DIGEST - Volume 10, Issue 1

2 TPC Digest 2 | TPC Digest H uman trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, is a multibillion-dollar industry prevalent throughout the world. Defined as the recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receipt of human beings through force, fraud, or coercion for exploitation, human trafficking often occurs in plain sight, going unnoticed in both legal and illegal industries. Contrary to popular belief, most trafficking occurs domestically within the same country. Sexual exploitation accounts for 19% of human trafficking victims but is responsible for 66% of trafficking profits, most likely because traffickers are able to repeatedly sell their victims. Traffickers also do not discriminate when they choose victims to exploit. While all men, women, and children risk becoming trafficked, marginalized groups are most susceptible to trafficking. Runaway and homeless youth, victims of physical or sexual abuse, and individuals who experience social discrimination, such as racial minorities, individuals living in poverty, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and LGBTQ individuals, are all at higher risk of falling prey to human traffickers due to their already compromised social status. Human trafficking also often is fueled by poverty and addiction. Families turn their children over to traffickers in hopes of escaping poverty, or in other cases, become the traffickers themselves to support a substance addiction. Traffickers physically and psychologically break victims down into subservience by using physical violence, threats against family members, and substance abuse to control and exploit their victims. Victims of human trafficking are often robbed of their identities, have their self-esteem demolished, and are forced to rely on the traffickers to meet the basic needs of food and shelter. Like many victims of abuse, trafficked individuals develop significant bonds with their traffickers, making them reluctant to escape. Yet, even if they do escape, trafficking victims suffer ongoing consequences from the legal system. They may be charged with drug and prostitution offenses, which further complicates their ability to establish trusting relationships with law enforcement or social service agencies. The forceful and brutal nature of human trafficking inflicts complex layers of physical and emotional trauma. In addition to the shame, guilt, and stigma associated with being trafficked, victims and survivors suffer from a wide array of physical and mental health problems, including reproductive disorders, sexually transmitted infections, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Working with trafficked clients poses a series of challenges, and it is crucial for counselors to recognize the multifaceted layers of trauma survivors may have endured. Counselors must not only engage the individual in treatment, but also act as an advocate against stigma within the family and the community. Interestingly, interventions specific to sex-trafficked survivors have yet to be developed. Treatments are borrowed from evidence-based interventions initially developed for PTSD, domestic violence, and ecological family therapy approaches. However, much of the literature points to the need to use a holistic approach that gives survivors choice and empowers them to regain control of their lives. Survivors need to be met with nonjudgmental attitudes, acceptance, empathy, and authentic concern and slowly encouraged to take on risks associated with leaving their traffickers. Kathryn Marburger is a graduate student at the University of Detroit Mercy. Sheri Pickover, PhD, LPC, is an associate professor at Central Michigan University. Correspondence can be addressed to Sheri Pickover, 195 Ojibway Court, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, picko1s@cmich.edu. Kathryn Marburger, Sheri Pickover A Comprehensive Perspective on Treating Victims of Human Trafficking