Human Trafficking And Sex Work: Foundational Social Work

Trafficked children show common characteristics no matter their gender, race, or ethnicity. Many of them are homeless or runaways, in foster care of from a broken home. Some children will show signs of abuse or lack of dental care, and they often come off as defiant, because they have been tried by their pimps to avoid eye contact. (Titchen, Kanani,) Child victims are faced with both physical and psychological problems that they experience during as well as after being freed. Some of these problems are more serious than others, such as sexually transmitted infections or diseases, poorly done abortions, PTSD, or chronic depression. Some problems come from their horrible living conditions while being held captive. (Ahn, Roy)
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So many of them go unnoticed on a daily bases, because they are unrecognizable as someone who needs help. Social workers have already worked with organizations that are addressing the issue. The article Human Trafficking and Sex Work: Foundational Social-Work Principles discusses one social workers views and how she has helped these victims. Crystal DeBoise is a social worker in New York whose current position is at an organization called, Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center. Currently this is the only legal and social services program in the United States dedicated to those in the sex industry. (Crystal DeBoise) They work with clients who are survivors of both being trafficked as well as those who had chosen to live that life style. The program sees a wide variety of clients, some are foreign born, but many are born here in the United States. They see both genders, although; females are more common, and all races. (Crystal

These social workers are at the forefront of a new field in social work. They do not have much prior knowledge to fall back on. DeBoise explains that her and her coworkers have found that the foundation of social work principles is particularly valuable when working with these clients. For many of the trafficked clients there is a strong emotional trigger, therefore the values do not apply specifically to them. She also goes on to say, “However, using the foundational principles of modern social work is required if our work with survivors of human trafficking and sex workers is to be effective and empowering.” (Crystal DeBoise) They have to find a way to incorporate these values if they want to work effectively with their clients. The article states how the social work Code of Ethics has a set of values that they tie into the principles they practice within their program. It also goes in detail about these social work values and potential barriers to understanding and accepting them, as they relate to the survivors of human trafficking and sex