Sex Trafficking Survivors
Muraya, D.N & Fry, D. (2016). Aftercare services for child victims of sex trafficking: A systematic review of policy and practice. Sage, 17(2); 204-220.
The study employed the use of current practice, a systematic review of unpublished and published research and organizational policies to explore the various aftercare services that are afforded to the victims of child sex trafficking. The study explored the various services that children survivors involved in sex trafficking are provided with and the policies in place to ensure they are taken care of. There was need for the development of best practices related to the aftercare services provided to the child survivors.
The methodology used was a systematic study of English language databases, internet search engines and resource libraries with content on human trafficking. The study yielded about 15 credible documents that could be used in the review.
A review of the 15 documents sourced found the need for aftercare services to be provided to children who are survivors of sex trafficking. The services are to be founded on trauma- informed and children's rights provision of services. Three phases of the aftercare service provision were identified: the rescuing of the child survivors, their recovery and eventual reintegration into society.
This study sheds light on the aftercare services provided to children survivors of sex trafficking and the policies and practice associated thereto. The aftercare of sex trafficking survivors is crucial yet the research on the area remains minimal. This study would add to the body of research available which would eventually lead to better provision of aftercare for the survivors.
Dahal, P., Joshi, S.K., Swahnberg, K. (2015).‘We are looked down upon and rejected socially': A qualitative study on the experiences of trafficking survivors in Nepal. Global Health Action, 8.
The study considered the trafficking process, sexual slavery abuses as well as the challenges that the girls and women survivors of sex trafficking encountered in the quest for successful reintegration into society. The study found the whole process of reintegration into the Nepalese society to be challenging.
The methodology used in the study included an exploratory study which employed the use of qualitative methods. The study sought to demonstrate the fact that the lack of opportunities, poverty, illiteracy and other forms of social stigma were pertinent in the victimization process of these survivors. They also led to a continued cycle of entrapment.
The study found that the very reasons that led to and necessitated the sex trafficking were the same reasons used by society to restrict the reintegration of the survivors after their ordeals. Hence, the survivors are unable to grow or become re-inducted into mainstream society and end up falling back into the same patterns and may even end up in sexual slavery.
The study concluded that issues like an uncertain livelihood, support systems that are non- existent, being considered as outcasts by society, detachment from the necessary familial ties and other pressing issues that survivors experience and are subjected to tend to make their reintegration difficult. The women and girls in Nepal are, therefore, unable to lead normal lives after being rescued from sex slavery and society does not seem to want them to forget their ordeals or start anew.
This article is important to my study because it gives an example of the plight of survivors of sex trafficking. The article exposes the other issues that the sex slave survivors face while trying to be reintegrated into society. Society can be cruel to people especially if it does not understand or is unable to relate to a particular person's plight. Hence, education and provision of information on how to deal with the survivors are crucial to their reintegration.
Cary, M., Oram, S., Howard, L.M., Trevillion, K., Byford, S. (2015). Human trafficking and severe mental illness: An economic analysis of survivors' use of psychiatric services. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 16(284).
The background of this study was the large body of research on the high rates of post- traumatic stress disorder and depression among the survivors of human trafficking. These survivors require various forms of assistance although there is no data or research on the costs of providing such assistance. The study thus sought to quantify how the secondary mental health services are used by survivors, to estimate how much these services would cost and to identify the various factors that drive these costs high and make them unmanageable.
For the methodology, the study employed the use of common databases which had information on psychiatric patients who had had the unfortunate experience of being trafficked. The study used the data of the patients who fit the criteria and had received treatment between the years of 2007 and 2012. The data used was based on trafficking and socio- demographic characteristics of survivors who sought mental health services. The costs were calculated and the factors that showed high costs of mental health services were analyzed.
The study found the various costs that would be incurred by mental health service providers in addition to the costs that would be incurred if all other factors were considered.
The study concluded that the costs of providing mental health services to human trafficking survivors varied. Also, those with pre- trafficking violence experiences and psychotic disorders would require intensive support to recover. Better methods of intervention were required in order to better assist such patients and help them recover fully.
This study is important to my study due to the fact that it considers and brings to light the various costs that the survivors of sex and human trafficking have to incur in order to receive adequate mental health and psychological treatment. Most often, the costs are not considered and they are crucial to the provision of the services required. Understanding costs would be very crucial.
Beck, M.E., Lineer, M.M., Lange, M.M., Simpson, P., Nugent, M., Rabbitt, A. (2015). Medical providers'understanding of sex trafficking and their experience with at-risk patients. AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics, 135(4).
This study was based on the fact that the victims of sex trafficking presented unique mental health and medical needs that had proved difficult to identify. This study sought to correct this by evaluating the gaps in the knowledge and the training needs required of the medical providers. The study highlighted the importance of training in dealing with the needs of the sex trafficking survivors. It also demonstrated the various barriers that exist and hamper the process of identification of the victims and the responses afforded them.
The methodology used was a survey sent to facilities which deal with and often encounter survivors of sex trafficking. The participants were social workers, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, family and patient advocates sourced from hospitals, clinics and healthcare facilities in rural, urban and suburban locations.
The results of the study suggested that a majority of the healthcare providers did not have any form of training on how to deal with survivors of sex trafficking. Those with training were not confident of their ability to identify patients who were survivors of sex trafficking or how to effectively treat them. The greatest problems encountered were lack of training and awareness on how to deal with sex trafficking survivors.
The study concluded that the gaps in awareness and knowledge demonstrated by the healthcare workers were mainly due to their lack of training. In effect, training was identified and seen as crucial in the treatment of sex trafficking survivors especially the pediatric survivors.
This study is relevant due to the fact that it analyses and considers the capacity of the healthcare workers in various health care facilities and their ability to diagnose and deal with the various conditions presented by the survivors of sex trafficking. The study identifies the problem of lack of training and awareness which should be addressed in order to treat the survivors of sex trafficking.
Oram, S., Abas, M., Bick, D., Boyle, A., French, R., Jakobowitz, S., Khondoker, M., Stanley, N., Trevillion, K., Howard, L., Zimmerman, C. (2016). Human trafficking and health: A Survey of male and female survivors in England. American Journal of Public Health, 106(6).
The study sought to investigate the mental and physical health as well as the experiences of violence that the survivors, both male and female, of human and sex trafficking have encountered. The study mainly focused on survivors who were citizens of high- income countries or the developed and first world countries. The study sought to identify the various reasons why trafficking exists and is perpetrated in these countries as well as the various abuses the survivors are subjected to during the whole ordeal.
The methodology used in the study consisted of data drawn from a cross- sectional survey carried out in England of about 150 male and female participants who fit the criteria required for the study. Interviews were conducted over a period of about 18 months between June 2013 to December 2014.
The results drawn from the study indicated the various percentages which represented the reasons why people are trafficked in the country. The reasons included sexual and labor exploitation as well as domestic servitude with labor exploitation being the most common reason for the trafficking. More than half of those interviewed reported forced sexual encounters during the trafficking as well as injuries, sexually transmitted diseases and levels of post- traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.
The study concluded on the need for psychological interventions which would serve to support and facilitate the recovery of the survivors of sex trafficking. The experiences of the male and female survivors were more or less similar. In addition, the effects of the trauma and the reasons why the vice is pertinent in the country were also similar.
This study is important because it shows the various reasons why sex trafficking exists and the motivating factors for those who engage in it. It also informs on the various abuses that the survivors go through in addition to the effects which would be helpful in finding a solution.
References
Beck, M.E., Lineer, M.M., Lange, M.M., Simpson, P., Nugent, M., Rabbitt, A. (2015). Medical providers'understanding of sex trafficking and their experience with at-risk patients. American Academy of Pediatrics, 135(4).
Cary, M., Oram, S., Howard, L.M., Trevillion, K., Byford, S. (2015). Human trafficking and severe mental illness: An economic analysis of survivors' use of psychiatric services. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 16(284).
Dahal, P., Joshi, S.K., Swahnberg, K. (2015).‘We are looked down upon and rejected socially': A qualitative study on the experiences of trafficking survivors in Nepal. Global Health Action, 8.
Muraya, D.N., and Fry, D. (2016). Aftercare services for child victims of sex trafficking: A systematic review of policy and practice. Sage, 17(2), 204-220.
Oram, S., Abas, M., Bick, D., Boyle, A., French, R., Jakobowitz, S., Khondoker, M., Stanley, N., Trevillion, K., Howard, L., Zimmerman, C. (2016). Human trafficking and health: A survey of male and female survivors in England. American Journal of Public Health, 106(6).
