faced by LGBTQ folk.
 

Transgender issues, including non-binary spectrum identities, will be presented at length. These issues include: suicide rates, murder rates, and how to better accommodate trans people.
Same-gender relationship dynamics will also be a topic of discussion during the presentation. This includes the same-gender relationship power wheel and intervention tips for unhealthy and/or abusive relationships. The goal/objective of this LGBTQ 101 is for allies (or those looking to become allies) to become better acclimated to the LGBTQ community as a whole.

In the US, law enforcement serves as the primary entity in identifying victims of sex trafficking. Scholars and others have questioned why identification of trafficked persons is so low while estimates of trafficking in the US are so high. New York City is a hub for sex trafficking in the US. The contradiction between increasing training and development on the part of law enforcement in NYC and a continued lack of identification of trafficked persons brings to question the nature of the relationship between trafficked persons and law enforcement. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with twenty-two former trafficked persons, this study examines the relationship between trafficked persons and law enforcement in New York City. This relationship manifests in a Victim-Criminal framework and sheds light on why identification of trafficked persons is so low. Findings illustrate that law enforcement’s simplistic perception of sex trafficking, coupled with policies that further marginalize trafficked persons, effectively inhibit the identification of trafficked persons.

Presentation Objectives:

·       To explore theories of why identification of trafficked persons is so low;

·       To outline the role of law enforcement in identifying victims of sex trafficking, focusing specifically on New York City;

·       To describe the Victim-Criminal Framework, which sheds light on the relationship between trafficked persons and law enforcement;

·       To analyze the policies, coupled with law enforcement perceptions, that inhibit the identification of trafficked persons;

·       To present suggested policy and training

The stigma associated with addiction is so ingrained in our society that it may keep people from getting well. This training will empower people to be proud of their recovery and not shame addiction. Recovery message training helps eliminate barriers to recovery resulting from the stigma and discrimination associated with addiction. This workshop will discuss how as a community we can start advocating for a system of care that supports recovery throughout the individual’s lifespan. This talk will focus on supporting the development of addiction recovery advocates and leadership within the recovery community.

The drug trade industry is the biggest underground network next to human trafficking. With this commonality, we can see how these two global issues intersect and are closely linked. Contrary to popular belief and media representation not all sex trafficking survivors are dependent on drugs prior to being trafficked. There are several ways drug use intersects with sex trafficking including control, coping, drug purchase/sale, and recruitment. Drug addiction is intrinsically linked to the sex trade, an estimated 40 to 85 percent of people trafficked are engaged in one of the ways drugs intersects with the sex trade (National Center for Biomedical Technology, 2016). Drug addiction and severe mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder are barriers to exiting the sex trade (Valera, Sawyer, & Shiraldi, 2001).

Presentation Objectives:

·         To expose attendees to concepts and terms associated with drugs and the underground commercial sex trade.

·         To increase awareness of the intersects of drug addiction and the sex trade.

·         To discuss and increase knowledge on approaches and resources for trafficked survivors.

Pop culture and social media have portrayed gangs and pimping as "cool". Over the past few years in the United States, criminal gang activity has become a serious problem concurrently with human trafficking, emerging as one of the fastest growing crimes. This presentation will give participants a closer look at gang-motivated sex trafficking cases, gang dynamics, and recruitment/control tactics used by gang members.

This session is for Social Workers, Counselors and those working with the purpose of assisting people with positive change. This session will focus on the importance of establishing positive relationships with populations served. A review of Social Work ethics and incorporating religion and spirituality into the working relationship will be provided. Participants will learn the difference between religion and spirituality, better understand moral conflicts when working with specific populations, and ethical dilemmas in the working relationship.

Sex trafficking is a present day reality both internationally and nationally (U.S. Department of State, 2010). Children and adolescents with histories of sexual and physical violence or rape are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked as grooming techniques and violence are used by traffickers in their recruiting repertoire (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012; Clawson, Dutch, Solomon, & Grace, 2009; Hammond & McGlone, 2014). The mental health concerns among human trafficking victims include emotional, behavioral, social, and spiritual ramifications (Clawson, Dutch, Solomon, & Grace, 2009; Hodge, 2014; Zimmerman, Hossain, & Watts, 2011). Despite the myriad of individuals who are trafficked annually within the United States, scant research attention focuses on the sequelae of trauma and subsequent

Power-based personal violence is not an individual problem; it’s a community concern. Bystander intervention re-frames the focus of prevention; it calls on all of us to make choices that could make a difference in the lives of others. Many know of active bystanders – most recently personified in Carl-Fredrik Arndt and Peter Jonsson – but knowing of them and knowing how to make similar choices are two very different things. This session will be an interactive workshop demonstrating the relevance of bystander intervention as a means of prevention around power-based personal violence including sexual assault, stalking, intimate partner violence, and sexual exploitation. Participants will outline obstacles and barriers to intervention, practice safe methods of intervention recognizing those barriers, and discuss observable behaviors that may call for intervention. Participants will also share proactive and reactive means of intervention. Violence in any form is unacceptable. As active bystanders, we have the opportunity to change the culture around violence so that everyone knows it is unacceptable.

The arts have the potential to be used in various social work contexts: drawings can help individuals open up and engage with the therapist; photographs can facilitate discussion in group work practice; and images can help advocate for various client groups. This presentation will provide an overview of the use of art with social work clients and focus on the use of the arts in healing and catharsis.

One of the presenters is an art therapist who works with mental health consumers/client-artists in Toledo. She has expertise in the use of various visual art mediums in her therapy sessions. This presenter has worked extensively with clients living with serious mental illness such as: Major Depressive disorder, Bipolar disorder, Schizoaffective disorder, Schizophrenia, and Post Traumatic Stress disorder. Many of her clients additionally grapple with substance abuse, trauma, homelessness, and poverty. The art therapist will demonstrate how her techniques have helped client-artists feel hopeful about the future and provide a platform for healing. The other presenter is a self-taught (or “nature-inspired”) artist who has no formal training in the arts. He uses pen-and-ink, acrylics, charcoal, pastels and cameras to explore issues of social and economic justice.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To understand the power of the arts in combating global social justice issues

·         To demonstrate the use of the arts to facilitate catharsis and promote healing

·         To explore the use of images in client advocacy

To generate ideas for using various art forms to engage with diverse clients

LGBTQ youth account for a disproportionate rate of the runaway and homeless youth population, and experience disproportionately high rates of victimization. In July 2015, the Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research completed the second year of a longitudinal study entitled the Youth Experiences Survey (YES): Exploring the Sex Trafficking Experiences of Homeless Young Adults in Arizona, which explores the sexual exploitation experiences of homeless youth and young adults, including LGBTQ youth. Of the 194 young adults who reported their sexual orientation in the 2015 YES survey, 68 reported having been sex trafficked (35.1%). Of the 68, 36 (52.9%) reported their sexual orientation as LGBTQ. The LGBTQ youth were found to be slightly younger at their first sex trafficking experience (LGBTQ 15.22 years vs. Heterosexual 16.23 years). The LGBTQ youth were significantly more likely to report having been sex trafficked for drugs, money and a place to stay. This presentation will explore the particular vulnerability of LGBTQ youth and the ways in which traffickers seek to exploit these vulnerabilities in order to compel youth into commercial sex.

“She’s Your Daughter” will add value and social change to the local and national discussion around familial human trafficking. Connie was raised in a middle class, religious family in the suburbs of Tampa, Florida. She is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, pornography, sexual exploitation and domestic violence. Over 16 years of her abuse was at the hands of her serial, sex offender father. At 15, a pivotal time in a teenager’s life, Connie made a choice to be a prostitute. You will learn how her father became addicted to sex and pornography at the age of 13, became a serial sex offender and was still a pimp until he passed away at 82. Connie will share how she serviced men in the parking lot of her high school, the nights she was the party favor for high profile clients, and how she covered up living separate lives by being involved in school activities, such the dance squad, in beauty pageants and modeling. You will hear how she escaped, raised a family of her own, graduated with honors and obtained her Masters. in Adult Education, Training and Development. Today Connie is a beam of hope to other survivors. She travels internationally sharing her story and her journey. Attendees will learn the signs to look for and what they can do to make a difference in the lives of teens that are at risk, exploited or are being sold for sex.

This session will discuss the details of a human trafficking case investigated by the FBI and Toledo Police.  This presentation will cover the investigation from start to conviction, going over such elements as the sting itself, victim witness issue's, and the trail. The presenters will also show clips from a training video used to educate police officers on what to look for when engaging potential victims and/or traffickers. 

Research shows that approximately 70% of the population will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. Although some of the traumatized population will seek help from caring professionals, workers who deal regularly with trauma stories and images are likely to experience symptoms of Secondary Trauma transferred to them from the disturbing material. These symptoms can mimic symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, without the individual being the primary participant in the event.

Until December 2005 child trafficking and slavery were not crimes in Cameroon. Despite the recognition as a crime, very few prosecutions have been made for child trafficking and enslavement in the country. This study examines the self-recovery efforts of survivors in the North West Region of Cameroon that has been identified as the main catchment area. It is a tracer study of the lives of 218 child slaves in the region aged 30 – 45 years old. Seventy-four percent of them are females and 26% are males.
This study looks at the economic, professional, and family lives of the survivors. Twenty-two percent of the women are married or stayed in a marriage for at least ten years. A shocking 48% of survivors have released their own children into slavery while 64% of the women embraced survival sex work in at some time in their lives.
Twenty-four percent of females became pregnant by their masters and/or relatives, yet less than 2% of these children recognize them. Economic desperation of survival sex workers, “prostitutes”, is very high with most of them living in slums, attempting to operate petty businesses. A few have become enslavers recruiting other desperate survivors into yet another budding form of secondary slavery where survivors lacking marketable skills become prostitutes under the control of an older and retired prostitute who sets the rules of the game. These rules promote peer monitoring and peer abuse of the slaves by each other.
The survey recommends long term recovery programs for victims and survivors of child trafficking as a major way to break the vicious cycle of childhood slavery in Cameroon.

Trafficking of persons with disabilities is a disturbing new trend in the United States. The 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report identifies persons with disabilities as a vulnerable population in the United States. However, the trafficking of persons with disabilities in the United States is largely unexplored. The primary objective of this session is to raise awareness about this growing problem. This presentation discusses why persons with disabilities are targeted, how they are trafficked, how this can be prevented, and how victims can achieve justice and accountability.

The program will draw from new research on the U.S. -- an in-depth analysis of federal criminal and civil trafficking cases involving victims with disabilities. Case materials document victims with disabilities trafficked into the sex industry, held in forced labor, and trafficked into sexual servitude. Victims have been trafficked and abused in multiple sectors, including the meatpacking industry, the agricultural sector, the commercial sex industry, and domestic servitude.

Case analysis reveals that traffickers target victims with disabilities in order to steal their government disability benefits. A Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to life in prison plus 80 years for a scheme that targeted six individuals with disabilities. As individual representative-payees, perpetrators fall outside the monitoring and investigative authority of federally-mandated Protection & Advocacy agencies.

This presentation will identify the system failures and missed opportunities that contribute to the continued trafficking of persons with disabilities. Using these lessons learned, we hope to initiate a dialogue on how the anti-trafficking community can best serve this vulnerable population.

Victims of child trafficking may appear to have formed a positive and close relationship with their trafficker despite the abuse, coercion, and exploitation they have experienced. Terms such as Stockholm Syndrome and trauma bonding are used in the literature pertaining to the psychological trauma experienced by victims to explain this identification and bond with the perpetrator (Cohen, Mannarino & Deblinger, 2006; Adorjan, Christensen, Kelly & Pawluch, 2012). However, more recently, research has focused on the concept of complex trauma, which was first proposed by Herman (1992) and can be summarized as, “symptom clusters reflecting alterations in affect regulation, consciousness, self-perception, perception of the perpetrator, relations with others, and systems of meaning” (Resick, et al., 2012, p.241; Ai, et al., 2013).  The topic of bonding with the trafficker comes as a direct result of qualitative data collected by the presenter with 15 service providers. This session openly examines the attributes of this bonding process among victims of child trafficking, the resulting dynamics, their connection to current interventions, and future strategies in addressing this bond.

Presentation Objectives:

·       To become familiar with outcome data specific to service provider experiences related to the victim bond

·       To examine the complex trauma and the corresponding social constructs that fuel the bond with the trafficker

·       To identify several areas of direct practice that are impacted by the resulting victim resistance and strategies to overcome them

This presentation will focus on the hours spent researching the presence of indicators of human trafficking in massage parlors in Jackson County, Michigan. The presentation will begin with a review of the relevant literature on Asian massage parlors, proceed with the research questions set out to answer, continue with the methodological approach employed, and then conclude with the data collected. The purpose of this presentation is to expand awareness of how Asian massage parlors function, their connection with organized crime, and explore whether or not their employees may be victims of human trafficking. Finally, the possibilities for future research and scholarship on the study of Asian massage parlors as venues for human trafficking in Southern Michigan, as well as potential obstacles to continuing this type of research will be discussed.

This presentation redefines what the trauma-informed care model looks like when accompanying survivors of human trafficking. The content builds on the Trafficking Conference 2015 session, “Lessons Learned in Providing Trauma-Informed Services to Human Trafficking Survivors” and is based on an article on this topic by the presenters. The presenters recently conducted a conference on accompaniment of trauma survivors in Central America, where one of their principle learnings was the power of accompaniment as a tool when working with trafficking survivors. The presentation comes from the multidisciplinary perspective of the presenters, and will develop and apply five core Trauma-Informed Practices (TIP’s) that service providers, academics, and policy makers can utilize in improving response to all forms of human trafficking. The heart of the TIP’s is to view service provision as accompaniment of survivors by creating safety and reciprocity with, for, and among survivors and service providers. The purpose of this workshop is to engage practitioners in developing an anti-trafficking response that give survivors something to move towards, not just something to escape from.
 

In this intermediate- to advanced-level workshop, participants will accomplish the following objectives:
 

·         Learn a new framework for creating a survivor-driven trauma-informed care model;

·         Discover and discuss specific Trauma-informed Practices for accompanying human trafficking survivors while providing assistance after exiting the trafficking situation;

Engage law enforcement, policy makers, service providers, academics, and survivors in improving the anti-trafficking response by learning techniques to create safety and reciprocity with and among survivors and responders.

For those working in the helping professions, compassion fatigue is as common as “turbulence” during a windy flight. In order to address this turbulence, one must develop self-care strategies and warning systems to let them know they are moving into the caution zone and the oxygen masks will soon deploy. Prevention and self-care can best happen when professionals are able to distinguish between and identify personal and professional vulnerability. This interactive workshop will help professionals renew their passion and commitment to the field and their work.

Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center is a statewide 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides free legal assistance to crime victims during the criminal justice process. OCVJC also provides victims’ rights trainings to various professionals who work with crime victims to help them understand and enforce the rights of Ohio’s state and federal crime victims during the criminal justice process. This training will teach participants about crime victims’ rights at all stages of the criminal justice process, including the hospital, investigation, prosecution, and post-conviction.

This presentation will also focus on educating participants on OCVJC’s Crime Victims’ Rights Toolkit, a first-of-its-kind online resource dedicated to helping crime victims and those who advocate for them to understand all rights and other useful information available to Ohio’s state and federal crime victims. This tool can be used to manage advocate cases and create an online forum for interaction between advocates and their clients.

Presentation Objectives:

·         Recognize when victims’ rights issues are implicated in their cases;

·         Identify which victims’ rights are implicated and how to address these rights; and

Describe how to utilize the toolkit to victims and coworkers.

This research project follows a qualitative-quantitative approach used to gain a deeper understanding on the strategies used by the adults who are involved in the exploitation of children. This study exposes, and helps put into perspective, how the sexual trafficking of minors is differentiated from other types of sexual offending behavior. Integrated theory (including trauma theory) and multifactor theories, such as the confluence model provide the theoretical backdrop for this study. While the focus of data collection comes from perpetrators of child exploitation, it is important to underscore what we understand and hypothesize about victims. It is hypothesized that adverse childhood experiences and family modeling created a cascading effect that impacts the way adolescents interact in the adult world. Secondly, it is further hypothesized that as a result of these adverse situations, children’s vulnerabilities become manifest in unhealthy relationships with adults including those who have chosen to exploit them sexually.  Q Methodology is a research method that is used to study people’s subjectivity and points of view on a particular phenomenon and serves as the primary methodology used in this study.  Face-to-face interviews with inmates incarcerated in State of Ohio correctional institutions were conducted and consisted of specific questions which served as the platform for the Q sort. Questions targeted the topics of victim recruitment, victim retention, as well as explored offenders’ perceptions of the relationships they have with the girls they have exploited in the sex business. 

On college and university campuses around the country, student activists are working to address two issues that have remained separate from each other: universities’ histories with the slave trade and modern-day human trafficking. This study analyzes these two trends in campus activism. First, the author tracks the movement to respond to American universities’ history with the Atlantic slave trade. Using social movement theory, the author analyzes the birth of this movement and the actors and factors that have led to its progress. Second, the author focuses on the campus-based movement to combat modern-day slavery. She notes the social reasons why the two movements have remained distinct thus far and suggests that the two movements could benefit from cooperation and integration.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To raise awareness about the role American universities played in the Atlantic slave trade and continue to play in modern-day slavery;

·         To trace the progress of two social movements and identify key actors and factors;

·         To assess the quality of universities’ responses to each movement;

·         To offer a toolkit for student activists and faculty seeking to contribute to productive conversations about their institutions’ history with slavery;

To suggest how the two movements could support each other.

In 1885, The Salvation Army, social reformer Josephine Butler, and the Pall Mall Gazette joined together in a successful attempt to stem the trafficking of young girls from prostitution by raising the age of consent (for sexual activity) in London, England. This effort, known as the Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon, involved a sensational newspaper series stemming from the actual purchase of a thirteen-year-old child (Eliza) to prove how easily a child could be obtained for illicit purposes. Drawing upon historical records, trial transcripts, and journal entries, Eliza's story illustrates the challenges faced by the reformers, as well as the ethical concerns as to their methods. The presentation will include opportunity to consider ethical and moral concerns in regards to contemporary advocacy for clients and legislation.

Human trafficking, along with drugs and weapons have been reported as the top three largest organized crime industries in the world. It is estimated that one to two million women and children are trafficked annually around the world for the purposes of forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation, or domestic servitude. The main objective of this study was to explore the picture of sexual exploitation. The study showed that the sex trade is becoming very popular to traffickers because of the expanding commercial sex industry in Asia and male client’s preference for young women and virgin girls to avoid HIV infection (UNIFEM). Traffickers made an estimated $7 -12 billion in profits annually, whereas the human trafficking industry is $32 billion internationally (UN, 2008). The study observed that about one million ‘unreported’ Bangladeshi women were trafficked in Pakistan and 300,000 Bangladeshi children have been trafficked to the brothels of India over a period of time (Star October 8, 2000). Over the last five years at least 13,220 children were reportedly trafficked out of the country, 4,500 women and children from Bangladesh are trafficked to Pakistan annually (UNIFEM) and 50,000 Bangladeshi girls are trafficked to India every year through 4,222 kilometers border areas (Biswas, 2015). As a Tier 2 country, Bangladesh is a transit and a destination country for women and girls forced into prostitution. Bangladeshi women and girls are especially trafficked to India, Pakistan and the Middle East (TIP Report, 2015) using Dhaka- Mumbai-Karachi-Dubai as the main trafficking route (Biswas, 2015).

In this intermediate- to advanced-level workshop, participants will accomplish the following objectives:
 

·         Learn a new framework for creating a survivor-driven trauma-informed care model;

·         Discover and discuss specific Trauma-informed Practices for accompanying human trafficking survivors while providing assistance after exiting the trafficking situation;

Engage law enforcement, policy makers, service providers, academics, and survivors in improving the anti-trafficking response by learning techniques to create safety and reciprocity with and among survivors and responders.

In partnership with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), the Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (ASU STIR) developed a research plan to explore and analyze sex trafficking case files from 2010 to 2015. These files included police reports, records of interviews of alleged sex traffickers, interviews of alleged sex trafficking victims, and case-related information including evidence collected and case update notes by LVMPD staff. The purpose of the study was to explore the law enforcement work on sex trafficking in Las Vegas and to identify trends and patterns. The findings presented will be a one-year snapshot of sex trafficking cases developed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Vice & Sex Trafficking Investigations Section in 2014. One hundred and fifty-nine cases were analyzed for 2014, representing a total of 190 victims. Of the 190 victims, 67 (35.3%) were adult victims, and 123 (64.7%) were minors (under the age of 18). In the sex trafficking cases, 118 sex traffickers were identified. The sex traffickers were mostly males (n =103, 87.3%) with only 15 (12.7%) females. Patterns of recruitment and exploitation of both minor and adult victims will be discussed, as well as any differences in trafficking experiences of minors versus adults. Trafficker typology will also be discussed, as well as patterns in trafficker criminal histories and tactics.

This presentation will lay a foundational knowledge base defining the transgender umbrella, gender identity and gender expression. It will examine the myths and facts of being transgender and identify the increased risks that a transgender individual and community faces in our society. We will explore some state/federal laws and policies and identify strategies for advocacy and work as an ally.
 

Presentation Objectives:

·         To define gender identity and gender expression

·         To identify at least three increased risks to the transgender community

·         To increase participant advocacy and ally skills

Learn the results of a 4-year study that interviewed over 250 survivors of domestic sex trafficking. The study consisted of personal accounts combined with an extensive questionnaire on the physical and mental health needs of victims while being trafficked and then as survivors. Why was this missed in our healthcare system? Hear recommendations for how to identify and respond.

This presentation analyzes the experiences of a disabled sex worker and argues for an understanding of the experiences of sex work as a form of self-care. Sex work can function as a form of self-care by affirming one’s sense of self; by providing for basic necessities; by assisting one to realize their personal goals; by allowing one to work out trauma and providing access to community. Finally, sex work is a political act of resistance to capitalist modes of labor that can be exclusive. Additionally, this presentation examines the rarely theorized intersection of sex work and disability from the position of a disabled sex worker; an attempt to create space for an absent subject. This presentation will add to the growing body of scholarly first-person sex work narratives (Love 2013; Redwood 2013; JJ 2013; Johnson 1999; Frank 2002) and add more sex worker voices to the conversation about sex work.

The training will educate you on how human trafficking has impacted the Developmental Disabilities population. The speakers will share history and powerful stories of individuals who have experienced human trafficking. Attendees will have a better understanding of how to recognize signs and symptoms human trafficking and how prevalent it is with the DD population. There will be a discussion about how human trafficking is not only affecting the United States but other countries. The speakers will also cover Labor Trafficking and Organ Harvesting because the DD population is not exempt of this type of trafficking.

Ethiopian women who are sent to the Middle East to work as domestic workers and send money home find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. When families send their daughters they place a heavy burden of high expectations on them particularly because most of the rural families from where domestic workers are recruited are poor and often borrow money that is used to finance the long and tedious process of migration. In cases where families have borrowed and invested money, migrants are forced to pay the debt. On arrival in the Middle East, they become subjected to conditions of slavery, imprisonment, physical and psychological abuses. However, the gravity of their suffering at the hands of their masters is considered insignificant compared to the poverty at home.

This study focuses on a large number of women who returned home sooner than expected. Some women that returned without fulfilling their obligations have experienced rejection by families and communities and a number have committed suicide. This study examines the experiences of returnees through the intersectionality of cultural gender perspectives in Ethiopia (women’s low social status); the dynamics of globalizing Arab world cities where local traditions and practices of slavery may have become fossilized; and poverty of rural communities in Ethiopia, which often forces families to put their daughters in the hands of unscrupulous traffickers.

The objective is to commence a discussion among conference participants about how intersectional identities of gender, race and class shape the experiences of female domestic workers.

The presenter will explain simulation’s role in ensuring holistic education is provided to healthcare professionals regarding current medical processes, development and implementation of victim-based simulation, and community resources for healthcare providers and victims. The presenter will discuss programs already implemented within the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center at the University of Toledo.
Human Trafficking Recognition was developed in response to research indicating 87% of victims receiving medical treatment during captivity went unrecognized. This portion of the presentation will discuss the implementation of educational sessions and how they provide a framework for simulation scenarios. Utilizing both simulators and standardized patients, learners will observe the challenges in recognizing victims through video footage of simulations where red flags were incorporated into patient history and interaction.
 

Sexual Assault Patient Education has been developed into simulation for the purposes of enhancing Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) training and to provide insight to other interprofessional providers on how this patient population should be cared for. This presentation will emphasize the benefits SANE programs gain from simulation practice and provide insight into development of curriculum for disciplines that do not regularly interact with sexual assault patients.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To identify innovative approaches to developing and implementing simulation scenarios with a focus on forensic science education.

·         To learn to incorporate new methods of training to augment SANE program education, competency and educate providers that work in areas lacking SANE resources.

To gain appreciation for the role healthcare providers play in identifying human trafficking victims and caring for the sexual assault patient. Presentation Objectives:

·         To provide the results of the 2015 & 2016 Youth Experience Survey

·         Contrast non-sex trafficking needs with victims of trafficking to help guide client needs

·         To discuss how to expand prevention and interventions for trafficking victims within a homeless, youth serving program

·         To build engagement strategies for existing clients to share their experiences and access services

To leverage community partners for needs such as legal, medical and housing.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

Two of the most prominent social justice issues of our time are human trafficking and oppression of sex/sexuality/gender minorities (Smith 2015; Tomaszewski, 2014), yet frequently overlooked is how these two issues converge. Yearly, hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals are victimized through human sex trafficking (Martinez & Kelle, 2013). Moreover, they are at higher risk of being trafficked than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts (Cochran, Stewart, Ginzler, & Cauce, 2002; Martinez & Kelle, 2013). In addition to a general awareness, what is often missing in the conversation is how and why this population is at particular risk of being sold for sex. This presentation will address awareness, prevention, intervention, and social justice of LGBTQ+ sex trafficking through a three step process. An overview of the research findings on this segment of the issue will be detailed, bringing the awareness into clear focus. Next, education will be provided on the issues faced by LGBTQ+ individuals which puts them at particularly high risk of being victimized. Finally, the presenter will provide specific, concrete tools that can be utilized to combat the trafficking of LGBTQ+ persons. Such resources include LGBTQ+-affirmative approaches (Rose & Baltrinic, 2016), which can be utilized by any professional or student across a wide-range of disciplines including law enforcement, criminal justice, social work, and counseling. Resources for prevention and social justice will also be provided. Through this approach, participants will leave this presentation with the information and resources to address the problem of LGBTQ+ human sex trafficking.
Presentation Objectives:

·         To provide the results of the 2015 & 2016 Youth Experience Survey

·         Contrast non-sex trafficking needs with victims of trafficking to help guide client needs

·         To discuss how to expand prevention and interventions for trafficking victims within a homeless, youth serving program

·         To build engagement strategies for existing clients to share their experiences and access services

To leverage community partners for needs such as legal, medical and housing.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

Homeless youth and young adults present increased risk factors and exploitation for sex traffickers. Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development in Phoenix, Arizona provides services for homeless youth ages 12-25 and wanted to explore increasing programs and interventions for youth who experienced sex trafficking. Our agency partnered with five other agencies and were awarded the demonstration grant for Domestic Victims of Human Trafficking through the Department of Health and Human Services. Along with the grant, Arizona State University’s Office of Sex Trafficking, Tumbleweed and two homeless youth service programs in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona partnered on the Youth Experience Survey. The survey explores the trafficking experiences of homeless youth and young adults (18-25). This presentation will share insight from the findings of the survey, along with program development to assist in meeting the unique needs of homeless trafficking victims, including groups, counseling, healing, housing and supportive coordination amongst direct service providers in two counties.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To provide the results of the 2015 & 2016 Youth Experience Survey

·         Contrast non-sex trafficking needs with victims of trafficking to help guide client needs

·         To discuss how to expand prevention and interventions for trafficking victims within a homeless, youth serving program

·         To build engagement strategies for existing clients to share their experiences and access services

To leverage community partners for needs such as legal, medical and housing.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

Come to this session to learn how to navigate the disability program. Many survivors of trafficking may qualify for disability to for mental/emotional conditions or physical conditions. What is the basic definition of disability? This will be a great opportunity to learn how to help your clients with the process, and have a better understanding of what to expect. Who qualifies? What is the difference between SSI and Social Security? Can my client’s case be expedited? Is everyone denied the first time? What do people need to file for benefits? How do you file an appeal, and do you need an attorney? These are just some of the questions Social Security will answer. This session should help streamline the process so you can better help a friend, a client, a loved one, or even yourself. Social Security will also demonstrate how to access your own account online through Social Security’s website, and what a client will be eligible for.

The objective of this presentation is to relay the impact of the heroin epidemic on the children caught in the aftermath of addiction and how they are used as sexual currency traded for a fix. The presenter will share 40 years of experience in working in the turbulent, violent, shame-filled underworld of abused and trafficked children. Ten thousand children have passed through the doors of One Way Farm Children's Home. The presenter will share founding the facility with only $59, growing to have 32 employees, an annual budget of $1.6M and serve the most innocent casualties of severely dysfunctional families. While it's noble to research, analyze data, and theorize about this national crisis, at its core, it's a human issue. Statistics don't mean much to the child whose only experience with adults is perversion. The essence of what we do is stabilization then normalization. Living with these victims, comforting them and sharing the presenter’s deeply abusive childhood gives them hope of a life beyond the hand they have been dealt. The presenter’s evidence based research is born from real life, and has shaped the experience based methods of what works in a real life scenario to turn children's lives around. To date, 10,000 children have been rescued and sent on a course they would never have otherwise known.Presentation Objectives:

·         To provide the results of the 2015 & 2016 Youth Experience Survey

·         Contrast non-sex trafficking needs with victims of trafficking to help guide client needs

·         To discuss how to expand prevention and interventions for trafficking victims within a homeless, youth serving program

·         To build engagement strategies for existing clients to share their experiences and access services

To leverage community partners for needs such as legal, medical and housing.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

Human trafficking affects every zip code in the United States, and happens in communities of every size in Ohio. This session will explore some commonalities and differences between what human trafficking looks like in rural communities and urban areas. Participants will also learn about the difference between human trafficking identification and response efforts in rural and urban areas. By examining existing recognition of and response to sex and labor trafficking broadly, the session will delve more deeply into how to create an effective human trafficking response in rural communities. The participants will practice identifying trafficking through a scenario exercise and will brainstorm tools and coordinated steps they can take to improve their own response, whether they serve a rural or an urban area. Finally, using a multi-disciplinary lens, the presenters will guide participants in developing a safety-focused response to human trafficking in their own communities.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

Although sex trafficking has been a social issue long before the conception of the Internet, the arrival of a world-wide network has increased sex traffickers’ reach and anonymity, potential victims’ vulnerability, and buyers’ selection. Via the Internet, sex traffickers can advertise trafficking victims anywhere in the world. When the trafficker decides to relocate the victim, they can easily change the name and number associated with the victim online. Traffickers can link the victim’s contact information to a “burner” cell phone that authorities are often unable to connect with a real identity. However, data mining initiatives allow law enforcement agencies and researchers to gather and analyze data from webpages that potentially contain sex trafficking information. For example, DARPA created the Memex program in order to index the data from webpages on the Deep Web. The Memex program shares similarities with popular search engines, which index the webpages that most users access every day. Gathering and analyzing data in new ways will allow for a greater understanding of how sex trafficking is being performed in the digital world, by providing insight into the modus operandi of sex traffickers, and providing valuable information about the victims themselves.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To describe how the advent of the digital age has influenced sex trafficking, as well as sex trafficking prevalence data;

·         To articulate the difficulty of tracking and collecting information about sex traffickers online;

To explain several possible solutions being implemented to aid researchers and law enforcement agencies. Presentation Objectives:

·         To provide the results of the 2015 & 2016 Youth Experience Survey

·         Contrast non-sex trafficking needs with victims of trafficking to help guide client needs

·         To discuss how to expand prevention and interventions for trafficking victims within a homeless, youth serving program

·         To build engagement strategies for existing clients to share their experiences and access services

To leverage community partners for needs such as legal, medical and housing.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

The Governor’s Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force was created in 2012 to help exploited children and adults facing dire circumstances in Ohio. Since its creation, partnerships with task force agencies, federal entities, and grassroots coalitions have yielded tremendous results in combatting trafficking in the state, particularly by building applicable and relevant resources that allow advocates and community leaders to enhance their local response to trafficking. Participants will leave this session with a greater understanding of how to practically utilize, apply and adapt existing tools and resources, all of which are free and readily available through the Task Force. This session will cover the key components that make up a strong and holistic response, and attendees will walk away with tangible and substantive information and tools to support and enrich their agency’s trafficking response.
 

Specifically, participants will walk through sample protocols for coalition building, learn about victim service standards and an online toolkit designed to support effective outreach to victims, review state and federal funding sources, and more. The tools, resources and protocols covered in this session were created in partnership with state, local and federal organizations, and are intended to be adapted by communities throughout Ohio working to address the crime of human trafficking. By attending this session, participants will gain practical, concrete information to support their day-to-day work in responding to trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To learn what human trafficking looks like in rural communities

This presentation will include detailed information of what the sexual assault nurse examiner is able to do for victims of sexual assault. An explanation of the extensive training the nurse must complete to be considered SANE-trained will be discussed as well as how the patient benefits from a sexual assault exam completed by a trained SANE nurse. The team approach and what is included in a forensic exam will be explained. This presentation will conclude with a few case studies of patients that were seen and treated by SANE-trained nurses.

Persistence of human trafficking in Tanzania is reported to be exacerbated by many factors including patriarchal systems, poverty, peer influences, job opportunities and availability of social services to mention a few. Lack of knowledge and skills, has been thought to catalyze the situation more as compared to others. In a research study conducted in Arusha Municipality involving girls who are victims of human trafficking and other stakeholders; it was found that destitution of rural families, forced marriages, peer influences, broken families and gender based violence were among the root causes which led these young girls to become prey to traffickers. The study also revealed that these young girls faced a lot of challenges including being overworked and being unpaid, being tortured physically and emotionally. Some of these girls experienced other challenges such as sexual abuse and in some cases even contracted sexual diseases. In combating the situation, the study recommends more drastic measures from the Government and other stakeholders including increasing awareness on Human Trafficking for the general public and encouraging victims to report human trafficking cases. The study also recommends that children who are most vulnerable and at high risk of being trafficked be checked regularly and if possible be supplied with their basic needs.

Penal labor within the prison system is common, and has been subject to much controversy, especially in the last five years. While the debate is heated and complex, one commonly ignored aspect is the use of penal labor by private prisons. Private prisons make up 16% of federal prisons. Similar to federally-run prisons, private prisons use penal labor to perform “institutional maintenance” and to pay for “room and board”. Private prisons receive a static amount of federal funding to hire employees to do this work. This begs the question: How and to what extent can and do private prisons use penal labor to cut costs and increase their bottom line? This study seeks to answer this question by examining the use of penal labor in Federal Private Prisons and explores the connection between labor in these prisons and labor exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

·         Outline the debate surrounding the use of penal labor and the laws around the use of penal labor in U.S. federal prisons;

·         Examine how private prisons make a profit and how that is connected to the use of penal labor;

·         Explore the use of penal labor in private prisons and the connection with forced labor and human trafficking;

Outline action goals and tools to address this issue of forced labor and human trafficking in federal private prisons.

Most victims of sexual violence experience some level of Post-Traumatic Stress. A majority are diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can include extreme levels of anxiety. The goal of the presentation is to determine if individuals with anxiety disorder diagnoses are more vulnerable to sexual trauma and also to examine the number of survivors that are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after having been victimized. Presenters will discuss whether anxiety disorder diagnoses as a result of sexual trauma are appropriate, given that a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder involves symptoms of anxiety.
 

Both presenters come from a background of victim-centered care and will examine the aforementioned issues from both an advocacy and clinical standpoint. Issues will also be examined and discussed from a personal standpoint, as one of the presenters is a sexual trauma survivor that also suffers from a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The presentation will begin with this survivor’s story and explanation of how her story can be applied to the stories of many survivors. The program will conclude with recommendations for clinicians and victim advocates for trauma-informed care with anxiety disorders as a priority.

Presentation Objectives:

·         To examine the prevalence of anxiety disorders amongst sexual trauma survivors.

·         To create dialogue about the overlap between anxiety and victimization; before and after the incident(s) of sexual violence.

To be a cautionary tale about making diagnoses and recommendations too hastily; without fully examining the part that trauma may play in an individual’s symptom of anxiety.

Prostitution is often experienced and regarded as a form of oppression and abuse. In the last decade, it defined by a growing number of professionals, academics and politicians in Israel as a social problem requiring societal response. While many people in prostitution are seen as victims who deserve adequate social and therapeutic services, prostitution-centered intervention is rarely provided by social workers in public services in Israel.

The objective of this presentation is to share the findings of several studies conducted in Israel, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, aiming to learn about the response to and perceptions of prostitution by several groups of social workers.
Dr. Peled will first present the findings of a study of 215 social workers in the Administration of Social Services in the city of Tel Aviv.

The main research questions were:
(1) Do social workers in municipal public services serve people in prostitution?
(2) How do social workers explain occasions when clients’ involvement in prostitution is known, but there is no discussion of our intervention in that matter?
(3) What factors are related to social workers’ willingness to intervene with people in prostitution?

Secondly, Dr. Peled will present the main findings from a series of 4 qualitative studies aimed at understanding the perceptions of social workers regarding prostitution and people in prostitution. She argues that social workers' willingness, choice and ability to intervene with people in prostitution is influenced by their perceptions of people in prostitution as normative/deviant, as victims/ agents, and as subjects/objects.

Art is very helpful in learning to sense another’s experience. Creative writing or a painting, for examples, can encourage the social worker to feel, taste, smell and see the realities of marginalized lives. Because empathy and connection are often created at the level of the senses, art is uniquely suited as a way to learn. Empathy is not only important on a micro-level, is important to raising awareness about cultural disparities and injustices. This paper will look at the use of art as self-reflection, a way to encourage empathy between professionals and clients, and as a way to inspire social action.

Any person whose identity, status, labor, or serostatus should have a range of remedies available to them to fight and to right the wrongs they face under systems of criminalization. Unfortunately, this is too often not the case. The remedies available to people profiled, arrested, and convicted due to their age, race, socio-economic class, gender identity, serostatus, and/or actual or perceived work in street economies or erotic trades, are composed of a web of esoteric rules and regulations, oftentimes lacking adequate publication or resources for those eligible to take advantage. This session will outline common problems faced by these communities, along with typical remedial models including: immunity, affirmative defenses, diversion, sealing, expungement, vacatur, and pardon, along with the drawbacks and benefits of each. The session will conclude with a group brainstorm and participatory discussion of how our communities and organizations can work to improve existing remedies and what other remedies we should fight to establish.