People who are trapped in human trafficking’s system of abuse and manipulation will not easily escape or recover. Their health, mind, and heart suffer from trauma. Many victims do not know where to start to recover, and they often need help to find help.
How are Human Trafficking Victims Rescued?
The rescuers of human trafficking victims tend to take many risks to try and save these victims. Physical rescues contain the most risks for rescuers and victims since the traffickers can harm either party if discovered. Before a rescue can begin, rescuers must first do some research to get a better understanding of the victim’s situation. Then, one of two different forms of rescue can take place, either an active rescue or a passive rescue. Active rescue is when rescuers physically retrieve a victim, like in a law enforcement sting. A passive rescue occurs when a rescuer contacts a victim and persuades them that their best chance is to try and escape.
Diverse Ways to Escape
Active rescues include raids and purchasing victims. Rescuers might conduct a raid, which is one of the most used methods to combat human traffickers. A raid is when armed forces, like the police or military, come with a warrant in hand, to perform a breach in the human trafficker’s property to free the victims.
Although risky, purchasing victims is another method used to help get victims to safety. Rescuers give money to the traffickers to help the victim reclaim their life and freedom. Purchasing is an ethically grey area, however, because the victim is still treated like property, and the trafficker profits from the transaction. Additionally, the trafficker could go back on the deal and harm the rescuer to keep both the money and the victim.
Passive rescues provide resources for victims on the other side of the escape, but victims sometimes also try to escape from the traffickers without the help of rescuers. Escaping alone is the riskiest form of escape; if victims do not have anyone to help when they escape, then they can be recaptured and make the situation worse.
Rescuers at Work
Law enforcement and different organizations are finding ways to save those who have been captured and forced into the trafficking cycle. For example, Los Angeles law enforcement found and rescued more than eighty human traffic victims in 2022. Kansas City saw 47 rescues and 102 arrests in 2021, and Missouri and from Kentucky observed 21 victims saved and 46 traffickers arrested.
Just the rescuing act alone is not enough to help the victims. They experience traumatic events that both physically and mentally harm them. These events are harmful enough to require medical and often mental attention.
The Aftermath
While it is not an easy task to get these people reintegrated back into a normal life, many organizations provide resources and have the tools to help these victims get back to their feet by locating their families, provide housing, jobs, and therapy.
Reintegration Services
The kind of services that help get human trafficking victims back to their feet are called reintegration services. Reintegration services provide victims with a safe home environment, access to standard opportunities for personal and economic development, and access to physical, mental, and emotional support.
Reintegration services are voluntary, confidential, non-judgmental, and non-discriminatory because a human trafficking victims’ mental health can be very fragile from all the damages of the trafficking. Victims can deny these services unintentionally because they no longer trust people. Accordingly, medical services are crucial to the victim’s health. With access to medical and therapeutic services, victim can ease back into a normal life.
Housing
Housing is needed for victims of any kind of trafficking, human or otherwise, to be able to properly recover in a safe environment where they can reintegrate into society at their own pace. Housing and shelter provide a crucial assistance for those recovering from trafficking as it allows them to get off the streets and escape the possibility being swept back into trafficking again.
Assistance programs are available to aid those looking for housing after being rescued. These programs place victims into housing, and victims can find grants and monetary help to support themselves and get the housing they need to recover properly.
Therapy
Therapy is an important service for victims of trafficking as it addresses the trauma of trafficking that is not easily observed or treated by other medical options. Trafficking covers a broad range of victims including sex and labor trafficking. The story of every victim is unique to themselves, but group therapy can help victims to see how they are not alone in their experiences. Having a group where there is a shared trauma helps victims feel less alone in their situation and can help to rebuild social skills and relationships for those who need it. Therapy may also be led as a one-on-one activity where specifics of a victims’ journey may be reconciled to help them move on from their trauma and regain their sense of self.
Medical Access
Medical access just like therapy is an obvious needed service for victims recovering from the trauma of trafficking, however the trauma addressed here is more physical likely from abuse, torture, or sexually transmitted diseases. Without this necessary recovery service, victims’ conditions could become worse and even lead to death. Many victims that manage to find freedom from trafficking may already be in a vulnerable state and without proper access they are at risk of serious medical conditions, and or returning to the exploitative cycle of trafficking.
Grants also exist to aid in the process of getting the physical help that trafficking victims need to recover properly.
Employment
Victims finding employment is not only about the monetary value, but also about finding a safe and steady workplace. In some cases, it is seen that after victims break free of trafficking employment has the chance to lead into a form of forced labor, or labor trafficking, therefor it is greatly important that protected employment services are available, so they do not fall victim to further trafficking. With availability to a job that does not further exploit victims, that is where the possibility for growth and re-building to occur, as The Hill puts it in their article on jobs as a solution to trafficking, Obtaining a job is one of the best ways for survivors to recover a sense of self. Both vocational and professional jobs are available for victims of trafficking, depending on what they want to do.
Immigration Recovery
What happens to those who are imported from different countries during these human trafficking incidents? Reintegration services extend to everybody who has suffered from human trafficking, regardless of citizen status. Immigrants who are trafficked into the United States have a fear of reporting human trafficking crimes because they fear deportation; however, the US Department of Homeland Security combats human trafficking with immigration relief services that will prevents deportation visa and citizenship eligibility. As a result, victims can find a home, job, and access to medical needs.
Traffickers make it hard for victims to escape by taking any identification they have, including their passports. Victims are forced to comply not only for their safety but also the safety of their families. If any of these undocumented victims run into law enforcement, they can be considered criminals and not receive the help they need. Law enforcement can help these victims.
Law officials must determine if someone is a victim or not. How the person first reacts to law officials will play a key role in the decision-making. If they seem skittish and quiet, but are not running from officials, they may be considered victims. On the contrary, if they look scared and start to run or fight, officials may think that they were being smuggled. Unlike smuggled individuals, victims will typically have no identification papers on them and will seem scripted when talked to. Most will be sexually abused, typically juveniles sent or kidnapped to pay off debt.
Recovery Starts with the Community
While traveling along the road to recovery, the victims of human trafficking will most likely come across obstacles. These obstacles include learning to speak about their experiences or accessing the needed therapy, housing, and employment resources that are available to them. Because each person’s traumatic experience and recovery is different, victims will take their time, and it is something that cannot be rushed. By simply having these resources available to victims, they will be aided immensely in their journey to recovery.
You can help by learning the signs of human trafficking and stepping in by calling the police or the The Asservo Project’s Tip Line. You can help by setting up housing or food pantries for these victims in your local area or donating to an existing cause like The Asservo Project.
References
ACLU. (n.d.) Human trafficking: Modern enslavement of immigrant women in the United States. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.aclu.org/other/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states#:~:text=of%20trafficking.25-,U%20Visas,-are%20issued%20to.
Associated Press. (2022, February 16). More than 80 victims rescued in LA human trafficking operation. KTLA. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://ktla.com/news/local-news/more-than-80-victims-rescued-in-l-a-human-trafficking-operation/.
Brettmann, Mark, & Lagon, Mark P. (2019, January 12). Jobs must be part of the solution to human trafficking. The Hill. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/425041-jobs-must-be-part-of-the-solution-to-human-trafficking/.
BSR. (2020, December 16). Empowerment and employment of survivors of human trafficking. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.bsr.org/reports/GBCAT_Business_Guide_on_Survivor_Empowerment_and_Employment.pdf.
Congressional Research Service. (2020, October 28). Immigration relief for victims of trafficking. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://sgp.fas.org/crs/homesec/R46584.pdf.
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