Human Trafficking Victims and Their Children: Assessing Needs, Vulnerabilities, Strengths, and Survivorship

Given the increased awareness and attention to human trafficking, including the establishment of federal laws and policies, federally funded task forces that provide law enforcement responses, and specialized victim services, it is important to assess the impact of these procedures and services on survivors/victims of international human trafficking and their immigrant children. By federal definition, certified victims of international human trafficking are eligible for all services provided to refugees in this country, including reunification with their minor children. This research is based on a qualitative study conducted in Austin and Houston, Texas with human trafficking victims/survivors. The project’s goal was to gain an understanding of the needs of human trafficking survivors after their rescue, their overall integration into American life, and the subsequent needs of their immigrant children after reunification. The project objectives examined the factors that either promote or hinder self-sufficiency, the determination of social service needs, and policy and practice recommendations to strengthen survivors, their children and their families living both locally and abroad. For this project, nine (n = 9) in-depth interviews were conducted with adult foreign-born victims of human trafficking. Researchers gathered data using a semi-structured questionnaire that queried about factors that promote or hinder victims’ services and needs. Interviews were conducted in participants’ homes using bilingual research staff and/or trained interpreters, were digitally-recorded, and subsequently transcribed. Participation in this study was completely voluntary. Specific steps were taken to ensure that the participants’ identities were protected. Open coding of data was utilized and the data were subsequently organized or grouped into properties and later developed into contextual themes around the research questions. The findings are grounded with the use of direct quotes from participants. As a result of progressive U.S. policy, many victims of human trafficking are being reunited with their minor children. Immigrant children are one of the largest and fastest growing populations in the U.S. and for a variety of reasons are vulnerable to exploitation. Research also indicates that victims of trafficking are identified by traffickers because of their perceived “vulnerabilities” or lack of opportunities (Clark, 2003). Therefore, it is important that practices and policies are developed to address the unique needs of these families with an eye toward positive outcomes for parent and child safety and well-being. Social service providers are provided a toolkit that may be utilized before and during the reunification period

God-Talk and Kin-Talk in the Survival Epistemology of Liberian Refugee Women: A Radical Challenge for Social Work

The United States is once again experiencing an enormous influx of refugees and immigrants. This generates a number of challenges for the social work profession. Attention must be given to the differences between voluntary immigrants and traumatized refugees. From the point of view of social workers, each group must be understood in terms of its own cultural framework of meaning. There are, for example, important differences among Montagnard, Bosnian, and Liberian newcomers. Social workers must become conscious of their own cultural framework of meaning which may very well clash with that of their client. This study utilizes narrative research methodology to empower Liberian refugee mothers and grandmothers through the telling of their life stories. The oral tradition of storytelling is culturally rooted in African society as a gift of sharing lessons and offering guidance. As these refugee women speak of their experiences, their voices inform social work knowledge and cross cultural practice. I conducted in-depth interviews with seven Liberian refugee women currently living in the southern region of the United States. I was connected to all these women through refugee support projects. I asked each woman to tell me the story of her life. I tape recorded, transcribed, and analyzed these interviews using narrative research methodology: noting their selectivity (the women constantly made reference to God's protection), silence (the women's omissions may be misinterpreted by the social worker), slippage ("kin" relations as described by African narrators may not correspond to social work categories). Although each woman tells her own individual story, she also expresses experiences and interpretations which resonate with the other women. The emphasis of the collective experience in overcoming hardships highlights these women's views of hope centered in a religious and familial context. These Liberian refugee women know that God will carry them through their suffering. They also know that the survival of their people depends on articulating an ongoing network of caring relationships. The secular professional ethos of social work potentially inhibits the sensitivity of the social worker towards belief systems emphasizing God and kin. As a marginalized group, the voices of refugees have not been part of prevailing discourse in our society. As victims of persecution, trauma, and violence, refugees have had limited or non-existence personal control of their lives. This study combines an understanding and knowledge of the political, cultural, social, and historical context of Liberians with social work to explore implications that examine cross cultural practice, pedagogy, and research with refugees

Unsettled integration: Pre- and post-migration factors in Congolese refugee women’s resettlement experiences in the United States

By 2019, the United States plans to resettle approximately 50,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the challenges, risks, and strengths of adult Congolese refugee women resettled in the United States to help policymakers, service providers, and other stakeholders prepare for the arrival of Congolese women and their families. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with Congolese refugee women (n = 28) and resettlement service providers (n = 29) in three US cities. The findings of this study reveal the complex and dynamic nature of Congolese refugee women’s resettlement experiences in the United States and highlight the importance of recognizing the intersection of pre- and post-migration factors during resettlement. This article offers concrete implications for the social work profession and practitioners.Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA

Operationalizing diversity issues in lead safety education.

Immigrant children, especially those in large urban areas and those living in lower-income housing built before 1978 can be affected by lead paint and lead dust (HAFA, 2003). Additionally, some children may have been exposed in their home countries, especially when those countries do not have the same types of lead use restriction policies (Haslam, 2003). Because of the high risk for lead paint poisoning in the growing immigrant population in Guilford County, North Carolina, the Center for New North Carolinians (CNNC) participated in the Greensboro Lead Safe Housing Program in 2002 to provide education about lead poisoning prevention to immigrant groups (cnnc.uncg.edu)

The Urban Studio Project recipe: A multidisciplinary approach to feminist practice through community engagement

The Urban Studio was initially planned to enhance the pedagogy and curriculum of students in the Department of Interior Architecture through the design and construction of a home for a needy family. This project grew to include faculty and students from the Department of Social Work when the need for a psychosocial perspective was identified. The project resulted in a discovery of the potential benefits of an interdisciplinary endeavor framed by a feminist perspective. It became both a service learning opportunity and a way to make a significant impact by ameliorating a substandard housing structure in a transitional neighborhood

Understanding Human Trafficking: Development of Typologies of Traffickers PHASE II

Perpetrator typologies have been useful in understanding other crimes, such as do-mestic violence, and serve a similar purpose in enhancing our knowledge base about human trafficking. Typologies of human traffickers can be useful in improving our understanding about elements needed for successful investigations and prosecu-tions; developing appropriate services for victims and survivors; preventing human trafficking; and increasing community awareness. The goal of this project is to explore the types of traffickers based on key characteris-tics found in the literature and in prosecuted cases. The initial two phases of this re-search, reported here, involve a review of literature, government reports, and media reports of prosecuted cases related to human trafficking and in-depth interviews with prosecutors and national experts who have experience working cases involving human trafficking crimes. In a future phase (using non-OVC funds), interviews will be conducted with offenders who have been convicted on charges related to human trafficking. This phase of the study addresses the following research questions: 1) what types of traffickers and trafficking crimes exist?, and 2) how can they be cate-gorized into criminal typologies

A kaleidoscope: The role of the social work practitioner and the strength of social work theories and practice in meeting the complex needs of people trafficked and the professionals that work with them

This qualitative research study explored responses to trafficking in persons. Fifty-five (n = 55) interviews were collected and data were analyzed using qualitative iterative processes. The social worker and the utilization of social work perspectives provided a strong and effective framework for service delivery and effective interdisciplinary collaboration. The ecological, strengths-based, and victim-center approaches were a benefit to survivors and professionals specifically around coordinated efforts, trust-building, and increased cultural competence. Findings also support that individuals who are trafficked have unique needs and social workers’ theoretical and practice modalities are well suited to respond to and coordinate these distinct circumstances.Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA

Embodying Social Work as a Profession

The purpose of this research is to highlight competing and contrasting definitions of social work that have been the subject of continuous ideological debate. These opposing interpretations have characterized public and professional discourse. It is the growth of, and struggle over, these conflicting versions of social work that we trace by exploring and expanding on the work of African American and White social work pioneers, feminist and empowerment epistemologies, and implications for social work practice and pedagogy. Our discussion emphasizes the construction of meaning through personal experiences by reuniting the head, hands, heart, and soul of our profession. We offer a reconstructed framework that echoes the groundbreaking work of our historical pioneers and collectively weaves their wisdom into contemporary social work practice