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Every year, thousands of people are labor- and sex-trafficked throughout the United States, generating billions of dollars. Many of these victims are children. They are included in the more than 80% of victims who seek some type of medical care during their captivity. In addition, more than 90% of the children exploited attend school daily. By seeking medical care and attending school, victims place health care personnel, especially pediatric and school nurses, in a unique position to help identify and assist them. Pediatric and school nurses both practice in settings that allow for familiarization with a child and the opportunity for private medical screenings. These opportunities allow for red flag indicators to be recognized and possible victims to be identified and/or disclose.
Key Words: Human trafficking, sex trafficking, school nurse.
Defined by the United Nations as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation," human trafficking has been called a pandemic (De Chesnay, 2013, p. 3). Estimated to be a $150 billion a year, worldwide industry, it is ranked only second to drug trade in organized criminal activity (Just Ask Prevention, 2019). The U.S. Department of Justice estimates by the end of 2020, it will become number one. In the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of victims generating approximately $32 billion a year (De Chesnay, 2013).
Since 2012, Polaris, a human trafficking prevention organization, has seen a 193% increase in human trafficking hotline signals (phone calls, emails, texts, and other webforms) coming into their facility, with over 48,000 in 2019 alone (National Human Trafficking Hotline, 2020). However, only 1% of trafficking victims are ever rescued (Just Ask Prevention, 2019).
Health care personnel, especially those working in emergency departments, labor and delivery departments, pediatric offices, and the school system, are in a unique position to help identify and assist these victims. The private setting a medical screening offers may be the only opportunity for red flags to be identified and/or victims to disclose their exploitation.
Victims of human trafficking may seek medical treatment while being trafficked, and they do so for a plethora of reasons ranging from traumatic injuries, illnesses, sexually transmitted...