When investigating labor trafficking cases, investigators must consider a series of steps involved in building a labor trafficking case that includes victim recruitment, case discovery and management, case prosecution, and the resulting response from victim services providers. Investigators will benefit from expert knowledge that demonstrates a holistic approach to investigating a labor trafficking case. This presentation will identify several processes involved in a labor trafficking investigation. Topics to be explored will include common vulnerabilities of trafficking victims who are exploited in their recruitment or forced entry by traffickers; identification of common labor trafficking worksites, discovery methods, and investigative strategies; and the use of multidisciplinary teams to manage and prosecute labor trafficking cases while also providing services to victims. This presentation is designed to improve the awareness, responsiveness, and accountability among law enforcement, businesses, communities, and other stakeholders on labor trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of labor trafficking, common indicators, and victim vulnerabilities

· Provide strategies to identify common labor trafficking worksites, discovery methods, and investigative approaches

· Discuss the use of multidisciplinary teams to manage and prosecute labor trafficking cases

· Discuss innovative investigative strategies to aid in the successful investigation and prosecution of labor trafficking cases

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Trafficked individuals are often invisible in the health care setting (Peck et al., 2020). Asphyxiation (strangulation and/or suffocation) is a serious medical condition that involves intentional pressure applied to the neck that is often used as an effective tool to gain power and control over the already vulnerable sex trafficked patient. This presentation will focus on the dynamics of strangulation, the repeated exposure of strangulation, and the medical consequences to the sex trafficked patient. Despite the severe consequences of being strangled repeatedly and often on a daily basis, general medical providers often fail to address the specific needs of the trafficked survivor (Faugno et al., 2013). Recognizing the signs and symptoms of strangulation in the trafficked patient and concentrating on getting the trafficked survivor appropriate medical care can often provide them with life-saving medical care. Identification of patients who have been strangled, once or more than once, will enable multi-disciplinary team (MDT) members to better serve this vulnerable population.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss risk factors, signs, and symptoms of asphyxiation in sex trafficking patients

· Describe when to refer patients to medical providers when necessary

· Explain how to collaborate with other members of the MDT to identify trafficking victims who have been asphyxiated

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Edee will share with you how she and her team built the much needed 2-year program, Sanctum House, for adult women survivors of sex trafficking. Creating a program takes love for subject, patience, and persistence. Before a program can become a reality, it needs a foundation. To build a program with integrity and quality takes time. Doing your research is a necessity. It is essential to engage all members of the human trafficking community so that you can acquire knowledge of the needs in the field for the victims. It is essential to educate yourself on how to build the appropriate team, then enlist the support of your community. You must network, and engage with qualified, experienced, and committed people. It is this group that you will join forces with to build a planning team and begin building the foundation of your organization. It is important to be clear on your vision and mission statement. By visiting and learning about other programs, it will help you understand who you want to serve and who you do not want to serve. Once you decide who and what you want to be, it is from there you start to build your program. Edee will leave attendees with some of the specific steps their team took to build their program. These are steps that you too can take to build an organization that will not only help to heal the people it serves, it will fill the mission that you decide is yours.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss how Sanctum House was started

· Describe who and how to engage with the community to create awareness for need and funding

· Discuss how to decide what type of program you want to create

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Those who intend to do harm to another person look for vulnerability and a lack of confidence and self-esteem in their potential victim. Understanding how trauma related outcomes create vulnerabilities in victims of childhood abuse helps advocates, first responders, teachers, foster/kinship care providers, and others understand the behaviors of these children. Learn how the experience of trauma impacts the development of children, their behaviors, and how trauma sets them up as potential victims of human trafficking. Learn processes for assisting children to develop a healthy path of healing and building a resilience protocol to support these children. Find alternative methods of behavior modification and learning tools to equip children to understand their feelings in a positive manner.

Presentation Objectives:

· Define trauma and discuss its effect on child development, self-esteem, and confidence

· Describe how trauma effects child behaviors in different settings and possible triggers to consider

· Explain how to develop protocols to assist children with trauma and adults suffering from childhood trauma that remains untreated

· Discuss how to build resilience in children of trauma

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Mass incarceration has a far-reaching impact when an estimated 70 million, 1 in 3 adults have a criminal record (American Civil Liberties Union, Back to Business: How Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Job Seekers Benefits Your Company, 2017). The impact of mass incarceration is exacerbated due to collateral consequences. Collateral consequences can be defined as hidden sanctions which emerge automatically at the onset of a criminal conviction. They are referred to “hidden” since they are not formally quantifiable in a sentence or imposed penalty. Due to the disproportionate rate in which African-Americans are incarcerated, collateral consequences have a profound impact by limiting access to jobs and professional licensure and restricting access to the ladder of economic mobility. This presentation explores the evolution from forced slave labor to convict leasing to the tangled web of mass incarceration; examines how collateral consequences impact the African-American community’s economic mobility and restricts its access to financial liberation; and offers strategies for policy changes.

Presentation Objectives:

· Develop a deeper understanding of the history of mass incarceration and collateral consequences

· Explore legal and policy implications of collateral consequences (i.e. attorneys do not have a duty to warn clients about collateral consequences except when immigration status is impacted in criminal cases)

· Develop systemic change strategies from the theoretical framework of Planting People Growing Justice© (leadership, social justice advocacy, public policy advocacy)

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This presentation will be on sex and labor trafficking of individuals with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and their vulnerability to traffickers. Risk factors, signs of victimization, trauma, and prevention will be discussed. Attendees will learn how human trafficking affects individuals with IDD physically and behaviorally. Presenters will assist attendees in how to develop and establish protocols and supports within the DD system. They will also discuss how to implement community integration in a safe and playful manner to protect our individuals from labor trafficking. The session will also cover some labor trafficking stories in order to protect the DD population from employers who have immoral practices. Cases will be discussed based on real life experiences and factual data gathered from Disability Right Ohio research. Presenters will also utilize a Disability Fact Sheets and a powerful video called “The Boys of Atalissa”. Attendees will take away how their individual vulnerabilities have made them targets in the United States as well as overseas.

Presentation Objectives:

· Inform the community that IDD individuals are being targeted for human trafficking

· Describe risk factors of human trafficking within the IDD population

· Assist with how to develop and establish protocols and supports in the DD system

· Discuss how integration in the community can be a risk for IDD individuals to be labor trafficked

· Describe how our own systems can cause barriers and limitations in this area

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The speakers will address three different impacts, behavioral responses, and needs pertaining to trauma that sex trafficking victims and service providers may experience. The impact on development that trauma has presents itself in many forms: acute, chronic and complex (Peterson, 2018). The speakers will focus on complex trauma, as that is what a majority of sex trafficking victims experience. Secondly, they will explain in-depth the different responses to trauma, such as: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. These four responses each carry varying implications that are critical for service providers to understand when providing services to victims of sex trafficking or others dealing with complex trauma (Walker). Lastly, the speakers will conclude their presentation with addressing healing needs and treatment approaches to individuals experiencing complex trauma and sex trafficking victims. Trauma impacts the person physically, emotionally and relationally. Trauma has both a short and long term physiological impact on the brain function, immune system, and overall general bodily health. In regard to the emotional impact of trauma, it causes the need for counseling, mindfulness habits, and skills training. This emotional impact in turn affects one's relational health and idea of relational health, such as secure attachment, community, family boundaries, friendships, and intimate relationships (Kolk, 2015). The speakers’ goal is to relay to the audience a deeper understanding of trauma and how having an understanding of it greatly impacts the victims served and gives them the understanding they both need and deserve.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss trauma's impact on development and three types of trauma common to victims of sex trafficking: acute, chronic, and complex trauma

· Outline the trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) and the varying implications each has

· Explain the healing needs (physical, emotional and relational) and treatment approaches for each area

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Renee Adams was adopted at the age of 2, to a middle class family. They worked hard, but their expectations of their child were “harder”. By the age of 13, Renee was placed back into the orphanage, The Miami Children's Home. By the age of 14, Renee began to runway, as she felt she didn’t belong; she was broken. Her days of walking the streets became tiring, until a couple of her so-called friends offered her a place to stay. Little did she know, that’s where it would all begin. Since her “friends” had done Renee a favor of finding her a place to stay, they now wanted payment for letting her stay there. She was only 14. Her predator began kicking her, as blood splattered from her head. The next thing she knew, she was taken to a truck stop to perform sexual activities for payment with knives to her throat and guns to her head. Renee decided that she could not live this way. Since the age of 17, she has lived a life as a survivor, until she became vulnerable with herself, by ripping off the band-aid and coming to grips on who she is and how worthy her life means to her. She now identifies as a Thriver! Renee will share her story in hopes that she can bring more awareness to others to end human trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss the survivor's lived experiences and how she entered back into the system

· Explain how and why she endured sex trafficking

· Express how the vulnerability within herself became my blessing in disguise

· Describe her plan to move forward to bring more awareness and help end human trafficking

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While health care providers are in a unique position to be able to respond to the needs of trafficking victims, they often do not have the training necessary for appropriate identification and response (Pardee, Munro-Kramer, Bigelow, & Dahlem, 2016). Studies surrounding the knowledge of health care providers in rural areas are scant (Cole & Sprang, 2015). The main goal of this research was to provide empirically-grounded data about knowledge and needs of key health care professionals in terms of identification and response to human trafficking victims/survivors in a frontier/rural state. A convenience sample of 404 health care professionals (including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, occupational therapist, dentists, social workers, health sciences faculty, and other medical professionals) were recruited to complete an anonymous survey. Descriptive analyses were conducted using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-24). Key findings include an increased knowledge of: providers’ professional preparation around human trafficking; their overall awareness of trafficking and specific knowledge of trafficking policies and confidence to respond; providers’ sense of responsibility to engage in identification of human trafficking as a routine element of practice; providers’ use of formalized protocols in the practice setting and knowledge of community resources, and; needs for the improvement of a coordinated statewide trafficking response. Such findings and other results will be presented and translated into both overall recommendations for improving the knowledge of and response of health care professionals to human trafficking in the state, as well as the role of social workers in ensuring collaborative research, practice, and advocacy.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss health care provider perceptions of the issue of human trafficking in the frontier context

· Identify cultural, social, professional, and other barriers to health care providers’ ability to respond to human trafficking

· Provide recommendations for improving the knowledge of and response of health care professionals to human trafficking and improving research, policy, training, and service capacity for human trafficking victims and survivors in the frontier state

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This session explores a continuum of trafficker control, personal freedom of movement, and autonomy as evident in three confirmed cases of sex trafficking which were prosecuted in a U.S. District Federal Court. These court cases are examined with methods of control theory, pertaining to instinctive aversion developed by David Grossman (2014), and the four stages of entrapment as developed by Barnado’s Street Lanes Project (Swann, 1998). This session will examine control, freedom of movement, and autonomy so as to develop and encourage future strategies for prevention by human service practitioners and law enforcement, as well as future research. The focus will be on address the grooming and maintenance process that sex trafficking survivors have experienced as well as methods to overcome such situations.

Presentation Objectives:

· Present three confirmed cases of sex trafficking and examine them using control theory

· Examine control, freedom of movement, and autonomy to develop and encourage future strategies for prevention and future research

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Drawing on an innovative study with trafficked young people in England, this presentation charts the development of a participative child trafficking research methodology. Child trafficking research with young people as active participants is scarce due to methodological barriers of gaining access (Goździak, 2008; Kelly, 2012) and a mistrust of adults (Hynes, 2010). “Embodied circles” (Gearon, 2020), a dynamic method of improvised dance, is presented as a creative method that successfully built trust and fostered young people’s engagement. An argument is made that the physical dimension of “embodied circles” enriches the research process for both researcher and participants, promotes social bonding, and aids confidence in participation and expression. “Embodied circles” is a novel method of not only addressing barriers in trafficking research, but also communicating epistemology, empowers participants, and is therapeutically aligned with trauma recovery approaches (Van der Kolk, 2014). The adaptability of “embodied circles” to different cultures is highlighted. This original participative child trafficking methodology will be of interest to those who seek to conduct research with at-risk, marginalized, and traumatized people. The ethical challenges of participation, practical examples of “embodied circles” and the importance of empowerment in the research process is highlighted.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss ethical challenges and ways to mitigate these in trafficking research

· Share research methods which successfully engaged marginalized and traumatized young people

· Highlight the importance of empowerment and trauma-informed approaches in trafficking research

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Geared toward professionals who work with survivors of trauma, and particularly those interested in dissociative disorders, this engaging presentation will provide a greater understanding of how early childhood sexual abuse, the human brain, and human trafficking are all connected. Amy’s personal testimony will leave you inspired and hopeful for a future without human trafficking. Amy presents the data and her own experience with abuse, severe dissociation, substance abuse, cognitive issues, and deeper systemic issues. There is an emphasis on Dissociative Identity Disorder, its prevalence among survivors of long-term trauma and implications related the diagnosis; a diagnosis for which Amy is very familiar. While no child, or adult, is completely immune from the evils of human trafficking, those who have already experienced severe trauma are more likely to fall victim. Preventing human trafficking has proven to be a difficult endeavor, but do not lose hope. Through realistic approaches in mental health, early education, law enforcement, and foster care, intervention and restoration are possible.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss how early childhood sexual trauma impacts the developing brain

· Explain how childhood sexual abuse, children in foster care, and sex trafficking are all connected

· Describe early intervention, support systems, and holistic therapy options to help heal trauma

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Identity development is an important area with which professionals working with children should be familiar. The number of biracial children in the United States is increasing (Saulny, 2011) and, although this may not be the reason that a child presents for initial intervention, it is an area that often should be explored. This presentation will discuss the biracial experience as well as review the similarities and differences between black and white racial identity development in the United States and address special challenges for the biracial child. Attendees will be provided a framework for understanding healthy biracial identity development and how to translate this information into practical care giving strategies. This is how one can help youth grow up with pride, confidence, and a strong sense of self (Hud-Aleem & Countryman, 2008). Attendees will gain a greater understanding of the biracial experience including identity development, problems biracial youth experience, and issues such as acceptance and belonging, family position, friendship/relationships, body image, and effectively communicating and engaging with biracial youth (Shih & Sanchez, 2005).

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss the biracial experience

· Discuss the similarities and differences between black and white racial identity development as well as biracial identity development in the United States

· Describe ways to engage biracial youth

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Presenters will provide a look into the Adult Advocacy Centers (AACs). The Adult Advocacy Centers are the first centers that will be equipped to provide holistic, accessible, and trauma-informed services to adult crime victims with disabilities in a universal and multi-sensory environment. The AACs will work in partnership with state, regional, and community agencies to coordinate a response that promotes the safety and well-being of all individuals. To provide these services, the AACs will facilitate multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) within local communities. A deeper look into this unique approach to victim services will assist participates in understanding best practices for survivors.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the Adult Advocacy Center model

· Discuss how communities can work together to form a multi-disciplinary team to have a holistic response with this model

· Explain how a universal and multi-sensory building design allows for truly inclusive services for crime victims

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Reconnecting back to life after selling your body to different people isn’t easy. Renee Jones survived human trafficking, and she will share her life story on how she got in it and how she got out. Renee will explain using role play and a short film on how the police handle her as well as other victims. Renee will break down the names that pimps, tricks, and the law enforcement use on the streets. Renee will breakdown the tricks that are used on social media with something as simple as a flattering comment on Facebook. Renee has documents from 1983 to 1987 from the courts of New York City to Cleveland, Ohio of each of her human trafficking cases that she would like to explain how victims are handle, charged, and booked for human trafficking. Renee will conclude the presentation with the grooming process, how and why pimps use their women to hunt other girls for them, and how pimps build trust and chip you away from other relationships.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss the survivor's lived experience

· Describe ways a person would get into and out of human trafficking

· Present court documents from three states showing how each state handled human trafficking cases

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Presenters will provide a look into the Adult Advocacy Centers (AACs). The Adult Advocacy Centers are the first centers that will be equipped to provide holistic, accessible, and trauma-informed services to adult crime victims with disabilities in a universal and multi-sensory environment. The AACs will work in partnership with state, regional, and community agencies to coordinate a response that promotes the safety and well-being of all individuals. To provide these services, the AACs will facilitate multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) within local communities. A deeper look into this unique approach to victim services will assist participates in understanding best practices for survivors.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the Adult Advocacy Center model

· Discuss how communities can work together to form a multi-disciplinary team to have a holistic response with this model

· Explain how a universal and multi-sensory building design allows for truly inclusive services for crime victims

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In recent years, the phenomenon of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has primarily centered on the victimization of girls and young women. The research has focused on gender-specific victims. But sexual victimization is universal and not gender-specific, affecting both girls and boys. The sexual exploitation and trafficking of boys and young men is a pervasive - though often invisible - problem worldwide, including in the United States. It affects its victims' health and ability to thrive, and leads to a host of psychosocial, medical, and environmental problems. It nevertheless continues to be largely ignored and denied by social and governmental agencies. However, research has begun to untangle the multiple factors that lead to the sex trafficking of boys, from a poly-victimization (including sexual victimization), to homelessness, to multi-generational participation in prostitution, to lack of screening by appropriate agencies due to the false belief that boys are not victimized. The recognition of male victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation is now only emerging in the public consciousness. In all its abusive forms, it begs for further exploration and training from a multi-disciplinary perspective to bring this to the forefront of providers for the benefit of service needed for this population. Attendees will learn factors that contribute to the sexual exploitation of males, ways in which males identify living the “Life”, and services need to support males from exiting the “Life”.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss risk factors of CSEC/trafficking of males

· Describe ways in which males define living the "Life"

· Explain the services males need to support exiting the "Life"

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Human trafficking and prostitution are deemed to be one of the biggest social problems in Ethiopia today. A review of the literature indicates that rarely do scholars consider the link between local sex trafficking and street-prostitution. Additionally, that research which is available has inadvertently limited the knowledge and understanding of these two interrelated social concerns. This study aimed to build knowledge filling identified gaps. The research was positioned through a Radical Feminism theoretical framework, documenting the narrative lived-experiences of ten street-prostitutes. Participants took part in three separate interview sessions aimed at discussing the three original research questions (part of the larger study). These interviews resulted in a total of thirty recorded cassettes of participant narratives. Due to the scale of the overall qualitative data, this presentation will focus on a subset of the overall research. The subset identified here is that which clarifies and discusses the relationships maintained by women in street-prostitution. Applying the term “relationships” in discussion with street prostitution is not common to begin with, not to mention to concept that a prostitute is capable of relationships. This presentation will elucidate that misconception as well as identify relationships as seen through the eyes of prostitutes. Areas of relationships include law enforcement, street vagabonds, crime addicted individuals, male customers, protectors, and with other street-prostitutes. In this way, the presentation brings light to human experiences of those involved in street prostitution and in turn underscores the humanity of prostitutes.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe street-prostitution in Ethiopia

· Discuss how narrative stories of women in street-prostitution are a valid and needed contribution to research and literature endeavors

· Explore the humanity of street-prostitutes, particularly through the lens of relationship development

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At-risk youth are often excluded from research. Without eliciting their views, subtle but important factors influencing decision-making processes and self-conceptualization may be missed. Engaging this population in research is a means of respecting and affirming them as individuals, and is central to developing effective policies. However, efforts to engage with at-risk youth can be hampered by barriers such as the need to overcome distrust resulting from repeated trauma or stigmatization, and limited research opportunities with this hard-to-reach population. This presentation describes lessons learned from a yearlong study examining the lived experiences of at-risk youth at a Taiwanese placement facility for teenage boys in foster care or juvenile court. Researchers used a strengths-based approach to explore health needs and sources of resiliency and support through Photovoice, a qualitative research method in which participants produce photographs and narratives to communicate their perspectives. Researchers found that at-risk youth may lack the introspective or communication skills to express themselves, especially verbally, and are often unaccustomed to being asked to articulate their views in a research study. The presenters will discuss the six lessons learned in this research: 1) consider ethical challenges, 2) use symbolism, 3) develop mutual trust with participants, 4) take time to develop participants’ introspective skills, 5) disseminate study results widely, and 6) include participant empowerment as a key objective. These lessons may be helpful for others implementing similar studies in order to promote social justice among this population.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the importance of including at-risk youth in research pertaining to them

· Discuss how to use a strengths-based approach in research

· Provide an overview of the methods and results of this study using photovoice

· Identify ways to conduct effective research among this population

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The majority of language and imagery used in human trafficking education and awareness efforts is ineffective at telling a dignified and comprehensive story about human trafficking. The presentation will begin by exploring the words and imagery that come to mind when society hears or reads the phrase, “human trafficking.” The presenters will lead a discussion about where those messages come from and why advocates and the media often choose to use that framing. To encourage critical thinking, the presenters will use the story of Cyntoia Brown-Long to highlight the need to be more inclusive and trauma-informed when creating the mainstream narrative of human trafficking. They will talk about what trafficking really looks like by analyzing popular images frequently used to tell that story. The presenters will use tips from survivors from the My Story My Dignity campaign led by Freedom United to teach advocates and the media how to do a better job. The presenters will give examples of imagery and language that is best-practice, then facilitate an activity where participants will review a media story to determine whether or not the author uses respectable messaging. The presentation will conclude by sharing additional resources with participants, and will challenge them to take what they’ve learned back to their organizations and communities to hold us all more accountable to a better narrative.

Presentation Objectives:

· Identify and critique images and language used in trafficking awareness efforts

· Reframe stories of trafficking to respect the dignity of survivors

· Propose better language, imagery, and storytelling techniques

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