Youth Sex Trafficking Survivors' Perspectives on Communication With Health Practitioners.

Abstract

Background: Despite growing awareness among health care practitioners of youth sex trafficking in the United States, little is known from the perspective of the survivors about their experiences communicating with such professionals.

Aim: To provide insight into how nurses and other health care practitioners, who often encounter survivors, can better intervene to assist them.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with eight 18-26-year-old adults who had survived sex trafficking as a youth; we inquired bout their interactions with nurses and health care first responders while being trafficked.

Results: Three major communication themes emerged in participants' descriptions: victim/survivor-focused, practitioner-focused, and disclosure-focused themes. Each reflected a different pattern of verbal and nonverbal communication in survivors' perceptions of how their interactions unfolded.

Discussion: Results highlight important directions for education and training for health care practitioners to enhance identification of and support and service provisions for youth victims of exploitation and trafficking, an important, overlooked, and underserved youth population that regularly seeks services in clinic and emergency health care settings.