Health Care and Human Trafficking

Human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, is a largely unrecognized pandemic in today's world. The U.N. estimates that as many as four million people are victimized each year by traffickers. Florida is considered third in the U.S. in terms of the prevalence of human trafficking. Trafficking is a big business with estimated annual revenue of over $9.5 billion, and may soon surpass the revenues from the sale of illegal guns and drugs.

Healthcare professionals have a particularly important role to play in addressing human trafficking in their practice. There are some significant similarities between human trafficking and domestic violence and physicians can build upon their knowledge of domestic violence to be able to understand and assist victims of trafficking. In 2003, formerly trafficked people were interviewed by the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights and told of their encounters with doctors in clinic settings. Their stories pointed to the need for further education of health care professionals so that they may be able to recognize the signs of human trafficking.

This realization has lead to the development of a continuing medical educational program that addresses the statutory requirements for domestic violence education and provides new and important information on human trafficking. The Florida Medical Association published a curriculum in February 2010 that provides background information and statistics, discusses the screening and charting of injuries, details physician duties and responsibilities, compares mandatory and non-mandatory reporting of injuries, and offers important information on resources available to the victims.