Posts in 2018
Minor vs. Adult Sex-Trafficking Survivors: How to Best Serve Each of These Similar, Yet Unique Populations

Minor and adult sex-trafficking survivors have many similarities, yet there are many critical distinctions between these two populations that are often overlooked. This session will review how minor and adult survivors are treated differently by society, treatment providers, and the legal system. The presenters will discuss specific cases involving children and adults, and the significant similarities and differences between how these cases are handled. The presenters will be pulling these case examples from clients they served in Northeast Ohio. This presentation will examine the specific challenges that are associated with legal representation and service provision to both minor and adult sex-trafficking survivors. Finally, the presenters will provide suggestions of best practices for treatment of minors and adults, and ways to ensure that we are acknowledging their unique status in our society.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Discuss the background of sex trafficking and legal definitions of adult sex trafficking vs. minor sex trafficking.

·  Examine the similarities and differences between minor and adult sex-trafficking survivors.

·  Consider the differences of the legal system's treatment of minor and adult sex-trafficking survivors.

·  Propose ways to serve minor and adult sex-trafficking victims while still acknowledging their unique status.

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Survivor-run Social Enterprise CleanUP HT: Seeking to Inspire Other Survivors to Succeed

Toshia L. Hogan is a sex trafficking survivor and co-founder of CleanUP HT, a social enterprise aimed at helping survivors thrive and to generate funding for Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution (S.O.A.P Project) and other anti-human trafficking non-profit organizations. Come learn about empowering survivors and gain more knowledge about a social enterprise model in the anti-human trafficking movement. CleanUP HT has partnered with the Franciscan Peacemakers, who have been a supportive workplace for survivors to learn skills in manufacturing, packaging, marketing, sales and administration.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Empower survivors to take action in the anti-human trafficking movement.

·  Describe a social enterprise model in the anti-human trafficking moment.

·  Explain the relationship between CleanUP HT, Franciscan Peacemakers, and the S.O.A.P. Project.

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Indicators of Human Trafficking among Migrant Farm Worker Communities in Western Michigan

This exploratory study was designed to research indicators of human trafficking within migrant farmworker communities in Western Michigan. Much of the research on human trafficking has focused exclusively on sex trafficking and very few studies have been done on labor trafficking (Zhang, 2012). Furthermore, the majority of the research conducted on human trafficking has used the nation-state as a focal point instead of a particular region or locality (see Shelley, 2010 and O’Neill-Richard, 1999). For example, there has been a wealth of research done on the United States, but very few studies have been conducted within individual states themselves (Bales, 2000). This study was formulated in order to fill the gaps within the research and focuses exclusively on indicators of labor trafficking in Western Michigan. In completing this research, this presenter spent several months interviewing 15 different professionals from various occupations who worked regularly with migrant farmworkers in Western Michigan and another 15 migrant farm workers who worked in Oceana County, one of the counties in Western Michigan which hosts the largest number of migrant farmworkers every growing season. The pool of professionals who were interviewed was diverse and the counties or other localities they worked in showed the diversity of approaches to migrant farm workers in Western Michigan. The migrant farmworkers were working in Oceana County when interviewed but had a great deal of other experiences to draw from when responding.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Describe indicators of human trafficking during the migratory process.

·  Identify indicators of human trafficking through the recruitment process.

·  Explain indicators of human trafficking based on living and working conditions.

·  Present indicators of human trafficking based on social circumstances.

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Light into Dark Places: Art and Healing

This exhibit involves visual art collaboration between a variety of consumer artists and social service workers from major community mental health organizations in the Toledo area. Each of these organizations has built art interventions into their services. The art in this exhibit was inspired by an open call based on a quote by Alexander Papaderos, a peace activist and scholar: "I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world -- into the black places in the hearts of men -- and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."

Exhibit Objectives:

·  Consider how communities can honor and respect the insights of those with mental illness.

·  Identify the impact of art interventions on healing.

·  Demonstrate the power of creative writing, art, and photography to raising awareness about injustice.

·  Counter stereotypes about mental illness and understand how disrupting stereotypes is crucial in erasing implicit bias.

·  Inspire agencies to provide art interventions that encourage connection and better understanding of mental illness.

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2018Anna Schrammart
Human Trafficking 101

This basic overview of human trafficking is most appropriate for those new to the field. Presenters will focus on both domestic and foreign trafficking as well as labor and sex trafficking. Topics will include the definition of human trafficking, how traffickers recruit, indicators for victim identification, and where and how to report suspected trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Define human trafficking.

·  Explain the basics around how traffickers recruit.

·  Describe indicators for victim identification.

·  Outline where and how to report suspected trafficking.

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“What I Wanted was the Drugs”: Heroin as a Method of Control in a Case Study on Sex Trafficking

The existing body of literature recognizes the presence of force, fraud, and coercion as salient indicators of sex trafficking. The researchers of this study completed a narrative analysis from court transcripts of a sex trafficked survivor who was coerced into the sex trade through her existing opiate addiction. The process through which the sex trafficker used heroin to initially gain access, and as a continual means of control are examined and discussed in this study. Findings indicate that, in this particular case, the victims came from a family of lower socio- economic status, possessed a lower level of education, little to no marketable skills, minimal work experience and had an existing drug addiction lending credence to the work of Norton- Hawk (2004) and Deshpande and Nour (2013), which explored the demographics of trafficked women. This case study demonstrates the need for further qualitative research which examines the way opiate addictions are exploited by sex traffickers so as to develop early interventions and strategies.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Examine heroin as a method of control in sex trafficking.

·  Describe how sex trafficking and opiate addiction are intertwined.

·  Discuss salient indicators of opiate addiction.

·  Illustrate how legal opiate prescriptions can lead to heroin addiction and sex trafficking.

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Fragment of a Mirror: Reflections on Surviving

This exhibit features a survivor artist, Leigh Pinkleman. This will be the fourth year that the Human Trafficking and Social Justice conference has featured a survivor artist. So far, the exhibit has highlighted the experiences of surviving sex trafficking, childhood sexual abuse, and partner suicide. Art has been in the form of painting, sculpture, and poetry. This exhibit is the result of an open call for art with a due date of March 30 for submission. A small group of the art and social justice committee for the conference will help to choose from the artists that have submitted work.

Exhibit Objectives:

·  Consider how communities can honor and respect the insights of survivors.

·  Identify the impact of art interventions on resilience and survival.

·  Demonstrate the power of art in raising awareness about experiences of injustice.

·  Inspire survivor artists to share their work with the community and to provoke the audience to use art as a catalyst for empathy for all that have survived cruelty.

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2018Anna Schrammart
Making the Truth Irresistible

This exhibit is based on an open call for art sent to a variety of art studios in the state of Ohio dedicated to the artwork of adults with developmental disabilities. The theme of this is exhibit, “Make the Truth Irresistible” is from an Audre Lorde quote, “June Jordan once said something which is just wonderful. I’m paraphrasing her – that her function as a poet was to make revolution irresistible. Well ok, that is the function of us all, as creative artists, is to make the truth irresistible.”

Exhibit Objectives:

·  Consider how communities can honor and respect the insights of adults with developmental disabilities.

·  Identify the impact of art interventions on wellbeing.

·  Demonstrate the power of creative writing, art, and photography to raising awareness about the experiences of having a disability in America.

·  Inspire artists with developmental disabilities to share their work with the community and to counter stereotypes about individuals with intellectual disabilities.

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2018Anna Schrammart
African Largest Paper Orphans: An Evaluation of the Unremitting Supply Side of Child Trafficking through Orphanism

With increased vulnerabilities that put children at risk, more gaps are being overlooked in African orphanages that continuously endanger the lives of innocent African Children. Resulting from a quagmire of socio injustice, lack of social safety nets, and internal displacement of citizens, orphanages have become the last hope of a common child. Especially in an environment with little or no coordinated birth records, these orphanages are turning to myriads of unscrupulous means to source for children for illicit financial gains. Many of the ‘orphans’ are paper orphans, who were removed from their biological parents using duplicitous misrepresentations, sourced through kidnapping by criminal organizations or harvested at birth through what is popularly known in Nigeria as “Baby Factory”. Research has shown that Nigeria is one of the top three countries globally with the most orphans, and most of the children placed in orphanages are not orphans, they are procured for illicit purposes of profit making. A 2012 research study also postulates that there are about 11.5 million orphans in Nigeria, however this is difficult to substantiate because of a lack of dependable statistics. Amid a growing culture of orphanage tourism amongst more affluent individuals visiting orphanages with tons of gifts items and financial supports to demonstrate philanthropism, criminal elements are leveraging on empathy for the needs of children, to expand the numbers of children in the orphanages. This presentation seeks to therefore discuss the incipient issues in Nigerian orphanages with regards to the increasing demands for ‘orphans’.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Describe the emerging issues in Nigerian orphanages with regards to demand and sourcing.

·  Identify the disconnections that aids the vulnerabilities of high risk children in orphanages.

·  Identify the roles of different stakeholders in the illicit demand for paper orphans.

·  Discuss and elicit some practical recommendations.

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Shining a Light: Monsters, Mysteries, and How Society Divides Us

This exhibit involves creative writing collaboration between UT students from the medical and social work professions and high school students from Rogers High School. The students write creatively on a weekly basis using multiple writing prompts from images to research on social separation. The sophomore group focused on memoir writing and the juniors' autoethnographic research on social separation. Themes developed from this writing about mysteries and monsters and the realities of expectations, acceptance, observation, and societal norms. The insights from these creative writing groups are helpful to better understand disconnects that happen between community members and providers.

Exhibit Objectives:

·  Encourage communities to honor and respect the insights of young people.

·  Identify the impact of social separation in the United States and how it contributes to health disparities.

·  Demonstrate the power of creative writing, art, and photography to raise awareness about injustice and to counter stereotypes about youth.

·  Inspire future social work and artists collaboration.

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2018Anna Schrammart
A Childhood Sex Trafficking Survivor's Story and Perspectives

Kylee Gregg will be sharing her story of being a survivor of childhood sex trafficking. She was trafficked from ages ten to fourteen and is now passionate about sharing her experiences in the hope of raising awareness and helping others. Kylee will also be discussing how the sex industry, namely prostitution and pornography, intersects with sex trafficking and affects survivors.
Presentation Objectives:

·  Share a survivor's story of childhood sex trafficking.

·  Pinpoint ways the sex industry intersects with trafficking and affects survivors, from a survivor’s perspective.

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Occupational Alienation, Deprivation, and Imbalance: Restoring Life through Occupation and Client Centered Care

Humans are occupational being with success being projected through diverse opportunities (Townsend & Wilcock, 2004). As a survivor of human trafficking, these opportunities are limited and often non-existent, resulting in an occupational injustice. A survivor along with an occupational therapist will share the role of the effects of occupational injustice, including alienation, deprivation, and imbalance. The most effective treatment for survivors of human trafficking include treatment involving but not limited to job placement, independent living skills, housing, basic needs being addressed and met, health education, educational opportunities, trauma specific treatment, social skills, and any other needed skill building areas in a persons’ life (Johnson, 2012).  These areas can be addressed by an occupational therapist from assessment to treatment as part of the team for a holistic approach to sustained success for survivors. Survivors of human trafficking benefit from skill development and, according to the occupational therapy practice framework, many areas fall into the scope of practice for occupational therapy, including but not limited to self-care, financial management, employment, meaningful activity, meal planning and preparation, community mobility, relationship development, problem solving, impulse control, and many other areas (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014). Restoring life through occupations and client-centered care can provide a unique collaborative approach to the treatment team while exploring new skills and opportunities for survivors of human trafficking. In this session, attendees will learn about the impact that daily occupations have on everyday life and how to build these skills with individuals for success when going from survivor to thriver.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Identify potential occupational alienation, deprivation, and imbalances in survivors.

·  Discuss ways to include occupations into treatment.

·  Explore a holistic view on survivors and how occupational therapy can play a role on the treatment team

·  Share a survivor’s journey to becoming a thriver through building daily occupation skills.

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Hearing their Voices: The Persistence of Violence Against Native American Women and Girls, Understanding the Past to Address the Present

Violence against Native women and girls has been part of the history of this continent since first contact over 500 years ago. The legal, social, and moral history with Indigenous women and girls in this country has cultivated a modern environment where 1 in 3 Native American women are raped in their lifetime and are 2.5 times more likely to be raped than women in general in the United States. Jurisdictional difficulties exist in a state/tribal/federal system which make prosecution and ensuring safety extremely difficult. This workshop will show how the past has framed the way dominant culture views Native women and girls in modern times and how it perpetuates continued violence and fetishism against Native women and Girls. Attendees will learn how jurisdictional gaps in enforcement can be addressed and will discover how a reconciliation process in the United States to acknowledge the violent history with the Indigenous people is a necessary step towards healing and ending the violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Discuss the historical experience of colonization and its impact on violence of Indigenous women and girls.

·  Illustrate how fetishism and cultural appropriation is grounded in the historic experience and contributes to continued violence against Indigenous women and girls.

·  Outline the jurisdictional challenges that exist in Indian Country based on federal law that is grounded in genocide or erasure of Indigenous peoples.

·  Identify solutions to the legal jurisdictional problems and how to be an authentic ally.

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Meta-Analysis of Human Trafficking in the United States: Economic, Demographic, and Sociological Drivers

Meta-analysis is a method for combining multiple independent studies on the same subject or question, producing a single large study with increased accuracy and enhanced ability to detect overall trends and smaller effects. This presentation applies meta-analysis to human trafficking data. There are now a number of localized studies for one state or a metropolitan area which can be combined using meta-analysis. In this study, state-level data from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center is combined with economic, demographic, and other data sources to develop a statistical model to predict metropolitan areas with the greatest human trafficking risk - not all of which have been found by law enforcement at this time. Factors driving high levels of trafficking are found to include several economic factors, including poverty rates, GINI index, and recent homelessness. Yet, even after taking economic factors into account, race is found to be a risk factor, and the percentage of the population held in slavery at the 1860 census is found to be a statistically significant predictor of the rate slavery victim reports today. These risk factors are applied to socio-economic data of states and metropolitan areas today, identifying areas at highest risk of human trafficking today and leading to the development of data-driven mitigation strategies such as training emergency room workers to recognize indicators of human trafficking victims.

Presentation Objectives:

·  Share research indicating metropolitan levels with high but undetected levels of human trafficking.

·  Describe meta-analysis as an important methodology for human trafficking researchers.

·  Demonstrate how organizations fighting human trafficking can partner with volunteer statistical researchers to improve outcomes.

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