AGENCY EDUCATION

We train human services providers with information that professionals need to be the best service providers possible.

NC Stop Human Trafficking has curated trainings for human service providing agencies. Child advocates, domestic violence advocates and sexual assault advocates often interact with people who are being trafficked or who have been trafficked.

We have prepared curriculum that includes human trafficking basics, red flags and indicators of a possible victim, effective communication techniques and trauma information.

We train:

Foster care parents: A vulnerable population to being trafficked is foster youth and youth who have lived or live in group homes. It is important for professionals and parents to understand the dynamics of human trafficking.

Child Advocates and Guardians ad Litem: Guardians ad Litem are the children’s advocates in proceedings surrounded by child abuse and neglect. It is important for child advocates to understand the red flags of human trafficking in young people, and how to ask the right questions and what to do in case there are suspicions of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Domestic Violence Advocates: There are many intersections between intimate partner violence and human trafficking. In many cases, human trafficking victims are also victims of intimate partner violence. Advocates in domestic and intimate partner violence agencies need to know the indicators of human trafficking to identify it in their clients and get them the best services for them.

Victims of Crime Advocates: Human trafficking victims are often victims of other crimes, from sexual violence, assault to robbery. It is important for advocates of crime victims to identify the indicators of human trafficking while they are providing services to all their clients to be able to identify a possible victim.

Law Enforcement/First Responders

Founder Pam Strickland stands with Johnston County Community College CIT program coordinator.

It is important that law enforcement, first responders and prosecutors know what human trafficking is. In many cases, survivors of human trafficking are often arrested for crimes they were forced to commit, such as prostitution, drug trafficking and robbery. When law enforcement and prosecutors know what human trafficking is; how to identify a possible victim and how to investigate these crimes with a trauma informed approach in communicating with victims, more traffickers can be convicted and victims won’t be penalized for their victimization and abuse by a system set up to help them.

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Human trafficking is a public health issue and health care professionals are in a unique position to be able to identify a victim of human trafficking. They are able to speak alone with the possible victim and have a dialogue with a victim without the trafficker present. They are also able to identify injuries and prolonged exposure to abuse. People who are being trafficked do seek medical care in emergency rooms and from primary care physicians as well as services mental health service providers.

Mental Health Care Professionals: Counselors who are trained in providing services for people who have endured trauma or counselors who serve clients with substance use disorders may likely serve survivors of human trafficking (past or present). It is important that these professionals know the indicators of human trafficking to provide appropriate services and facilitate communication between the client and the professional.