2nd Annual Regional Human Trafficking Summit
BETTER & STRONGER TOGETHER • TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE
UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA AND HOW IT RELATES TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING
For Advocates Against Human Trafficking
SUMMIT TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • 7:30 AM to 4:15 PM
• From 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Voices of Survivors Project
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022 • 7:30 AM to 3:45 PM
Summit Agenda
SUMMIT TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021
MC – Shamere McKenzie, CEO, Sun Gate Foundation
| 7:30am | Opening of Virtual Summit |
| 8:00am | Video Recording from Admiral Rachel L. Levine NOT FOR CME CREDIT 17th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| 8:05am | Marvin Figueroa, Director, Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NOT FOR CME CREDIT |
| 8:10am | Dr. Erin McDonald, Regional Administrator, Administration for Children & Families NOT FOR CME CREDIT Hear how systems can work together to provide trauma-informed care. Also, learn how advocating in one part of the system can impact other areas or the entire system. |
| 8:35am | Suleman Masood NOT FOR CME CREDIT Mr. Masood is a subject matter expert on domestic labor trafficking and male victimization. Mr. Masood’s experience includes collaborating with victim service providers on advocating for ways to improve the quality of services for trafficking survivors. Learning Objectives:
Moderator: Nathan Earl, Principal Consultant at Giant Slayer Consulting |
| 9:30am | Networking Rooms/Exhibitor Room visits |
| 9:45am | Trauma-Informed Care: Cultural, Historic and Gender Issues ONE HOUR OF CME CREDIT Learning Objectives:
Tanya Gould, Survivor Leader & Expert Moderator: Dawn Schiller, Training Director, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), LA County Project, Human Trafficking Survivor Leader |
| 10:45am | Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women NOT FOR CME CREDIT This panel will address the intersection between human trafficking and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis. Discussion will include the historical context, contributing factors, modern challenges, and key steps for navigating and addressing the crisis. Kirby Williams, Anti-Violence Activist/Consultant and Survivor Leader Sam Howard, BSN, RN, Forensic Nurse Examiner, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Adult Emergency Department, VCU Health Moderator: Trish Danner, Regional Outreach Specialist, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |
| 11:45am | Lunch – Looping showing of film “Little Red” |
| 12:30pm |
Showing of the Film “I am Jane Doe” to be followed by discussion with Ms. Mazzio and Mr. Bauer of how they were able to be a major factor in the take down of the Website Backpage. Mary Mazzio, Director, “I am Jane Doe” and Erik Bauer, Esquire |
| 1:45pm | Breakout Sessions |
| Option 1: | The Impact of Misinformation on Human Trafficking NOT FOR CME CREDIT Sex trafficking has recently become a hot button issue, drawing the attention of politicians, celebrities, and organizations across the country. Everyone is determined to assist victims of trafficking, but this attention has also resulted in the rampant spread of misinformation about trafficking, trafficking victims, and prostitution generally. In this session, we will discuss myths about trafficking, how social media has facilitated the spread of misinformation, identifying reality, and how to best target misinformation online and in person. Alexia Tomlinson, Esquire, CSE Institute Mary Haggerty, Esquire, CSE Institute |
| Option 2: | Victim-Centered Responses by the Criminal Justice System NOT FOR CME CREDIT Experienced law enforcement and prosecutors will discuss strategies to implement victim-centered, trauma-informed responses that also account for offender accountability. By recognizing the various barriers impacting a victim’s ability to participate in investigations and prosecutions, law enforcement and prosecutors can begin to minimize those barriers and provide victims with the physical and emotional safety then need to (re)build trust with the criminal justice system. Panelists will additionally present investigation and charging strategies to allow for successful offender-focused prosecutions that do not rely on victim testimony. Jane Anderson, Attorney Advisor, Aequitas Bill Woolf, Former Director of Human Trafficking Programs, U.S. Department of Justice Det. Joseph Scaramucci, Deputy Sheriff, McLennan County, TexasModerator: Patrick McKenna, Esquire, Co-Founder and President of the Virginia Coalition Against Human Trafficking (VCAHT) |
| Option 3: | Trauma-Informed Care: Collaboration and Mutuality ONE HOUR OF CME CREDIT Learning Objectives:
Heather LaRocca, Assistant Director of Anti-Trafficking, The Salvation Army Co-Moderators: |
| 2:45pm | Trauma-Informed Care – Trustworthiness and Transparency ONE HOUR OF CME CREDIT Join Amanda Corbin, Vice President of Operations at Trafficking in America Task Force, Inc., as she educates the medical community on how to foster trust and patient transparency in treatment with survivors of human trafficking. In this training she explains how client safety looks differently to each patient based on various trauma narratives, cultural identity, access to recovery resources and the personal lived experiences they bring to treatment. She explains how survivors of human trafficking often have a unique configuration of pathology and stresses the importance of proper screening for dissociative disorders. This training highlights how to foster trust while practicing ethically, tools clinicians can use to prepare patients to be transparent with their own trauma narratives and integrate trauma in a safe space. Learning Objectives:
Amanda Corbin, Vice President of Operations at Trafficking in America Task Force, Inc. |
| 3:45pm | Showing of film “The Silence” and discussion with film director Cleo Tellier NOT FOR CME CREDIT Moderator: Jerome Elam, International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council at Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights |
| 4:15pm | Shamere McKenzie – review of the day – invite to attend The Voices of Survivors Project NOT FOR CME CREDIT |
| 5:45pm | Friend of Bill NOT FOR CME CREDIT Host: Nathan Earl. If interested in participating, please contact Nathan @ 954-778-2871 or nathanearl@giantslayer.us |
| 6:00pm | The Voices of Survivors Project NOT FOR CME CREDIT Come attend a virtual walk-through of the Voices of Survivors Project Photo Exhibit and participate in a Q and A with the author. Be prepared for a moving experience of learning more about the experiences of trafficking survivors through their own photography. The Voices of Survivors Project is a platform for survivors of human sex trafficking or other forms of violence to express their lived experiences as survivors through photography. Dr. Heather Evans, Co-Founder, Valley Against Sex Trafficking |
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021
MC – Tanya Gould, Survivor Leader & Expert
| 7:30am | Opening of Virtual Summit |
| 8:00am | Tanya Gould – Welcome and Housekeeping |
| 8:05am | Fidelma B. Rigby, M.D., Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of Human Trafficking Elective, VCU School of Medicine. |
| 8:10am | Live Long and Prosper – The importance of Trauma-Informed Care Over A Survivor’s Lifetime NOT FOR CME CREDIT Survivors of the oppressions and violence inherent in human exploitation experience high Adverse Childhood Experience markers (ACES). If left untreated, these survivors face a 20-year decrease in life expectancy. This presentation will explore how the Trauma-Informed principles of safety, transparency/trust, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, voice, & choice, and cultural, historic, and gender awareness, support survivors to live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Moderator: Dawn Schiller, Training Director, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), LA County Project, Human Trafficking Survivor Leader |
| 8:30am | Trauma-Informed Care: Crisis Response and Safety Planning ONE HOUR OF CME CREDIT Learning Objectives:
Suleman Masood, Subject Matter Expert Moderator: Wade Arvizu, Published Author, Speaker and Human Trafficking Subject Matter Expert |
| 9:30am | The Intersection of LGTBQ+ and Trafficking NOT FOR CME CREDIT LGBTQ+ populations are particularly vulnerable to isolation and marginalization, which often leads to exploitation. Gender non-conforming and transgender individuals experience increased difficulty in obtaining housing because most residential options are divided by gender. LGBTQ+ youth may also be refused from foster homes if they are not in support of their gender identity and/or sexuality. There are also barriers which prevent LGBTQ+ persons from accessing proper healthcare services. These complexities lead to the overrepresentation of queer and transgender persons that experience commercial sexual exploitation and violence. Learning Objectives:
Aims Babich, Advocate, Activist and Consultant Moderator: Wade Arvizu, Published Author, Speaker and Human Trafficking Subject Matter Expert |
| 10:30am | Networking Room/Exhibitor Rooms |
| 10:45am | The Impact of Trafficking on Boys and Men NOT FOR CME CREDIT Sexualized violence against boys and men is a global pandemic of violence with a pronounced domestic footprint. Boys Documentary tells the narrative of male sex trafficking through the voices of four brave men and a collection of allies who stand with them in solidarity. After the screening of the film, panelists will discuss sex trafficking of boys and men through a public health lens, and as a social determinant of health. Etiology, comorbidities, and risk factors referenced in the socio-ecological model will be examined. Learning objectives:
Anna Smith, Co-Producer, Boys Documentary Moderator: Nathan Earl, Principal Consultant at Giant Slayer Consulting |
| 12:30pm | Looping showing of the film “Little Red” |
| 1:30pm | Trauma-Informed Care: Peer Support and Mutual Self-Help ONE HOUR OF CME CREDIT Dr. Heather Evans, Co-Founder, Valley Against Sex Trafficking Nathan Earl, Principal Consultant at Giant Slayer Consulting Aims Babich, Advocate, Activist and Consultant Alyssa Santana, Case Manager, Bloom Houses in Lehigh Valley, PA Catharine Kessack, Executive Director, Valley Against Sex Trafficking (VAST) Alycha Boehm, Clinical Supervisor for Northeast Emergency Services, Valley Youth Home There is often much debate and discussion about how and when to incorporate survivor leaders and how to effectively use mutual peer support. If not done with great thought and care, it can be harmful, but also has the potential to be the most effective intervention in the field. How do we assess readiness? How do we invite survivor leaders while also preventing tokenism? These are among the topics of this session, focusing on direct feedback from a study of survivors that talks about the powerful benefit of peer support as well as the risks for re-exploitation and re-traumatization. Learning Objectives:
Moderator: Karen Galbraith, Projects Coordinator, PA Coalition Against Rape |
| 2:30pm | Breakout Sessions |
| Option 1: | Bridging Gaps and Developing Inter-Cultural Sensitivity During Traumatic Helping Relationships NOT FOR CME CREDIT Imagine being an immigrant and finally finding a way out of working in a restaurant for 18 hours a day without being paid, or getting away from your trafficker who sold you for sexual services, or a construction worker whose freedom of movement was controlled by being locked behind chained gates. Now imagine telling your story to someone, or several someones, who ask you to tell your story over and over again. “They” say they need the details in order to catch the bad guys, but for you, it is traumatic to have to go over your story again and again. It hurts, and it is hard for you to remember all the details in order, because they don’t come in order, and sometimes your story changes because you remember different things. How would you feel? How comfortable would you feel that these people who say they are here to help you, will be able to help you? At what point would you just finally give up and disappear? Victims who have experienced psychological trauma along with perhaps the psycho-social and also physiological trauma of being trafficked suffer most deeply. Inter-cultural differences can make communicating with law enforcement, justice department, and victim services professionals more difficult. Differences between high context and low context cultures affect how people communicate and think, and how they react to those in positions of authority. Cultural differences also affect how people react to stimuli and their orientation to time and space. Demonstrating cultural sensitivity requires understanding and providing trauma-informed care in order to help survivors develop resilience. This session will provide a brief orientation to inter-cultural sensitivity, explain how traumatic experiences affect the brain, how cultural orientation affects interpersonal interactions, discuss cross cultural approaches to trauma informed care, and provide insights to creating resilience for helping professionals working with victims of trafficking. Learning Objectives:
Johanna P. Bishop, Ed.D., Director, Behavioral Science Programs, Wilmington University |
| Option 2: | Trauma-Informed Care: Empowerment Voice and Choice ONE HOUR OF CME CREDIT Healthcare providers are an integral component in the role to combat human trafficking of all forms. In this session, participants will learn the art of engagement through joining and supporting all patients, with the possibility that anyone can be a victim. In working with survivors, a trademark skill of empowerment is a healthcare professional’s appropriate and trauma-informed language and terminology, which helps to support survivors in a willingness to speak out. Further, healthcare facilities have the unique advantage of engaging multi-disciplinary team approach to present as a safe, supportive, and resourceful setting for a survivor’s disclosure. Additionally, schemas and pre-conditioned beliefs that present as barriers to a survivor’s empowerment will be discussed. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation. Learning Objectives:
Amanda Corbin, Vice President of Operations at Trafficking in America Task Force Inc. |
| Option 3: | Addressing the Exploitation of the Elderly and Intellectual/Developmental Disabled NOT FOR CME CREDIT Learning Objectives:
Douglas Trahey, Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator, PA Office of Developmental Programs Moderator: Pat Mowen, Prevention Specialist for the Crime Victim’s Center of Fayette County, PA |
| Option 4: | Taking a Deep Breath—Exploring Mindfulness as a Tool of Wellbeing in Anti-Trafficking Work NOT FOR CME CREDIT The anti-trafficking movement is perhaps one of the most rewarding fields to work in, personally, socially, professionally, and even spiritually. And yet, for many of us who do the work—clinicians, survivors, activists, NGO workers, and law enforcement—the stress level we face can be challenging and even at times debilitating. One tool we can use to deal with such stress is mindfulness—the art of intentionally paying attention with kindness. Although the mindfulness movement has picked up steam in recent years, particularly during the pandemic, it is still not very common for mindfulness-based wellness strategies to be discussed or applied in the anti-trafficking community. This session seeks to help address that gap. We will unpack what mindfulness is about, explore how it can be a tool that leads to greater wellbeing, and practice two types of well-known meditations: guided breath awareness and the body scan. All are welcome, and no experience is required. Dr. Monti Narayan Datta, University of Richmond |
| 3:30pm | Wrap-Up/Next Steps Trish Danner, Regional Outreach Specialist, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Lead Partner of the RIC |
| 3:45pm | Friend of Bill NOT FOR CME CREDIT Host: Nathan Earl. If interested in participating, please contact Nathan @ 954-778-2871 or nathanearl@giantslayer.us |