This presentation will focus on forensic nursing and the medical forensic exam. It will begin with an overview of the forensic nursing specialty, highlighting the populations served—such as survivors of human trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and other forms of intentional injury. The structure of forensic nursing programs will be explored, including the importance of collaboration with law enforcement, prosecution, victim advocates, and other community partners. The presentation will then delve into the medical forensic exam, a specialized and trauma-informed process conducted by trained forensic nurses. Key components include obtaining a medical history, conducting a physical assessment, taking forensic photographs, collecting and preserving evidence, and providing necessary medical care. These exams are crucial not only for supporting criminal investigations and potential prosecution, but also for ensuring that patients receive timely, compassionate, and holistic care during a vulnerable time. Additionally, the role of the forensic nurse in providing expert courtroom testimony will be discussed, underscoring the importance of accurate documentation and communication in the legal process. The presentation will conclude by emphasizing the importance of consulting a forensic nurse and the value they bring to cases of victims impacted by violence. These professionals are uniquely trained to balance medical care with forensic evidence collection, increasing the chances of achieving justice while prioritizing the survivor’s well-being. Resources will be shared to help viewers locate forensic nursing services in their area.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Identify the role of a forensic nurse in caring for those impacted by violence, including human trafficking

•  Discuss poly-victimization experienced by those being trafficked

•  Define the benefits of a medical forensic exam

•  Discuss how to find forensic nursing services in local areas and ways to develop partnerships

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Cisgender mental health professionals’ experiences providing services to sex workers identifying as transgender or gender non-conforming were explored in this research study. Providing nonbiased and culturally appropriate care is an ethical obligation of mental health professionals, including providing culturally competent care to the minority subpopulation of transgender and gender non-conforming sex workers. The main research question was “How do cisgender mental health professionals make meaning to experiences in providing services to transgender and gender non-conforming sex workers in the U.S.?” There was no current research on cisgender mental health workers’ experiences with providing services to transgender or gender non-conforming sex workers in the U.S. Providing non-biased and culturally appropriate care is an ethical obligation of counselors, including to this minority population. In this qualitative study, the researchers used semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling to understand the experiences of mental health professionals who have worked with the population. Cisgender mental health professionals providing services to transgender sex workers experience radical shifts in perspective and worldview. Work with the population often results in challenges because of a lack of resources, including counselors lacking specific training, education, or competent supervision. Providing training, education, and supervision surrounding the use of culturally specific language, building and maintaining rapport, practicing openness and affirming behavior, and increasing knowledge of resources, cisgender mental health professionals providing services to the population will have more support and awareness.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Provide an overview of the research study, including main questions, methodology, and findings

•  Describe the implications and recommendations based on the research

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Alicia Tappan will provide a testimony of overcoming from CSEC and self-exploitation, to building a survivor-centered, led, and trauma-informed agency that builds capacity for leadership development and professional credibility for survivors. This session engages the need for long-term care for survivors, as well as creating a transformative justice system that includes survivors’ voices for victims coming out of trafficking. This session will provide milestones of the recovery journey, a basic understanding of psychological theories, concepts, and definitions of common trauma responses for survivors. The training will equip survivors to become independent through professional development and leadership in the anti- trafficking movement. The audience can expect to receive resources for de-escalation techniques, understanding the need for survivor-led public speaking/training, building contracts, and how to negotiate their skills as a professional tool for other agencies.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Empower survivors to change the narrative of human trafficking through lived experience and subject matter expertise

•  Provide ways to build credibility for survivors and take back their dignity at the expert level

•  Enhance a survivor's leadership and professional development skills

•  Discuss how to ensure restorative and transformative justice to their healing journey

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Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries with $150 billion in annual profits and an estimate of over 27.6 million victims exploited through commercial sex or forced labor activities. While transportation of a victim is not compulsory for a crime to be considered human trafficking, the transportation industry plays a crucial role in every stage of the trafficking process. This is especially true for labor trafficking victims, who generally have severely limited or no mobility during long periods of exploitation. As such, there is a great need for dedicated research focused exclusively on labor trafficking. Overwhelming evidence suggests that labor trafficking (without the presence of overlapping sex trafficking charges) is woefully under prosecuted in the U.S. This study seeks to close a gap in understanding the labor trafficking timeline by examining the role of transportation through a systematic review of labor trafficking cases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate successfully litigated cases with respect to the role of transportation. The insights from the 16 opinions selected, issued at various points in the litigation process, shed light on ways the transportation network can disrupt the trafficking process, serve as a resource point for victims attempting escape, and support prosecution of traffickers.

Presentation Objectives:

•  Help the transportation industry and anti-trafficking practitioners understand the role of transportation in labor trafficking through a systematic review of labor trafficking in U.S. court records

•  Demonstrate how the transportation network can aid in disrupting the trafficking process, serving for safe exit strategies for victims attempting escape, and facilitating prosecution of traffickers

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In this session, Brittany Dunn and Alia Azariah highlight the potential of AI-driven solutions to enhance early intervention and improve outcomes for survivors. The presentation begins with an overview of the urgent need to address reporting gaps that allow trafficking to persist undetected. Their central argument emphasizes that technology, particularly AI-enabled triage and survivor-led language, can empower bystanders, law enforcement, and service providers to identify and respond to trafficking swiftly. They illustrate these concepts through a discussion of innovative programs that incorporate round-the-clock reporting channels, robust data security, and trauma-informed communication. This approach ensures that survivors feel supported and understood, while stakeholders receive credible leads for effective intervention. Examples of successful cross-sector collaborations underscore the presentation’s core message that strategic partnerships, combined with accessible technology, can dismantle barriers preventing timely assistance. In conclusion, Dunn and Azariah recommend broader adoption of tested AI models and a unified framework for multi-agency coordination, encouraging participants to integrate these best practices in their communities. The call to action is clear: invest in trauma-informed, secure reporting systems, foster collaboration across disciplines, and amplify survivor voices to transform the fight against trafficking. This session reaffirms that AI technology, when ethically and thoughtfully deployed, holds promise for bridging the gap between silent exploitation and meaningful intervention.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Demonstrate how AI-driven tools can facilitate rapid, trauma-informed responses to suspected cases of human trafficking

•  Highlight successful cross-sector collaborations that enhance early intervention and resource allocation

•  Illustrate the potential for discreet 24/7 reporting channels to encourage earlier survivor engagement

•  Provide participants with practical strategies for implementing these solutions in diverse communities

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The internet is now the front line of exploitation and human trafficking, and many parents and practitioners are ill-prepared to help youth navigate its challenges. The statistics are alarming: 80% of child sex crimes involve social media platforms which 94% of teens use daily, 36 million tips of online child enticement are reported annually in the U.S., and sextortion ranks as the fastest-growing crime against children in North America. To address this crisis, anti-trafficking organization, The Exodus Road (TER), created Influenced™, a research-driven prevention program designed for 6-12th grade students and their caregivers. This comprehensive approach uses Gen Z-approved presentations, video-based learning, and skills-building workshops to address sextortion, cyberbullying, privacy protection, grooming, and impacts of technology on mental health. Data from extensive pre/post surveys reveals the program's critical need and effectiveness. In one 2024 workshop, 68 Colorado students shockingly reported over 100 instances of online enticement. Similar findings were discovered across 54 workshops in 9 states, where 84% of teens report encountering predatory behavior through social media or gaming. Following the Influenced™ workshop, students express feeling empowered to refuse participation in online negativity (84%), engage more mindfully in relationships (85%), and implement practical skills to identify predators and protect themselves (87%). An overwhelming 92% believe the program is effectively helping peers stay safe online. This session offers evidence-based strategies for implementing digital safety education, proven approaches to engaging youth and caregivers in critical conversations, and practical resources for attendees to address online dangers within their communities.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Build a case for digital safety education

•  Present relevant learnings from the frontlines of youth online safety programming, as well as ongoing questions and challenges to be explored

•  Offer proven approaches to engaging students and caregivers in critical conversations related to recognizing, preventing, and responding to online dangers

•  Provide practical resources for attendees to engage in digital safety education on behalf of their own communities

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Anneke Lucas is a survivor of extreme child abuse and was trafficked in exclusive, international circles. Because her perpetrators were both powerful and organized and the abuse was extreme, she has spent decades working through the countless emotionally triggering events related to power and empowerment. Relating her own experiences of power abuse both in her childhood as well as on her long healing journey, she shows that the need to substitute wounded self-esteem with power, position, or status is present everywhere, and that societal hierarchy is in fact trauma-based. She evokes emotional resonance with her approach of intertwining her personal experiences with the larger societal questions around power. She introduces a psychological application she has developed and teaches, which looks at power dynamics between victims and perpetrators both on the personal and global levels. She addresses the psychological mechanisms which underlie human interactions and which shape the global hierarchy. Attendees will walk away with a new awareness of how we each participate in the toxic power structure through our own projections of power and tools to use our own upward or downward projections as a lens into unresolved trauma or unmet emotional needs. This talk invites everyone to become empowered from within, in the context of healing the world.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Describe the survivor's experience with power abuse, both in childhood as in the healing process

•  Explain what was learned about power dynamics as a result of this experience

•  Address what each person can do to even out power imbalances in themselves, and in reflection, in the world

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Integrating data from two qualitative studies, this presentation will explore the often unidentified and unaddressed impact of shame on sex trafficking survivors. The first study focused on the impact and experiences of sex trafficking survivors through the lens of complex trauma and posttraumatic growth. Participants completed open-ended interviews, took photos, and participated in online focus groups to explore identity, sexuality, relationships, and factors of community reintegration including what survivors described as helpful in their aftercare and healing process. Data analysis included multi-level conceptual and thematic coding. Data revealed how experiences before, during, and after being trafficked perpetuated shame, which in turn, impacted the shaping of their identity. The second study was a recent mixed-methods study that explored the potential impact of trauma related shame on survivors of child sex trafficking and identified the influence shame has on the pathology of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, the study aimed to provide insight to best practices in supporting survivors as they receive interventions, especially in their mental health recovery. This research also explores how survivors of child trafficking define shame and complex trauma from their own lived experience. The findings from both of these studies will be interwoven and presented to participants in such a way that they will leave with a greater understanding of survivors’ expression of how they define and experience shame, how it shows up in their identity formation, and contributors of healing to inform how we approach interaction and services with survivors.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Discuss the impact and presentation of shame in sex trafficking survivors

•  Discuss the impact of sex trafficking on identity formation

•  Present key factors important for healing from shame, as expressed by survivors of sex trafficking

•  Explore ways service providers can contribute to identity formation in relating with trafficking survivors

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The global sports industry is expected to grow from $388.28 billion in 2020 to $440.77 billion in 2021. Projected to outpace global GDP, the sports industry is a lavishly oiled, complex machine that is entirely dependent on exceptionally talented individuals with the skills, drive, and discipline to chase their dreams. Oftentimes, young, socially and financially vulnerable athletes are targets for traffickers who hold the deceptive promise of wealth, fame, and opportunity. Traffickers, regularly going by the alias “recruiter,” exploit young athletes through force, fraud, and coercion for social and economic power. There is a dearth of publications, information, and vocabulary surrounding the human trafficking of athletes despite its growing threat to human rights. Though the presenters have identified specific domestic and global legal cases surrounding the topic, they also recognize that the void of information perpetuates this growing and time-sensitive issue and seek to address it. This presentation is a much-needed examination and discourse of this emerging social and public health problem. The presenters will seek to define trafficking within the global sports industry as a human rights violation, identify and explore the push and pull migration factors, and center this call-to-action as an international human rights issue by utilizing methodologies such as case study analysis and systems thinking maps. Conference attendees will begin to recognize the signs of trafficking of athletes from this newly gained information and initiate social justice changes in the sports industry.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Define and conceptualize human trafficking within the sports industry through social work and public health epistemological approaches

•  Discuss the challenges of conceptualizing this multifaceted social problem

•  Identify the areas within the global sports industry where the human trafficking of athletes are the most prominent

•  Identify and define the key vulnerabilities of athletes through the recruitment process

•  Discuss potential solutions and next-steps to addressing this problem

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