Originally published on Polaris.com
Last October, a doctor was examining a female patient in the emergency room, when suddenly she slipped him a note: “I have a tracker in me.”
At first, the doctor was skeptical. But the x-ray showed it clearly: a tiny metallic identifier often used for pets, implanted in her by someone who wanted to demonstrate his ownership over her. The woman was a victim of human trafficking, and her pimp had placed an ID chip in her to force her to continue selling herself for sex.
Had she not gone to the emergency room that night, she may not have been able to escape her trafficking situation. And had the doctor not run the x-ray, he might have not recognized her as a trafficking victim.
Healthcare professionals are uniquely positioned to be able to interact with trafficking victims. But in one study, 95% of ER doctors and nurses surveyed had never received formal training on human trafficking. The House of Representatives recently introduced a bill ensuring that healthcare professionals get comprehensive training to help trafficking victims. The same bill was introduced in the Senate last year. Please call on Congress to pass this important legislation.
Subject:
Support the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2016
Your Letter:
I’m writing today to urge you to support the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2016.
There are thousands of human trafficking victims across the United States, and the healthcare sector is one of the fields with the highest exposure to trafficking victims. In one study, 88% of sex trafficking survivors surveyed reported having contact with a health care provider while being trafficked, and the most frequent treatment site referenced was a hospital/emergency room (Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking, Annals of Health Law).
But often, healthcare workers don’t recognize the signs of a victim. In another study, 95% of ER doctors and nurses surveyed had never received formal training on human trafficking (Combating Slavery in the 21st Century: The Role of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Press).
It is critical that healthcare professionals are adequately trained on identifying human trafficking and helping victims. The Department of Health and Human Services should expand on current training to enable providers to identify trafficking victims, provide informed and appropriate victim care, and implement proper protocols and procedures for working with law enforcement and victim service providers.
Please pass the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act so that trafficking victims receive the health care and services they desperately need.
Thank you for your consideration
