Overcoming Obstacles to Stability and Safety

Helping to stabilize survivors’ sense of economic and financial freedom, moving out of poverty, and finding secure housing is a vital part of empowering survivors to establish safety. To reach this goal there are four obstacles in need of continual work until they are dismantled. These obstacles are inherently built into our culture, based on systems that are oppressive and stigmatizing to individuals who don’t fit into certain income, ethnic, gender, status, or sexuality roles. 

1. We all need to be a part of taking apart legal, cultural, and historical oppressive systems that promote racism, gender, and sexual orientation-based violence. This starts at the individual level where we do our own personal work around power, control, privilege, and fight against the tendency to rescue or be “saviors” to those we consider as less fortunate (Doran, Jenkins & Mahoney, 2014).  

2. There is a desperate need for enhanced low-income housing programs to help survivors move out of poverty and find stability and safety. Unstable housing isa key risk factor for human trafficking. One of the places where traffickers will recruit individuals is in places where individuals are often at their most vulnerable, facing homelessness and in shelters (Murphy, 2016). Housing is a basic need and long-term housing for survivors is a key to creating continued safety. As one study put it “Lack of permanent housing for trafficking survivors is not a problem without a solution. Funds dedicated to a variety of housing options for trafficking survivors could allow individuals a choice in housing, from shelters to apartments…Closing gaps in service will mean that trafficking survivors are better protected against further abuse and are more equipped to achieve enduring personal and economic success” (Doran et al, 2014). Valuing equal opportunity housing, providing long term shelters for survivors, and easier access to safe places to live will all be a part of empowering survivors. 

3. There is a need for continued training for providers that work with any kind of marginalized and vulnerable population. This is training that should be led by survivors who have experienced these services. For example, Domestic Violence programs and shelters are uniquely positioned to be able to provide services to human trafficking survivors because there is a direct connection between human trafficking and domestic violence. The connection is based upon the reality that most people who are trafficked were brought into it by a close, intimate relationship. With increased awareness of this connection, domestic violence programs will be more equipped to be able to help survivors of human trafficking find safety in the spaces they provide (Polaris, 2018). When providers can connect where their services meet the needs of human trafficking survivors, there would be increased access to supportive services that survivors desperately need. By also having an increased awareness of how survivors experience marginalization, stigmatization, institutionalized harm, and have been taught to distrust official systems, providers who are properly trained will be able to respond with compassion and better journey along survivors to establish continued stability (Judge, Murphy, Hidalgo & Macias-Konstantopoulos, 2018).  

4. Immigration is a hot topic that divides Americans along the lines of who should be allowed to enter and who should not. Yet what is not brought to the forefront in this debate is the reality that migrant or illegal immigrants are some of the most vulnerable populations to human trafficking, specifically labor trafficking. Because there is no legal protection for these populations, it is easy to exploit and take advantage of their need for housing, financial stability, and safe work. “It is all too common for seasonal workers to be housed in a single, overcrowded dwelling. Many workers who have reached out to the [Polaris] hotline have reported not having their own bed, a lack of food storage space, broken plumbing or appliances caused by overuse, and not being able to shower due to the sheer number of occupants living in the space. Not only is this a violation of the workers’ health and safety (and likely visa contract), but it could be a serious fire code violation. It is also likely an infraction of the occupancy expectations in most rental agreements” (Polaris, 2018). 

   When situations like this occur, it is highlighting how individuals in certain populations can be exploited because of how they are marginalized and devalued in our society. There is a lack in the United States of organizations that specifically work with labor trafficking as connected to immigration, migrant workers, and those who are considered “illegal.” There is even a greater lack in legal support, protection, and emergency visas available for these populations. This is where work can be done to prevent these individuals from continued exploitation, no matter how they arrive, it does us justice to remember that they are humans too with the same needs for safety and stability that we all have (Steiner, Kynn, Stylianou & Postmus, 2018). 

When individuals are marginalized, oppressed, and devalued, they are dehumanized, which makes it easier for traffickers to take advantage of this vulnerability. One of the greatest obstacles we can overcome to help provide safety and stability to survivors is to see them as human again. By restoring dignity and choice, empowering through legal and social services, housing, and access to basic needs, we will be helping survivors move away from living lives controlled by exploitative situations. The obstacles above are huge societal issues that will take work and time, but we all can start by practicing kindness, and doing our part in addressing our personal biases. Small steps always lead to big outcomes, so let’s keep moving forward! 

References 

• Bryant-Davis, Thema & Pratyusha Tummala-Narra. (2017). “Cultural Oppression and Human 	

• Trafficking: Exploring the Role of Racism and Ethnic Bias.” Women & Therapy, 40:1-	2, 152-169, DOI: 10.1080/02703149.2016.1210964.

• Doran, Liza, Darci Jenkins, & Megan Mahoney. (2014).“Addressing the Gaps in Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking: An Opportunity for Human Service Providers.” Human service education: a journal of the National Organization for Human Service Education. 34.1.

• Judge, A. M., Murphy, J. A., Hidalgo, J., & Macias-Konstantopoulos, W. (2018). “Engaging Survivors of Human Trafficking: Complex Health Care Needs and Scarce Resources.” Annals of Internal Medicine, 168(9), 658–663. https://doi.org/10.7326/M17-2605.

• Murphy, Laura T. (2016). “Labor and Sex Trafficking Among Homeless Youth: A Ten-City Study Executive Summery.”Loyla University Of New Orleans Modern slavery Research Project.”https://www.covenanthouse.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Loyola%20Multi-City%20Executive%20Summary%20FINAL.pdf. 

• Polaris Project. (2018). “On-Ramps, Intersections and Exit Routes: A Roadmap for Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt Human Trafficking.”  July 2018. Retrieved on September 20, 2021. (https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-Roadmap-	for-Systems-and-Industries-to-Prevent-and-Disrupt-Human-Trafficking-Housing-and-Homelessness-Systems.pdf). 

• Polaris project. (2021). “Human Trafficking does not Happen in a Vacuum.” Retrieved August 18, 2021. (https://polarisproject.org/blog/2021/01/human-trafficking-does-not-happen-in-	a-vacuum/).

• Steiner, Jordan J., Jamie Kynn, Amanda M. Stylianou & Judy L. Postmus (2018) “Providing 	\services to trafficking survivors: Understanding practices across the globe,” Journal of 	Evidence-Informed Social Work, 15:2, 151-169, DOI: 10.1080/23761407.2017.1423527.