Recognizing National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month: Signs, Support, and Resources for Survivors

By:  Shari Kim, Ph.D.

Member of Baltimore City Human Trafficking Collaborative

Former Chair of  Human Trafficking Subcommittee, Pennsylvania Psychological Association

Former Chair of Behavioral Health Workgroup, York County Human Trafficking Task Force 

Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry harming millions of people worldwide.  Thriving in the shadows, it survives solely by our lack of ability to recognize it when it is right in front of us.

Most people think of human trafficking as people snatching young children in a scary white van, bringing people in from other countries in shipping crates, or kidnapping people on trips overseas.  Those images perpetuate myths that allow human trafficking to thrive, because they point our eyes in the wrong direction.  In truth, most people are trafficked by people who live in their communities or who meet them on social media.  Children, while overall statistically less likely to be trafficked, are more likely to be trafficked by a family member than a stranger.  Your first step in recognizing trafficking, then, is recognizing what it is not.

There are many clear signs that someone has been trafficked.  Here are some things to notice:

• Sex workers who have “pimps” or a managers who take part of their income (this is ALWAYS human trafficking, whether the person sees it as trafficking or not)
• Individuals who are unpaid for their work, paid very little, or work only for tips
• High levels of surveillance at the jobsite (not when it is a normal part of the job, like working in a prison)
• Tattoos such as barcodes, “Daddy” or other forms of branding
• Signs of malnutrition or lack of medical care
• Failure to pass normal orientation checks when there is no other reason for the individual to fail orientation checks
• Another individual accompanies the client to the session and insists on attending the session with your client
• Unusual signs of fear, even for someone who has experienced trauma

This list is not exhaustive and merely contains some brief guidelines on things to look for in an initial therapy session.  For a complete list of signs, click here: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/human-trafficking/recognizing-signs

When treating someone who has been trafficked, PTSD is only one of the many issues we face as therapists.  Before we can tackle that problem, we must help them deal with the Stockholm Syndrome and undue influence, or brainwashing, that they have experienced.  This process may take years and a great deal of patience.  People who have been trafficked may return to their traffickers during this period as well, believing they are not capable of surviving in the world outside of the trafficking space.  They need more guidance than most trauma survivors, because they have not been permitted to make any of their own decisions.  Imagine being told what to eat every day for a year or more, and then thrust into the cereal aisle of a grocery store; the choices can be oppressive and overwhelming.  They also may not know how to do many of the things that we take for granted, like scheduling appointments and applying for jobs.  Caseworkers are an indispensable resource here.  Once we have overcome this phase, we will likely have to overcome dissociation before we can process the trauma.  We continue to move slowly, respectfully, nonjudgmentally, and patiently. In order to support the survivor in processing the trauma, a clinician must have training in an evidence-based treatment modality for trauma such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). If you are a clinician interested in being trained in EMDR, check out our upcoming EMDR Basic Trainings here. 

Human trafficking work requires networks of care and cannot survive in a vacuum.  The best care happens when organizations pool their resources and work together to wrap around each survivor and work in tandem.  No one organization can provide all the resources a survivor needs, and every good task force includes members of law enforcement, legal services, housing, SAFE nurses, medical and behavioral health, and other specialized services that may be available in the area to provide care for each survivor.  For resources in your area, contact your local human trafficking task force,  If you would like more information on where to find services, you can find them here: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/resources

If you suspect human trafficking at any time, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.