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Abstract #158539

• Handout (free access)

Susie Baldwin, MD, MPH, Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 313 N. Figueroa Street, Rm 127, Los Angeles, CA 90012, 213 989 7028, sbaldwin@ph.lacounty.gov, David Eisenman, MD, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 911 Broxton Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1736, Gery Ryan, PhD, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, and Ken Chuang, MD, Department of Psychiatry, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Edelman MHC, 4th Floor, 11080 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064.

Human trafficking is a modern day form of slavery. The U.S. government estimates that 18,000 people are trafficked into this country each year from many nations around the globe. U.S. victims are typically absorbed into underground sectors of the economy, where violations of wage, health, and safety laws routinely occur. Some trafficking victims are coerced into prostitution, pornography, and other aspects of the commercial sex industry, while others work as enslaved domestic servants or as forced laborers. Trafficking victims endure horrendous living and working conditions and experience myriad threats to their physical and mental health. While little is known about the population of trafficking victims in the U.S., the Department of Health and Human Services has implemented a campaign to increase awareness of the trafficking problem among professionals who may unwittingly interact with victims in the context of their daily work. The groups targeted by this “Rescue and Restore” campaign include medical and public health workers, but data remain scarce regarding how, where, when, or why trafficking victims seek health services. This presentation will provide an overview of the human trafficking problem in the U.S. and national and state policies that address human trafficking. It will describe the health problems observed in a population of trafficking survivors in Los Angeles, from the perspective of a public health physician who works closely with these patients. The presentation will also summarize the results of a qualitative study examining how public health and medical personnel can learn to identify trafficking victims.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the problem of human trafficking in the United States and policies that address the issue
• Understand the health problems observed in trafficking victims in the U.S.
• Discuss opportunities for victim identification in health care settings and elsewhere

Keywords: Vulnerable Populations, Sex Workers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Handout (free access)