support for survivors
Survivors of human trafficking may have been subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex or labor; they can be anyone including young children and teenagers of all ages and genders. There are many benefits and services available for survivors including foreign-born trafficking victims, such as Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance, the Matching Grant Program, the Public Housing Program, and Job Corps.
Complex Needs & comprehensive Care of Survivors
Survivor centered care is often a lot more complex than many think, this graphic helps to illustrate all the different areas that a survivor may need support on their recovery journey. Below is a collection of various support tools and services that will also help survivors on their road to recovery.
What Services Are Available to survivors of Human Trafficking?
Clinical support
With a driving force to provide a safe primary care medical environment for victims and survivors of human trafficking led by understanding physicians and medical staff extensively trained in trauma-informed care, clinical supports can be a massive help for survivors. If you are interested in learning more, here are a few helpful links.
survivor-driven initiatives
Survivors of sex and labor trafficking are resilient and the true experts in the anti-human trafficking field. They teach us about some of the risk factors that contributed to their exploitation so we can improve our prevention efforts. We are grateful to all the brave survivors who have shared, so that others including potential victims can learn from their experiences. See below how you can support survivors and become better educated from their lived experience.
Interested In Sharing Your Story?
If you or anyone you know is a survivor of trafficking and want to share your stories or work either publicly or confidentially, we are here to help and to listen.
Quotes From Survivors
We sat with 8 different survivors of human trafficking and asked about their experiences on a number of topics, here is what they had to say.
“As I got older, I ended up having my advocate go with me, which was AMAZING cause she made things twenty-times better ”
“A lot of girls suffer from PTSD…like a lot of trauma, because it’s a trauma experience being in the life ”
“My case manager at the emergency shelter took me and she helped me. She sat with me when I was filling out the paperwork and I helped with all the questions I had”
on The Importance of Trauma-Informed Training & Human Trafficking
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Ohhh the healthcare providers mentioned some things to me, and it was just… she was not equipped.
I remember, one time I was beaten up and I went to the hospital and I remember like I had this black eye, like…nose was leaking, busted lip, and this lady just like kept reiterating like…like…if it…it just made just feel really uncomfortable, like the way they squeezed my arm to get the blood… Like just…or just… having me sitting in the waiting room.
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Check on ‘em…make sure they ate…you know…make sure they drink something. Nine times out of ten the person hasn't had a meal in soooo long. And, if they can't eat, that's literally not on purpose. There was one time where I thought a nurse was going to look at me. And she was put to the patient next to me. And I saw her give all the love and care in the world. She came back later and gave me some something to eat… for no reason. And she went home. That was amazing!
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Yeah, just making them feel like safe and comfortable. Talking to them… making sure they're in a safe space… Just like try to pay attention to the way they talk, or if they try to switch around their story
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Just having like a list of people or organizations they can call and they can take with them. Ummm…even if it's like on a little keychain or something a little bit more discreet.
on Empathy, improving patient care & Knowing Potential Risk Identifiers
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I would tell them to…treat them like their children. Cause that's in the name…We were children! It shouldn't be no reason why it's acceptable for a child to come in battered or sexually abused…or have contracted things….ughhhhh due to sexual abuse.
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I would say the red flag would be a person coming in and brushing it off and just like ready to get up out of there.
on The importance of healthcare education
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as for me, I'm really like…I guess traumatized in a sense… I deliver in 5 days…I don't go to the doctor when I'm supposed to…like… I think I went first and third trimester, but I skipped second. Even for my daughter if she don't feel good then we will figure it out at home because I don't want them…I don't know…I don't feel comfortable with doctors and nurses. I don't feel like it's a safe place. It would have to have to be something that's like dire need that I know that I cannot Wikipedia and try figure out for me to be like, “Ohhh, ok I'm gonna take her to the doctor.”
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I think essentially... where you talk with people who have dealt with trauma and you get like a further understanding of like the process that they think…or level of like triggers, and so you…you know things like that would be essentially very helpful because not a lot of the time you think about it. Like a simple touch to the shoulder to is like… could be very offsetting thing