CMA human trafficking commentary published in Washington Times

“Sex trafficking needs more awareness,” published in The Washington Times, March 13, 2013 by Jonathan Imbody, CMA VP for Govt. Relations

Former sex trafficking victim Barbara Amaya highlights the need to “educate the public about the horrors of human trafficking or modern day slavery” (“Sex trafficking: Has anything changed in 45 years?” Web, March 9).

While federal government agencies including State, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services have all impressively ramped up efforts to educate the public and law enforcement communities, there remains a critical need to focus in depth on medical professionals who see but fail to recognize and report many human trafficking victims. One medical study of victims interviewed after rescue found that up to half had been taken to a medical facility, yet not a single victim had been reported for rescue.¹

One solution is to invite leaders of America’s medical specialty colleges to a White House symposium on human trafficking and to challenge them to adapt existing awareness building resources and data in order to educate their own members on how to recognize, report and treat victims.

For example, the Christian Medical Association now offers an in-depth online curriculum, with continuing medical education credit, to train healthcare professionals how to recognize, report and treat human trafficking victims (available at www.cmda.org/tip). If other medical specialty organizations do likewise, hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals can learn how to recognize, rescue and rehabilitate thousands of victims who otherwise would languish in slavery.
Action
Take human trafficking CME course now available online!


You can now receive a comprehensive education with CME credit on the issue of human trafficking, or modern-day slavery. Learn how you can recognize, report and treat victims and how to better understand and address their spiritual needs. Consider also approaching your own specialty college officers to urge them to either promote the CMDA CME course to members or to use it as a guide to developing their own curriculum on human trafficking.

• Module 1: Introduction to domestic trafficking within the US
• Module 2: Introduction to International trafficking
• Module 3: The physical health consequences of human trafficking
• Module 4: The mental health consequences of human trafficking
• Module 5: The identification and medical evaluation of labor trafficking victims
• Module 6: The identification and medical evaluation of sex trafficking victims
• Module 7: Identification and treatment of long term health consequences
• Module 8: Multi-disciplinary care of the trafficked person
• Module 9: The health care professional’s role beyond the clinic setting
• Module 10: The spiritual basis for a response to human trafficking
• Module 11: Caring for victims in low resource settings

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¹ Baldwin, et. al., “Identification of human trafficking victims in health care settings,” Health and Human Rights, July 2011 Vol. 13, No. 1.