Running Head: CHILD TRAFFICKING 1

The Vulnerable Population of Trafficked Children

Savannah G. Turnage

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

NUR 3113

November 3, 2016

Honor Code “I pledge..”

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Human Trafficking in America

Humans have occupied this planet for millions of years and while they have become

more and more advanced with technologies, there are still people dying of hunger. These people

starving are an example of a vulnerable population. Sadly, there are many vulnerable populations

that still exist in this world. Vulnerable populations are people who are at a great risk for harm in

society and often are those with the least social capital (Anderson & McFarlane, p94, 2008).

Many people have heard of the vulnerable women of human trafficking, but what many

people do not know about is the child trafficking that is happening all over the world. Children

are extremely susceptible to having adults take advantage of them and any catastrophic events

have huge impacts on them. These children that are being trafficked are an exceptionally under

discussed vulnerable population. The international number of victims annually is in the range of

2 to 4 million, with 50% of those estimated to be children (Child Trafficking Statistics, 2016).

These children are not only being taken for sexual abuse, but also for manual labor.

Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health are factors in the social environment that contribute to or

take away from the health of an individual or community. These factors can be broken down into

social or economic environment, physical environment, and person’s individual characteristics

and behaviors. Some examples of these factors are income and social status, education, social

support networks, health services, genetics, and gender. When it comes to the vulnerable

population of the children who are being trafficked, they have all of these social determinants

working against them.

These children have no social networks because they have no one to rely on. They have

no income and no social status. They have no education, unless prior to being taken, and they
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generally have no access to health services. Of the estimated amount of humans that are currently

being trafficked, 59% are women, 14% are men, 17% are girls, and 10% were boys (Child

Trafficking Statistics, 2016). So, gender too can be used against them. These children are so

vulnerable because they have nothing and no one besides their captures. The outcome for most

children is not good and if they are pulled out of the trafficking, they suffer from major mental

illnesses from all of the trauma.

Evidenced-based Interventions Addressing Health Needs

The needs of these trafficked children, once they have been rescued, are vast. Before

anything, they need a safe and stable place to call a home. These children have been through an

extremely traumatic experience and they need to be comfortable. These children are going to

need a large amount of therapy to work through all of the feelings and thoughts they have. They

are going to need medical attention for possible abuse, addiction to drugs, STDs, and all around

mental issues (Child Trafficking Statistics, 2016). The needs for these children are great because

they have been abused and taken advantage of at such a vulnerable time on their lives. Overall,

the most important thing is to reassure them that they are safe and will be taken care of.

The Millennium Development Goals are goals for a new vision for humanity. The MDGs

are aimed at bettering the world overall and eliminating vulnerable populations internationally.

The MDGs that are relevant to the vulnerable population of the trafficked children are eradicate

poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, and empower

women, and ensure environmental sustainability. Eradicating poverty and hunger applies to these

children because there are desperate parents in the world who will sell their children in order to

out food on the table for their other children. If hunger and poverty were eradicated, there would

be no reason for parents to sell their children.

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Achieving primary education is huge with these children because most of them do not

have an education and will desperately need one once they are rescued. Also, if there was

universal primary education for everyone, then these children might understand that what is

happening to them is not okay and they could realize that there are other options than being

trafficked. Some children voluntarily go with traffickers, because they are homeless and starving.

If they had an education that allowed them to get a job, then they would not feel like trafficking

was their only option in order to stay alive.

Promoting gender equality and empowering women is also huge, because the vast

majority of these children being trafficked are females. Lastly, ensuring environmental

sustainability is extraordinarily important for these children. If they had a sustainable

environment, then they never would have been trafficked. A safe and stable environment is key

for not only children, but adults too. No one can truly thrive in a toxic or unsafe environment.

Global Approach in Addressing “Health for All”

Many people think that human trafficking does not exist in the United States, but sadly

those people are very wrong. There were an estimated 1.5 million children right now being

trafficked in the United States (Child Trafficking Statistics, 2016). These children go through

something extremely traumatic, but there are ways that people can take a global approach and

help them. Trafficking victims endure a wide range of physical, reproductive, and mental health

problems (Macias-Konstantopoulos, 2016). There was a study conducted with nineteen children

that had been trafficked in the United Kingdom. It was found that two-thirds screened positive

for high levels of psychological distress, including PTSD, twelve reported suicidal thinking, and

others wanted to forget abusive experiences (Stanley et al., 2016).

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The psychological stress that these children have experienced is unimaginable. The

medical field, including nurses, can help these children find someone to talk to and get the

psychological help that they so desperately need. Even when these children do not want to talk

about what happened to them, they still need to see a professional or be apart of a support group.

These children cannot feel abandoned and need to know that it is okay to talk about what

happened in order to help move on and heal. Making sure these children are treated for properly

would make a global difference and improve health for them overall.

Another action that could be taken would be to make sure as nurses and doctors, that the

patients are thoroughly examined and questioned. Medical professionals need to take the extra

time to figure out if there is anything abnormal going on with the patient. It was found that

survivors repeatedly report having received medical care while being exploited, yet none were

identified as being trafficked by a provider (Macias-Konstantopoulos, 2016). This is a huge eye

opener and medical professionals need to be reminded that their patients depend on them to help

them. These children are going to be too scared to saying anything out in the open about their

abuse. Medical professionals need to be able to key in to these situations. If more providers were

able to recognize the signs of child trafficking abuse, then there could be many lives saved. This

would result in a huge global impact and could help significantly reduce the number of children

being trafficked worldwide.

Lastly, medical professionals need to have more information and training on what they

are looking for when a suspected child of trafficking seeks medial attention. There was an

anonymous survey done in a Rhode Island hospital where the participants, who were nurses and

doctors, were asked about human trafficking protocols. The majority of the participants reported

no training, screened no patients for domestic minor sex trafficking in the past year, did not
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know any resources available and had limited knowledge and comfort with this pediatric patient

population (Barron et al., 2016). This shows that medical professionals internationally need to be

better trained on the protocols and proper screenings for these trafficked children. Classes or

information sessions would be beneficial and help remind medical professionals on what they are

supposed to do if a suspected trafficked child comes in. This would save children’s’ lives and

lead to more being rescued before it was too late. This would make a huge difference globally

and help eradicate barriers of health, including reducing child mortality.

Conclusion

Overall, child trafficking is a much bigger than most people know about. It happens all

over the world and is growing in numbers. Trafficked children are taken for many reasons, but

they all suffer extreme abuse and end up having psychological issues. These children can be

helped by medical professionals conducting the proper screenings and asking the right questions

in order to figure out if a child is, in fact, being trafficked. This could significantly increase the

number of children that are saved from this awful life. Once these children are rescued, medical

professionals need to make sure that they receive the proper psychological help and let them

know that they are safe. Trafficked children are a huge vulnerable population that suffer from

many health barriers, which the millennium health development goals could help eradicate. It

takes a global effort to promote optimal health for all, but can start with just one person causing a

domino effect.
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References

Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. M. (2008). Community as partner: Theory and practice in

nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Barron, C. E., Moore, J. L., Baird, G. S., & Goldberg, A. P. (2016). Sex Trafficking

Assessment and Resources (STAR) for Pediatric Attendings in Rhode Island. Rhode

Island Medical Journal, 99(9), 27-30.

Child Trafficking Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2016, from

http://arkofhopeforchildren.org/child-trafficking/child-trafficking-statistics

Macias-Konstantopoulos, W. (2016). Human Trafficking: The Role of Medicine in Interrupting

the Cycle of Abuse and Violence. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 165(8), 582-588.

doi:10.7326/M16-0094

Stanley, N., Oram, S., Jakobowitz, S., Westwood, J., Borschmann, R., Zimmerman, C., &

Howard, L. M. (2016). The health needs and healthcare experiences of young people

trafficked into the UK. Child Abuse & Neglect, 59100-110.

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.08.001
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Scholarly Paper Rubric

Criteria Score

Section 1 15 10 5 Worth 15 points total

Introduction  The introduction  The introduction  The introduction

is captivating as it lacks captivation states the meaning
reflects on the but clearly states of vulnerable
meaning of the meaning of population but
vulnerable vulnerable lacks identification
population. population. of a vulnerable
 Identifies a  Identifies a population.
vulnerable vulnerable
population and population but
states the reason lacks reason for
for the choice. choice.

 No conclusion to
Conclusion  The conclusion is
the paper is
recognizable and
 The conclusion is presented.
attempts to
clearly defined summarize the
summarizing the key factors
key factors influencing the
influencing the health status of
health status of the identified
the identified vulnerable
vulnerable population.
population.

Section 2 30 20 10 Worth 30 points total

Social Determinants of  The writer  The writer  The writer

Health Identifies and identifies the mentions the social
reflects on the social determinants of
social determinants of health without
determinants of health. discussing its
health as depicted  The writer relationship to
in the literature. provides minimal health outcomes
 The writer discussion for the identified
discusses in detail relating health vulnerable
the relationship determinants to population.
between social health outcomes
health and fails to link it
determinants and to the identified
health outcomes vulnerable
for the identified population.
vulnerable
population.
Section 3 30 20 10 Worth 30 points total
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Evidence-based  The writer  The writer  The writer

Interventions addressing identifies identifies mentions evidence-
Health Needs evidence-based evidence-based based interventions
interventions interventions without linking
addressing the addressing health them to the
health needs of needs in general. identified
the identified  The writer speaks vulnerable
vulnerable to MDG’s with no population and
population. relation to the depicts a lack of
 The writer states identified knowledge
and relates the vulnerable regarding MDG’s.
significance of population.
meeting the
related MDG’s in
improving health
outcomes for the
identified
vulnerable
population.
Section 4 15 10 5 Worth 15 points total

Global Approach in  The writer  The writer  The writer

Addressing “Health for identifies and mentions but mentions but omits
All” reflects on two provides minimal reflection on one
global reflection on one global approach in
approaches in or two global eradicating barriers
eradicating approaches in and promoting
barriers to health. eradicating health for all.
 The writer relates barriers and
the significance of promoting health
eradicating the for all.
chosen health
barriers in
promoting optimal
health for all.

Section 5 10 5 0 Worth 10 points total

Writing and Presentation  The paper is  A few spelling  The paper shows
without and/or little or no evidence
grammatical and grammatical of APA format.
spelling errors. errors noted. Writer has
APA format is Writer makes an numerous errors.
evident. attempt at APA There is no
format. evidence of
proofreading.

TOTAL PTS: