Public Health Models to Understand and Combat Human Trafficking

Vocabulary flashcards covering human trafficking statistics, frameworks (Haddon Matrix, Zimmerman stages, Social Ecological Model), clinical screening tools (RAFT), and trauma-informed healthcare interventions.

Forced Labor Exploitation

The most prominent category of human trafficking exploitation, accounting for $63\%$ of cases despite conflicting media portrayals.

Suzanne Lippert

A clinician previously at the Stanford emergency center focusing on identifying points of medical intervention and understanding the long-term impacts on trafficking victims.

Haddon Matrix

A public health framework originally created to examine vehicle accident injury events, structured into pre-event (vulnerability factors), event (active trafficking), and post-event (integration and recovery) phases.

Private Actors (Trafficking)

Non-state entities responsible for imposing $86\%$ of forced labor globally, including forced commercial sexual exploitation ($23\%$) and various labor industries.

State-Imposed Forced Labor

Compulsory labor mandated directly by governmental authorities, comprising $14\%$ of forced labor worldwide.

Palermo Protocols and TVPA 2000

Parallel international and United States legal frameworks established in the year $2000$ to define, prevent, and combat human trafficking.

Polaris Project 2022: US Hotline Data

National hotline data identifying the top five trafficking types: escort services, porn, illicit massage/health/beauty, residential-based commercial sex, and personal sexual servitude.

CSEC

Commercially Sexually Exploited Children; a population where $70\%$ to $90\%$ have a prior history of sexual assault and $75\%$ have had involvement in foster care or juvenile detention.

48-Hour Homeless Youth Vulnerability Window

The critical timeframe during which $2.3$ teens will be approached by an exploiter within $48\,\text{hours}$ of becoming homeless.

CSEC Life Expectancy

The drastically reduced life expectancy of a minor following commercial sexual exploitation, documented as $7\,\text{years}$.

Healthcare Contact Rate (HTV)

The documented healthcare utilization rate among human trafficking victims, with $87.8\%$ accessing healthcare during exploitation and $63.3\%$ being seen in the emergency room.

Zimmerman Stages

The progression model of human trafficking consisting of recruitment, initiation, exploitation, and integration or re-integration.

Love Bombing / Boyfriending Phase

A recruitment strategy where a perpetrator targets a vulnerable individual by showering them with affection to manufacture romantic attachment before escalating to transactional demands.

Peer Recruitment

A recruitment tactic frequently deployed in group homes, where exploiters compel existing victims to recruit other vulnerable peers to insulate the exploiter from direct legal liability.

RAFT Tool

A clinical screening method that normalizes sensitive inquiries regarding unsafe work environments, coercion, threats of harm, and the exchange of sex without attempting to directly force rescue.

Survival Behaviors

Victim coping mechanisms—such as trauma bonding, failure to self-identify, or non-disclosure—that healthcare providers frequently misinterpret as difficult or noncompliant patient conduct.

Trauma Informed Response

A clinical reintegration strategy focused on meeting basic needs, establishing trust and rapport, respecting power dynamics, providing controlled rooming, and using non-blaming language.

Social Ecological Model

A public health framework evaluating risk across nested spheres: societal risk factors, community factors, relationship risk factors, and individual risk factors.