Human trafficking survivors firstly need you to know that you might not be able to put an end to Human Trafficking but you CAN certainly put an end to it for one. “Most people don’t recognize that pornography and trafficking go hand in hand,” says Jenni Jessen who has more than 20 years of experience fighting human trafficking. When people are on their computers wandering through a virtual red-light district seeing a boy or a girl that they’re going to use to satisfy their lust, the majority of those people onscreen are people who have been trafficked exploited, and abused, so their involvement in what’s supposed to be a “victimless crime” is furthering the exploitation of people both locally and globally.
The legal needs of a human trafficking survivor are classified as emergency needs and other needs. Emergency needs include safety needs, food, clothing, for international victims: translation services to avoid the feeling of isolation and to facilitate communication.
However not laid out in the constitution, survivors do need emergency medical attention for the physical as well as mental trauma that they undergo most years of their life. They need counselling for their mental health stat. When emergency needs are met, other needs present themselves. Other legal needs are classified further in the short- term and long-term.
These include:
1. Housing- Transitional and Permanent housing for adults and Foster Care or Permanent Placements for minors.
2. Legal Assistance: Help in educating them about their legal rights, legal representation, criminal justice, child welfare, immigration for international victims)
3. Health Screening Services: For tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy
4. Medical Treatment: For physical injuries, dental care. Although mental health concerns are rising in the newer generations the legal needs do not include mental health treatment as a need for a human trafficking survivor. Counselling services are most needed by survivors who battle their way through this dark dirty world of human trafficking.
5. Child Care Services: for both adults and minors with children 6. Education: enrolment in school, technical training, life skills training, assisting international victims with the operation of basic household appliances, mailing a letter, job training, finding employment, financial management, and where appropriate, family reunification, repatriation. These legal needs are available to human trafficking survivors, however, there are so many bylaws that prevent survivors who have been abused and exploited from applying to these services. Some of these services are even inaccessible or mere words and cannot be exploited. Human trafficking survivors need you to listen to their plight and to the plight of those who are strong but not strong enough to get out of that trap on their own and need your help. They need you to know that you can help. Human Trafficking might not end for all in your life but you can end it for one, starting in your household.
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