NASW Social Work Talks - EP24: Human Trafficking

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

Susan Munsey, LCSW, founded GenerateHope, which provides innovative programs for young women and teens who have survived the trauma of sex trafficking. Munsey is a trafficking survivor herself, and she's passionate about rescuing and rehabilitating women and educating people on this issue. Please see the show notes for resources

From the National Association of Social Workers, I'm Aaliyah Wright, and this is Social Work Talks. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode, which focuses on human trafficking. According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, involves the illegal trade of people for exploitation or commercial gain. In 2012, the International Labor Organization estimated that there are 20.9 million human trafficking victims worldwide. Today, we're speaking to recent CNN hero and clinical social worker Susan Muncy about sex trafficking and her San Diego-based nonprofit Generate Hope, which provides a safe space for survivors of sex trafficking to heal and build new lives. welcome susan we're very happy to have you join us today thank you nice to be here can you tell

us a little bit about your background and how you came to sound generate hope i was in private practice about 12 years ago and i was thinking that that's what i would do until i retired when i came upon a church that was looking to do work with trafficked women and that touched me because I was trafficked when I was 16 and somehow I knew God would always use that time for something and that seemed to be like the thing so we had a grassroots group and you know we started meeting and I started studying the issue we got some training from some existing organizations then we opened up what would become Generate Hope 10 years ago this March so we've helped over 100 women in that time and are able to stay in touch with most of them. It's really exciting.

So you've seen this from both sides, both as a survivor and as an advocate for people who have been trafficked. As a social worker, what are the things you wish people had known when you were in this situation? Well, you know, I wish that people knew that it's not really a choice. It's not something that a young woman just wakes up one day and decides, gee, I think I'll sell my body today and give the money to somebody else. It's more something that one is backed into, tricked into, and held in with psychological chains like trauma bonding, Stockholm syndrome, shame, and even violence. I also wish people had realized that we were just kids and that we needed protection and support. Do you think that with everything that's going on today

with the Me Too movement and more awareness of these issues, that those thoughts are changing? I do. I do think that people are becoming more aware and I think people are more insightful about, you know, what is really happening with young people when they're being trafficked. And the average age of entry into trafficking is 15. So we're really talking about kids that, you know, haven't developed intellectually to a place where they can really figure their way out of this kind of a situation once they get backed into it. I still find, though, that when I go and speak, it's almost always true that at least half of the room has no idea that this is going on in America and that it's going on with American young kids. It seems, though, sometimes that human trafficking awareness has increased recently, for example, with such grassroots organizations as Truckers Against Trafficking, who are educating and empowering truck drivers, their companies in the travel plaza industry, to be crime fighters against domestic sex trafficking. Social workers are often on the front lines when encountering people who have been traumatized or victimized by others. we wanted to ask you the five things social workers should know when they encounter women

who have been trafficked. Yeah, good question. And I just want to back up a little bit and say I love Truckers Against Trafficking. I think that's a wonderful group, grassroots group of people who said, you know, we got to do something about this. And I think there's so many people that are beginning to do that and even more that, you know, can become aware and do something in their own arena, whatever that is. And just as far as maybe five things that social workers should know, one is to be real. Trafficked women and girls can usually read people very clearly. just due to the circumstances that they've been in. They have come to read people very well.

And so just be real, be yourself. Also offer help, but realize that she may not be ready. Remember, there's the trauma bonding that's going on there. So remain available. Many trafficked individuals don't even realize that they're being taken advantage of. also i would say that she's likely in need of a place to stay that's one of the most important things for women or individuals coming out of a trafficking environment is that they

they need a place to stay they need housing so educate yourself on what's available my go-to resource is global modern slavery.org and you just put the state that you're in in the search bar and you'll get a lot of different resources that are in you know whatever state it's and it is a global resource so it could be whatever country that you're in as well and i would say learn more about trafficking um you know educate yourself um and and talk about what you learn uh but polarisproject.org is a really good place to go um to learn more about trafficking. So P-O-L-A-R-I-S project.org. And I would just clarify one thing. I say she, because the majority of the individuals that are trafficked are women, but it's not limited

just to women and girls. So when you said be real, you're meaning be authentic and be genuine. Is that what you mean by real? Okay. Can you add a little bit more about that? Just, I think being yourself. Sometimes we may feel like we need to put on our professional front or, you know, appearance, but I think just being yourself is the most important thing. Yeah. What are some things to look for to recognize that someone is being trafficked? Oh, good question. As I said, the typical age of entry is around 15 or 16, although it can happen at any time. It can also commonly happen to women that are in college. Some of the indicators are some common indicators of other things that, you know, that there might be something going on.

So a change in grades, a change in friends, you know, staying out later, a change in attitude, very typically having more than one cell phone. So these guys will have, will give them a cell that's just for them to be in contact with their trafficker more sexualized behavior language interactions running away from home depression different you know behavioral changes those could all be indicators of sex trafficking and certainly indicators that something's going on and we want to check and see what's happening here. What kind of damage does this do to a person? And is there hope to overcome this? Absolutely, there's hope. But the damage is very real. It's very deep. I just can't imagine

many other ways of being assaulted that are more personal than this. But the damage is physical, mental, and spiritual. And we look at all of those aspects that generate hope. And those three areas really need to be addressed if you're working with trafficking survivors. Most women come out of trafficking with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, other anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, intrusive thought, daytime thoughts, just all kinds of issues that they're trying to deal with at once. And so, you know, using your trauma background, knowing how to approach trauma and what the best practices are for trauma. We don't really have best practices yet for working with sex trafficking survivors per se, so we have to rely on what are those best practices

for working with post-traumatic stress disorder, for trauma in general, for major depressive disorder, for sexual abuse, those kinds of things that maybe run parallel. So I do think there's great hope, and I think social workers are poised to be of great assistance, using the skills that we've learned to work with trauma and the basic case management skills as well. So to connect them with other professionals so that they can be assisting alongside. So medical, dental, tattoo removal, psychiatry, of course, the housing I mentioned, job skills. There's just so many different areas that there are people that can come alongside the the client and the social worker and you mentioned tattoo removal

why do trafficking survivors need tattoo removal oh that's an excellent question and that's another good indicator a lot of times the traffickers will brand the women with their name so I've seen brands on women's foreheads necks chest tummy shoulders thighs any place to remind them that they are the belonging of the property of this guy they are very controlling they have quotas that they have to meet each night they can't come back without meeting that quota or they are looking you know to get beat they are controlled as far as when they can eat when they can sleep when they can go to the bathroom how much they're

allowed to eat and you can just imagine all the the trauma you know that this imparts on these women and that then they have to try and work through once they get into a program but yeah tattoo removal is a real common thing so susan when it comes to generate hope what is the goal for these women so the goal for the women that generate hope is to heal them from the trauma, the sex trade. We want them to be able to make a sustainable living wage as well, doing something that they enjoy. And we want them to regain their self-esteem so that they can stand strong and really walk into their future feeling good about themselves and, you know, what they're doing. And what other advice do you have for social workers working in this arena? Make sure

that you have a heart for these survivors. And I think that's true for whatever area that we're working in. But this is very difficult work. And if you don't have a heart for these particular survivors, these women, then it's really easy to get burned out. If you do, though, feel like you have that heart, you know, your heart goes out to these women. It's something you feel drawn to do. use your skills your knowledge and partner with your client and and you know you'll fail and do a good job so susan you mentioned um global modern slavery.org the polaris project.org what are some other resources you'd recommend for survivors of sexual assault or human trafficking and listeners we're going to have a list a list of these resources for you as well

So the other one I would say is the National Human Trafficking Hotline. That's available 724 for survivors. It's also available for someone who is working with a survivor and needs help with resources. And so that's 888-373-7888. there's two books that I would recommend for anybody who wants to work with survivors of sex trafficking. And I've read many, many, many books and watched so many different films. But these two books, I think, really give you a great idea of what it's like to be trafficked and also provide a lot of resources. They're both written by survivors. And the first one is called Walking Prey, P-R-E-Y. And that's by Holly Austin Smith. And then the other one is Runaway Girl. And that's by Carissa Phelps, P-H-E-L-P-S. And then if people are doing the work with survivors, I would recommend that one of your keystone go-to resources is called Ending the Game.

you can learn more about that at endingthegame.com and that's a curriculum that's written by a couple of different survivors of sex trafficking and it's it's wonderful it's it's got all kinds of different resources it's an it's an online curriculum and has different exercises each week I think it's 10 weeks it's designed to be 10 weeks if you're doing it in two-hour segments, or it can, you know, be one-hour segments and 20 weeks. So, those are some really good resources. It sounds like it. And do you have any other advice for our listeners? You know, be aware of what's going on in your community. If you're interested in doing this work, see who's already up and running in your community. There's probably somebody nearby that

could use your assistance or help and, you know, talk about sex trafficking. In some ways it's still kind of taboo, but I think the more we talk about it, the more we can do to end it. And how can people reach Generate Hope? They can go to our website, which is generatehope.org, and they can research what we're doing. And they can also, if they're interested in emailing, my email is Susan at GenerateHope.org. Susan, thank you so much for taking the time out to speak with us today. We greatly appreciate it. Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you. And listeners, thank you for joining us. Please don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes. You have been listening to NASW Social Work Talks, a production of the National Association

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