It s Not Taken : Realities of Domestic Trafficking Among Foster Youth Nadine Finigan-Carr, Ph.D. Amelia Rubenstein, L.C.S.W UMB SSW: Child Sex Trafficking Victims Initiative
Workshop Objectives Participants will be able to: Identify at least 3 risk factors for human trafficking of adolescents in child welfare. Describe the current practices of child welfare providers in addressing trafficking among foster youth. Describe how they can partner with child welfare providers to serve the needs of trafficked youth.
WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING? Human Trafficking is the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, US Department of State
Sex Trafficking Human Trafficking the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting of a person for a commercial sex act in which the act is induced by force, fraud or coercion Labor Trafficking Child Sex Trafficking Sex Trafficking OR in which the person performing the act is under the age of 18 Commercial Sexual Exploitation Adult Sex Trafficking Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Child Sex Trafficking
Victim is 17 or under Involves commercial sex act Child sex Does NOT require force, fraud or coercion trafficking refers to the trafficking of anyone under 18 and is a form of child abuse. No movement required
Prostitute or Victim?
CHANGING THE LANGUAGE CHILD/TEEN PROSTITUTE SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIM o Places blame on victim rather than recognizing the perpetrator o Insult/ derogatory term o Supports myths and misconceptions about prostitution o Conjures image of bad kid that chose this lifestyle o Labels crime and therefore the victim as a juvenile delinquent o Invokes a criminal justice, rather than victim advocacy, response o A label with a long-lasting stigma o Narrow picture of single actor instead of multiple facilitators o Recognizes child cannot developmentally, socially, legally choose to engage in commercial sex o Describes what has happened to the child, rather than who they are o Reminder that a crime has been committed against child victim o Indicates multiple factors, persons and systems involved in the crime o Victim term reminds responders to assess needs and use empowering approach o If there was a victim, reminder that there is also a perpetrator
RED FLAGS
Under 18 and engaged in commercial sex acts SIGNS OF TRAFFICKING Chronic runaways, gone for extended periods (indicates staying in hotels, attending hotel parties, or traveling long distances) Uses prostitution terminology, significant tattoos (initials of boyfriend, brands), nickname is prostitution related Arrested for prostitution or related masking charges Social media posts that are sexually provocative, show pictures of cash, or show youth staying in hotel Described as promiscuous, no. of sexual partners not consistent with age or development
SIGNS OF TRAFFICKING Romantic partner is significantly older, seems overly interested or controlling Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid, avoids eye contact, especially regarding law enforcement Signs of physical/sexual abuse, restraint, confinement, torture, malnourished Not allowed to speak for themselves (3 rd party insists on being present) Signs of gang involvement Little knowledge of whereabouts, what city he/she is in, disoriented
SIGNS OF TRAFFICKING Has access to money or material items that does not fit their situation (hair, nails, clothing, shoes, electronics) Not in control of own money or identification documents Claims of just visiting, inability to say where he/she is staying Has numerous inconsistencies in his/her story, reluctant to share information Reported recent sexual assault Moderate to severe substance abuse
IMPACT Physical health problems associated with beatings and rapes Reproductive health problems Malnutrition Mental health problems, including PTSD and somatic complaints resulting from trauma (headaches, chronic pain) Alcohol and drug use Extreme anxiety and fear Changed relationships with others (difficult to trust others) Self-destructive behaviors (including suicide attempts) Profound shame and guilt Changed perception of the perpetrator (trauma bonds, Stockholm Syndrome) Despair and hopelessness Source: Heather J. Clawson, Ph.D. and Lisa Goldblatt Grace, LICSW, Finding a Path to Recovery: Residential Facilities for Minor Victims of Domestic Sex Trafficking, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women: Human Trafficking, World Health Organization (2012).
Who are youth in foster care? Youth living in foster care Youth who have been removed from their home and placed in out-of-home (state supervised) care. Types of maltreatment: Neglect (78%) Physical abuse (18%) Sexual abuse (9%) Children s Bureau, 2011(a). 13
TRAFFICKING RISK FACTORS Adolescence Neglect Substance Abuse Abuse Sexual Abuse Mental Illness Poverty Cognitive Disabilities No economic or educational opportunities Homelessness Past trauma Marginalized communities Gang involvement Running Away
Why are foster youth vulnerable to traffickers?
Foster Runaway/Homeless LGBTQ Undocumented Youth Youth Youth Youth Mental Illness Abuse Homeles sness Poverty Neglect No economic /education opportunit ies Sexual Abuse Neglect No economic /education opportunit ies Poverty Abuse Homeles sness Sexual Abuse No economic /education opportunit ies Sexual Abuse Marginali zation Abuse Homeles sness Gangs No economic /education opportunit ies Poverty Marginali zation Abuse Homeles sness Sexual Abuse
HUMAN TRAFFICKING LAWS Trafficking Victims Protection Act (2000) Preventing Sex Trafficking & Strengthening Families Act (2014) Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (2015)
CURRENT PRACTICES OF CHILD WELFARE PROFESSIONALS
Awareness, Knowledge and Experiences of Child Welfare Professionals Perception of seriousness of CSEC (Fairly/Very serious) 65.5% Familiar with federal laws on human trafficking 20.7% Familiar with state statutes on human trafficking 24.1% Received training on human trafficking 37.9% Have experience working with CSEC and/or trafficking victims 58.6% Cole & Sprang, 2015
Cases are complex I m learning that they re such complex drama cases. It really feels overwhelming. Respondent in an urban area my frustration is child welfare workers don t really understand the complex issues and why they really shouldn t go home. And so when you ve been trained in place matters and least restrictive placement and this parent saying that they can take this child... - Respondent in an urban area
Limited Training I ve received no training in terms of how to interview a child who s been a victim of human trafficking. We received sex abuse training for forensic interviewing, but a regular forensic interview would not work on a victim of human trafficking. So what I ve done on my cases, like I ve had to go and do my own research, because I ve never been trained. And even when I m paired up with a detective, the detective s like, I m not trained either, and we re kind of like just winging it as we re going along. - Respondent in semi-rural area
It s just really hard as to where you place em because to be quite honest, they re not getting any of their needs met. Respondent in a suburban area One of the things that we re learning and I think we ve experienced is that the children, obviously they re conditioned to also be afraid of who s trying to help them. So that creates even barriers in terms of us trying to assist them or trying to use any traditional therapies. So it s kind of, it almost feels that you have to be, like the therapist have to be ever-evolving because they re not really adequate for that segment of our client population. Limited Resources - Respondent in a semi-rural area And I think there s a lot of people who maybe have experience with trauma treatment, but we still know that these kids, even when they re in trauma care, are not sometimes bringing up what s going on. And so there s a piece that s missing in how do we help clinicians bring it up even as a topic that s on the table? I think a lot of people feel uncomfortable talking about sex with teens, and then you add in this kind of commercial sex with teens, and it becomes even more. - Respondent in a rural area
How can you help? Physical health needs Mental health needs Housing Substance abuse treatment???
Resources Child Welfare Information Gateway Human Trafficking section https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/trafficking/ ACF Office on Trafficking in Persons SOAR Training for Health Care and Social Service Providers http://www.acf.hhs.gov/endtrafficking/initiatives/soar Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States http://www.ovc.gov/pubs/federalhumantraffickingstrategicplan.pdf