TY - JOUR
T1 - Providing Services to Victims of Human Trafficking During the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2 - A Social Service Agency State-Wide Survey
AU - Hogan, Kimberly A.
AU - Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was funded by the Arizona Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith, and Family through funding from the STOP (Services •Training •Officers •Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program and supported by the Arizona Governor’s Human Trafficking Council. Thank you to the 100 agencies participating in the survey and ASU STIR researchers Bandak Lul, Nicole Bandera, Veronica Duffield, Jordan Field, Laura Krupar, and Nicole Newman.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - While research has documented the needs of human trafficking victims, the importance of such needs during the COVID-19 pandemic remains understudied. This study sought to determine the most critical and urgent service needs of social service providers who serve human trafficking victims. Drawing from survey responses collected from 100 service providers from all 15 counties in Arizona, researchers examined agency needs to serve human trafficking victims during a pandemic, the barriers/fears expressed by human trafficking victims to obtain social services, and the saliency of needs regarding training, screenings, protocols, and services provided. Respondents indicated that the most necessary needs included more training, funding, and receiving referrals. Respondents reported that most barriers/fears expressed by sex trafficking clients were feelings of shame and not self-identifying as a victim. Labor trafficking victims lack knowledge about resources and experience little to no social support. Findings highlight a sustained need for awareness building, developing strong partnerships between agencies that serve human trafficking victims, and the needed ability of social service agencies to modify their service delivery systems during a pandemic. Future research is needed to understand the lack of victim demographic data and provide clear guidelines for agencies to handle emergencies such as a pandemic.
AB - While research has documented the needs of human trafficking victims, the importance of such needs during the COVID-19 pandemic remains understudied. This study sought to determine the most critical and urgent service needs of social service providers who serve human trafficking victims. Drawing from survey responses collected from 100 service providers from all 15 counties in Arizona, researchers examined agency needs to serve human trafficking victims during a pandemic, the barriers/fears expressed by human trafficking victims to obtain social services, and the saliency of needs regarding training, screenings, protocols, and services provided. Respondents indicated that the most necessary needs included more training, funding, and receiving referrals. Respondents reported that most barriers/fears expressed by sex trafficking clients were feelings of shame and not self-identifying as a victim. Labor trafficking victims lack knowledge about resources and experience little to no social support. Findings highlight a sustained need for awareness building, developing strong partnerships between agencies that serve human trafficking victims, and the needed ability of social service agencies to modify their service delivery systems during a pandemic. Future research is needed to understand the lack of victim demographic data and provide clear guidelines for agencies to handle emergencies such as a pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Community-engaged scholarship
KW - coronavirus
KW - human trafficking
KW - labor trafficking
KW - pandemic
KW - sex trafficking
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U2 - 10.1080/01488376.2023.2232827
DO - 10.1080/01488376.2023.2232827
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165175163
SN - 0148-8376
VL - 49
SP - 357
EP - 376
JO - Journal of Social Service Research
JF - Journal of Social Service Research
IS - 3
ER -