Arizona will begin investigating the gaps in resources and funding for victims of human trafficking and for providers of care, the Arizona Human Trafficking Council decided Thursday at the Arizona State Capitol.
The investigation will look into how many providers are available in Arizona, what they’re doing for victims, and what they need to do their job better, said Sarah Kent, the Human Services Planner for Maricopa County.
The gap report will be overseen by the Human Trafficking Council’s Victim Services Subcommittee, which “develops and improves statewide policies, protocols, and guidelines for professionals who serve victims of human trafficking,” according to the Office of Gov. Doug Ducey.
“In Arizona, I find we majorly lack resources and funding for necessary treatment and recovery,” Kristi Alexander, who became a victim of sex trafficking at the age of 14 and again at 18, said. “The country is currently lacking providers who actually listen to their patients without the ‘I know more about you than you do’ ego.”
Human trafficking is “the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. Indicators of victims include dramatic changes in behavior, dropping out of school, being fearful or timid, and living in unsafe or unsuitable conditions.
Human trafficking is an issue that has affected millions of people. In 2018, almost 11,000 cases in the United States were reported, according to the Human Trafficking Hotline. In Arizona, 231 cases were reported and at least one-fifth involved minors.
Up to 300,000 American minors are sex trafficked every year, according to Ark of Hope for Children, an organization dedicated to helping child victims of sex trafficking. Approximately 70 percent of child sex trafficking survivors were at one point sold online, according to the McCain Institute.
Arizona needs to “find out who’s out there and what they’re doing” in order to serve the victims, according to Sarah Beaumont, the Medical Director of Crews’n Healthmobile at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. To properly allocate funding, Arizona has to find out what resources actually exist.
The subcommittee is exploring the possibility of having Arizona State University students conduct the research.
“In my human trafficking course, students partner with local non-profits and government agencies to work on a human trafficking ‘problem’ during the course. I’d definitely welcome this as one of the projects for next semester as it is a need,” ASU professor Samantha Calvin said.
Students would be looking into what care providers are available and asking questions about their referral process, what services they provide, and what resources they need for victims of human trafficking, said Stephanie De Verde, a member of human trafficking prevention for the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family.
“For the most part, providers are not trained on how to identify the red flags of someone who may have or be experiencing trafficking,” Calvin said. “Not only that, but there’s research to support that many feel uncomfortable approaching the subject with their patients.”
A possible way to better help victims could be implementing laws requiring nurses to be trained on how to recognize the signs of a person experiencing exploitation and how to best help them, Jill Rable, the manager of the Forensic Department at Honor Health, said.
“In my assessment of my own nurses, they are also super intimidated by it,” she said. “They would ask me ‘now that we can identify it, what do we do?’”
The effects of being human trafficked do not end once a victim is free. To cope with her experiences of being trafficked, Alexander remained in counseling for 12 years. She also underwent cognitive behavioral therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EDMR)—a therapy to alleviate the distress caused by traumatic memories. She also takes medication for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The numbers show a fraction of the reality of the issue, as many cases are not recognized.
“It is hard to quantify this problem because often times youth and adults go unidentified,” Calvin said. “It is not only a female issue, or an adolescent issue. It is a topic our community as a whole should be concerned with.”
Contact the reporter at hrein@asu.edu
Hailey Rein is the Education Editor at Downtown Devil and a senior at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass communications. In addition, she is a digital producer at azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic. In her free time, she enjoys being with her dogs and watching a rom-com.
