Screening Questions to Assess Whether a Person is a Trafficking Victim

Date

2013

Authors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement

Abstract

Description

The following are sample questions health care providers can ask in screening an individual to determine if he/she is a potential victim of human trafficking. As with domestic violence victims, if you think a patient is a victim of trafficking, you do not want to begin by asking directly if the person has been beaten or held against his/her will. Instead, you want to start at the edges of his/her experience. And if possible, you should enlist the help of a staff member who speaks the patient s language and understands the patient s culture, keeping in mind that any questioning should be done confidentially. You should screen interpreters to ensure they do not know the victim or the traffickers and do not otherwise have a conflict of interest. Questions follow.

Keywords

Abuse-sexual, Best Practices-Interviewing, Communication -- training, Exploitation -- trafficking, Guidelines

Citation

DOI