Advice for Working with Sex Trafficking Victims and Survivors
Many professionals may come in to contact with sex trafficking victims and survivors, including law enforcement officers, lawyers and legal aides, journalists, and health care providers.
Whenever possible, professionals in these and other fields should seek out specific, trauma-informed training for working with this unique population, particularly if they expect to regularly encounter sex trafficking victims and survivors, or defer to professionals who have such expertise. Working with sex trafficking victims and survivors is not a time to try to be a hero. You do not want your interactions with them to re-victimize them or put you or them in any sort of danger.
The following tips should in no way be construed as sufficient to replace trauma-informed training, which is the gold standard for learning the proper ways to interact with traumatized individuals.
Be patient. As a result of the tremendous trauma they have endured, sex trafficking victims and survivors may be hypervigilant, easily triggered, and/or moody. This can result in them adopting personal coping skills that may make them appear flakey or volatile or passive-aggressive.
Do not take these behaviors personally and do not negatively react to them. Sex trafficking victims and survivors frequently have turbulent inner worlds; their behavior is often a reflection of their emotional pain and deep-seated wounds, not necessarily disrespect or disinterest. Ghosting by a sex trafficking victim should not be taken as an insult, but rather an opportunity to practice empathy. More often than not, sex trafficking victims and survivors want to work or cooperate with you, but they’re emotionally overwhelmed and unable to comply at the moment.
Give them time and space. If possible, create schedules with latitude to allow for victims and survivors to have bad days. Do not hold those bad days against them.
Be consistent. Structure and routine are important salves for sufferers of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress, a common affliction of anyone who has experienced even one traumatic event, let alone years’ worth. Life in the pimp-prostitute subculture is often chaotic and scary. Sex trafficking survivors, even those who have been out of The Life for many years, struggle to know who they can trust.
You can help build trust by always keeping your promises to a sex trafficking survivor. If you say you are going to call at a particular time on a particular day, do it, no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the survivor fails to answer – again, you need to be patient with their ups and downs. What matters is that you show them that you keep your word.
Be available. Since sex trafficking victims and survivors often experience ups and downs, it’s important that you be available for them when they are feeling comfortable. That may mean taking phone calls at odd hours or having to re-arrange your schedule at the last minute to accommodate them.
Stay calm. It’s natural when someone is irritable to be irritable back. But you shouldn’t do that with sex trafficking victims. Once again, patience is critical when working with them. If they become angry with you, do not escalate. Try to understand what is driving their behavior and work to soothe the situation.
Do not rush them. Many sex trafficking victims and survivors suffer from some form of anxiety, and nobody with anxiety likes to be under pressure. Therefore, you don’t want to do anything that could be construed as pressuring a sexually exploited individual, either explicitly or implicitly. When asking questions, do so in a calm, measured tone. Do not cut them off when they answer. Move deliberately; avoid tapping your feet or nervously fidgeting.