Citation

Schwarz C, Unruh E, Cronin K, Evans-Simpson S, Britton H, Ramaswamy M. Health Hum. Rights 2016; 18(1): 181-192.

Affiliation

Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Harvard School of Public Health, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

27781009

Abstract

The medical sector presents a unique opportunity for identification and service to victims of human trafficking. In this article, we describe local and site-specific efforts to develop an intervention tool to be used in an urban hospital's emergency department in the midwestern United States. In the development of our tool, we focused on both identification and intervention to assist trafficked persons, through a largely collaborative process in which we engaged local stakeholders for developing site-specific points of intervention. In the process of developing our intervention, we highlight the importance of using existing resources and services in a specific community to address critical gaps in coverage for trafficked persons. For example, we focus on those who are victims of labor trafficking, in addition to those who are victims of sex trafficking. We offer a framework informed by rights-based approaches to anti-trafficking efforts that addresses the practical challenges of human trafficking victim identification while simultaneously working to provide resources and disseminate services to those victims.

Language: en