SHARING INFORMATION WITH PATIENTS

Healthcare professionals are on the front lines of providing direct patient care to human trafficking survivors and are uniquely positioned to recognize and respond. The majority of survivors who are actively being exploited will encounter healthcare professionals. These individuals may be at risk of trafficking, involved but not ready to get out, involved and wanting help to get out, or have been previous victims (HEALTrafficking.org, 2017).

The manner in which information is shared can be as important as the content itself. It is important to remain objective, provide privacy, and provide verbal and written information in a language that the patient can understand. Healthcare providers must also be mindful of maintaining a trauma and survivor-informed environment. Use of a harm-reduction model meets patients where they are and does not subject them to judgment or push them to disclose information if they are not ready to do so (Cox, 2019).

The following recommendations for institutions can augment the quality of the information-sharing experience between the provider and the client:

Develop treatment plans based on available resources and ensure that these plans are patient-centered
Utilize “warm hand-offs” for referrals when possible (call the party to which one is referring the patient in front of the patient or introduce the other party in person)
Employ survivor advocates
Develop a personalized safety plan (the National HT Hotline can assist)
Provide guidance on prevention of sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and HIV
Provide resources verbally as well as through discreet messaging, bearing in mind that it may not be safe for patients to leave with written information. Good examples include placing a business card in a sanitary napkin or writing a hotline number on a prescription pad and labeling it “X-ray.”
Ask the patient the safest way to communicate if a follow-up is possible
(Baldwin et al., 2017)

If the patient does not request immediate help, the information-sharing should include a treatment plan with referrals to comprehensive care services that are unique to the patient’s needs and sensitive to the patient’s circumstances. The goal of the provider is to treat the patient and offer information and support (HEALTrafficking.org, 2017).

Survivors who have experienced human trafficking are experts on this topic and understand what healthcare providers need to know in order to create a safe space to interact. According to survivors, it is important that healthcare workers have a working knowledge of resources and mandatory and nonmandatory reporting of human trafficking. When sharing information, healthcare workers should share accurate timeframes and respond to the needs that patients verbalize and provide opportunities for the patient to be in control when possible (Chisolm-Straker et al., 2020).

Legal and Social Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in Florida

Legal assistance should be accessible for all victims of human trafficking, and advocacy is available to help navigate a complex system. Victims need to understand their rights so that they can receive services to help their situation. Attorneys can help victims who have been detained, prevent them from being deported, and if they are not citizens of the United States, help them apply for a T visa. (The T visa allows victims of trafficking to live and work in the United States and apply for permanent residency.) The greatest barrier for victims of human trafficking to access their due protections from the TVPA is lack of legal assistance (Florida Health, 2020).

A variety of direct legal and social service providers are available to clients in Florida. Religious groups, government agencies, nongovernmental agencies, and community partners such as domestic violence shelters are part of a network of coordinated community care. There are too many direct service providers for the state of Florida to list individually. The National Human Trafficking Hotline website, operated by the Polaris Project, is a robust resource. The website offers an interactive map and search feature to locate the type of service needed in each community of the United States. A provider or client can also inquire about local services by calling the hotline on the phone (Baldwin et al., 2017). (See “Resources” at the end of this course.)

Other resources to consider sharing with human trafficking survivors include:

The Florida Family Policy Council website. This website offers multiple resources, both national and specific to those in the state of Florida.
HEAL Trafficking (Health, Education, Advocacy, Linkage) is an organization composed of multidisciplinary professionals who support human trafficking survivors from a public health perspective. The organization provides an array of resources that are available on their website, including a Human Trafficking Protocol Toolkit, literature and publications, a speaker’s bureau, and links to a network of nonprofit groups and academic and government centers pertaining to human trafficking. The website also offers patient resources, information on child labor, COVID-19, and Protocol Consultancy.
South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force (SFHTTF), an antitrafficking coordination team, provides a unique model of addressing human trafficking that goes beyond the “3 Ps” (prevention, protection, and prosecution). Composed of representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations, local law enforcement, and state-certified victim advocates, the task force responds in a collaborative manner to assist victims and address and disrupt organized crime that supports human trafficking. By providing victims with services while coordinating investigations, the SFHTTF promotes a victim-centered approach in which the needs of the victim are viewed as equally important as the apprehension and prosecution of the exploiters (SFHTTF, n.d.).

(See “Resources” at the end of this course for website links/contact information.)