Healthcare and Human Trafficking Toolkit

Research shows that human trafficking victims often visit a health care provider at some point while being trafficked. But research also shows that they are unlikely to be identified as victims during these encounters or feel they can speak up to self identify. And individuals who experience trafficking often have a range of health issues due to their experience even after they escape. In addition, individuals with ongoing health concerns and/or disabilities can be particularly vulnerable to traffickers.

Health care professionals can lack the knowledge to identify the signs of human trafficking or effectively and sensitively address a trafficking survivor’s needs. The tools below provide resources and information for those interested in learning about the intersection of healthcare and human trafficking. If you want to learn more, HEAL Trafficking is an organization dedicated to ending human trafficking from a public health perspective.

  • This is a twelve page fact sheet produced by Human Trafficking Legal Center and HEAL Trafficking. It provides lessons learned about the intersection of human trafficking and healthcare from federal criminal indictments and civil trafficking cases.
  • This report by Polaris explores the intersection between various industries and human trafficking, including the healthcare industry.
  • This article reviews healthcare needs of human trafficking victims and the training required for frontline workers to effectively screen and help identify victims.
  • This one hour webinar introduces a public health framework for human trafficking, which allows communities to identify and respond to the complex needs of all survivors of human trafficking while addressing the root causes that make individuals, families, and communities vulnerable to trafficking.
  • Individuals who have experienced human trafficking or are at risk of human trafficking access a variety of services. This module provides public health professionals with tailored information on how to identify and respond to human trafficking within their field. For additional SOAR trainings, view their course catalog here.
  • Susie Baldwin is a Public Health and Preventive Medicine physician whose career has focused on sexual and reproductive health, women’s health, epidemiology, and supporting survivors of human trafficking through clinical care, research, training and advocacy. In this talk, she recounts stories of trafficked people to illustrate the importance of teaching health professionals to recognize the invisible signs of human trafficking and provide trauma-informed care to patients suffering from this hidden crime.
  • This document provides what HEAL Trafficking’s Education and Training committee has identified as essential elements to include in a basic healthcare and human trafficking training.
  • This document provides information on educational resources, format of the resource(webinar, article, toolkit, handbook, etc), intended audience, and topic areas.
  • This tool was created by HEAL Trafficking and the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. It aims to help organizations assess the degree to which their training and education program or project is comprehensive and trauma-informed, and identify areas for improvement.
  • Physician’s Weekly provides information on ten signs healthcare provides should look for to help identify trafficking victims.
  • This is the American Public Health Association’s policy statement on human trafficking and health care.
  • The National Conference of State Legislatures provides an overview of the issue, and provides information on some of the state and federal level engagement on the intersection of healthcare and human trafficking.
  • A set of resources compiled by the State of New York for health care professionals to help them identify trafficking victims.
  • A series of videos and resources to help hospital workers identify and assist human trafficking victims.

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