Preventing Violence and Exploitation of Prostituted/trafficked Women and their Children

As the media focuses attention on the trafficking and prostituting of women and girls in the United States, public health professionals are increasingly aware of the effect on communities and intergenerational violence and exploitation. Children of women who are prostituted or trafficked are more likely to become victims and victimizers as adults. This presentation will describe these relationships, explain the need for a community approach, and describe strategies utilized by the presenter and colleagues to support and assist these mothers and their youth and young adult children in an urban area well-known for the exploitation of and violence against girls and women. These strategies include a mother's support group, a drop-in center and spiritual retreat for mothers, and a youth and young adult support group. The support group for mothers offers mindfulness-based coping strategies that will enable participants to access their own problem solving skills and/or allow them to absorb new problem solving skills through mutual sharing and facilitator resources. The spiritual retreat for mothers is customized to meet the spiritual healing needs of mothers who have been trafficked or in prostitution. The support group for youth and young adults will offer support for these children of women who have been trafficked or in prostitution. The goal is to support them to an understanding of the forces that impacted the trafficking and prostitution so they can forgive their mothers and themselves and move to healthy relationships in which they are not exploiting or being exploited.