AOTA

Toni Thompson, DrOT, OTR/L, C/NDT

Senior Instructor, TherapyED, Evanston, IL

Selah Freedom Anti-Trafficking Agency, Tampa Bay area, FL

Jami Flick, MS, OTR/L

Assistant Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Health Professions, Department of Occupational Therapy, Memphis, TN; Restore Corps, Memphis

Andrea Thinnes, OTD, OTR/L

Assistant Professor, Creighton University

School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Department of Occupational Therapy

Omaha, Nebraska; Rejuvenating Women, Omaha, Nebraska

Abstract:
Human trafficking has emerged as a crime, an occupational injustice, and a human rights violation that transcends international borders. The United Nations developed the fundamental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (3P Protocol) to guide national governments, private agencies, and individuals in enacting standards, laws, and philosophies for action. Minimal literature in occupational therapy addresses human trafficking (Bryant et al., 2015; Gorman & Hatkevich, 2016). However, occupational therapy practitioners possess important skills for developing interventions, education, research, and advocacy efforts to positively affect the occupational participation of persons who have incurred biopsychosocial deficits as a result of human trafficking situations.

Learning Objectives:

1. Define four types of human trafficking

2. Describe the 3P Protocol of the United Nations

3. Identify the biopsychosocial impairments found in persons affected by human trafficking

4. Discuss the legal rights of people who have been trafficked to receive occupational therapy services

5. Identify the distinct value of occupation in practice, education, and research efforts to combat trafficking