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The Importance Of Human Trafficking In Health Care

explanatory Essay
1278 words
1278 words
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One of the most controversial social and health issues in our current time is human trafficking. It is an issue facing mostly women and girls around the world. Due to the fact that human trafficking is part of the black market, it is difficult to obtain accurate statistics. Nevertheless, current statistics show that there are approximately 800,000 people trafficked around the globe and 50,000 people in the United States in one year (Dovydaitis, 2010). Many people, especially in the U.S., think that human trafficking exists only outside our borders. However, this is completely incorrect since the United States is the second largest market in the world for human trafficking behind Germany (Miller, 2007)
According to the United nations, the definition …show more content…

In this essay, the author

  • Explains that as human trafficking becomes a major global issue, healthcare professionals need to be trained on the issue.
  • Explains that healthcare providers can help out trafficking victims by giving them a push for help, but they are not required by law to report it to ities.
  • Opines that healthcare managers and providers have a limited role in helping the victims of human trafficking due to lack of legislation for reporting and to the issue of identifying victims.
  • Opines that healthcare providers have a duty to all patients in need and should try their best to help the victims of human trafficking as much as possible.
  • Explains that human trafficking is one of the most controversial social and health issues in our time.

The more human trafficking cases that appear, the higher the need for healthcare professionals trained on the issue are needed. It is important for a healthcare provider to be able to identify when a patient at a high risk of abuse is a victim of trafficking. When a physician identifies a human trafficking victim, that physician must develop a plan of care for the patient. The physician must understand that they cannot force the victim to state the crime due to the fact that the victim or the family could be at a great risk of harm (Powell, 2017). Healthcare providers need to be trained in how to deal with situations like this where the patient might be at risk of harm. The healthcare provider should make the victim feel comfortable and that that they are out of the zone of danger. If the victim feels threatened and powerless, then they will immediately refuse any treatment. However, the provider can aid the victim by pushing them to reach out to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. This center helps victims find local resources and ways that they can obtain help (Powell, …show more content…

No one country is exempt from the dangers of human trafficking, but there are measures being taken by certain nations to mitigate these issues. Healthcare providers have a duty to all patients in need and should try their best to help the victims of trafficking as much as they can. The first step providers and managers should take to help should be in training physicians and staff to deal and help those patients who are victims of human trafficking. Physicians can help identify the victims and can even help the victims find the courage to get help. There are no mandatory laws for physicians to report cases of human trafficking, but there are other ways physicians can help the patient such as giving them support and reassuring them that there are methods of help like the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. The mandatory laws that exist only apply to the human trafficking child abuse cases. This leaves all other cases to be unreported and in turn creates a huge ethical dilemma for healthcare organizations. Also the fact that the child welfare system can handle a big onset of patients poses a big risk for healthcare organizations. As time goes on, however, new laws and regulations keep mitigating the issues of human trafficking so that more and more victims peak out and get the help they

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