Essay Example on Human Trafficking: A Global Health Crisis & Ethical Role of Health Providers

Introduction

Human trafficking has become a significant health problem, both locally and internationally. Health providers play and have a tremendous ethical role in identifying victims of human trafficking and helping them. Human trafficking is a trade practiced by greedy individuals who have no conscious of the worth of human beings. They exploit vulnerable individuals, and those in desperate need to move out of their own countries. That is mostly due to poverty, war, and natural disasters in their countries.

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The desperation brought about by such circumstances makes most women and children agree or are forced into trafficking. They are often promised better jobs and lives, but in the real sense, most are sold to cults and prostitution dens. The traffickers use illegal means to move them across the country and in unsafe conditions. It is crucial that health providers identify the signs that an individual has been trafficked and intervene using safe means.

The health concerns of individuals who have been trafficked make it necessary for nurses to know who has been trafficked. Although the movement of trafficked individuals is limited, they are often given health care opportunities to visit the hospital when they get sick. In most cases, these individuals suffer from a sexually transmitted disease, HIV and AIDS, vaginal and rectal trauma, malnutrition, and drug addiction and withdrawal. (Lederer and Wetzel, 2014). Physical signs of abuse also include scars, bite marks, bruises, and burns.

While assessing individuals who suffer from such physical abuse from different walks of life, it is essential that nurses differentiate the regular damage and harm caused by human trafficking. Psychological trauma should also be a way to identify individual victims of human trafficking. Most people suffer from depression, suicidal intentions, drug addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Knowing the Factors Causing Human Trafficking

For nurses to play their part in combating human trafficking. Nurses have to be aware of what causes such a vice to take place. Identifying the root cause of the problem helps in knowing who are the victims when they are seeking health services in the hospitals. Most victims come from backgrounds that experience political and civil turbulence. These countries are often in strive and experience wars. Such a situation provides an avenue for human traffickers to take advantage of the situation at hand and start trafficking people in these countries. The race and gender of an individual can serve as an opportunity for traffickers to exploit. Most individuals trafficked are mostly women and people of marginalized communities and races.

Poverty and lack of jobs also provide an environment for human trafficking to take place. The prevalence of common problems, especially in third world countries, makes it easier for the trafficking of women and girls to take place. Most of these women are sold to club owners and into prostitution. Some are even used in trafficking illegal drugs in different countries, especially the USA. They are often mistreated and even live in deplorable conditions.

Once the background of how such an act is known, it makes it easier for health care professionals to identify victims of human trafficking. The lack of knowledge regarding human trafficking by the public, especially health care providers, makes it more challenging to identify those who have been trafficked. Whenever nurses are conducting their work of treating people from all works of life. It is advisable they identify where people with specific ailment live and where they come from and whether their countries are experiencing wars or natural disasters.

Identifying Victims of Human Trafficking

Various indicators can help nurses to identify the victims of trafficked individuals. The first set of indicators will be the accompanying person who is bringing the women and girls to receive health care services. If there is an instance of an older man accompanying a teen to the hospital, missing details of person seeking health service and prior foster care or custody. These could be a way to identify a victim of human trafficking. (Chafee et al., 2015)

The second set of indicators that could help a health care professional to place as a potential red flag of human trafficking may include fear, depression, inconsistencies in the story provided, and exhaustion. Common health problems may also give a hint on a victim of human and sexual trafficking. If the person has urinary tract infection, tattoos on the neck or visible area, black eyes, missing hair and bruises or injuries on the body. Such a person may be a victim of trafficking.

The pre-existing health concerns identified by the nurse indicates a trafficked individual. In most cases, preventive care is not provided; the individuals trafficked are only allowed to seek medical attention when the conditions are severe. Physical problems for individually sold into sexual slavery that may include many pregnancy tests, sexually transmitted diseases, and infertility. Physical abuse, especially for those who get pregnant, provides evidence of a trafficked individual.

A psychological evaluation provides a more in-depth clue on individuals who are victims of human trafficking. Severe mood swings, terror, and acting weirdly are some of the psychological signs that provide health clinicians with an overview of trafficked men and women. Other health problems may include back problems and jaw and neck issues. That is as a result of being forced to stand for long hours and even provide oral sex for long periods.

Getting to Intervene

In most cases, health care professionals are best-suited individuals to help trafficked men and women get out of their traffickers. They are the first people to encounter victims of this threat to humanity. Trafficked individuals may not know how to speak English properly or the language of a country they have trafficked to by the traffickers.

The trafficked people are often threatened with death or physical abuse if they speak out. These make it harder for them to speak out because of fear of the resulting consequences. That is why nurses must be taught how to identify and intervene in the case of human trafficking. Sadly, very few health care providers know how to approach this issue in a safe and meaningful way.

In teaching the nurses how to deal and manage with this pertinent issue. Individuals can get saved from the physical and psychological abuse they receive every day. A lot could be done in also ensuring that this epidemic is eradicated despite the challenges that are currently present in these modern-day and age.

First step in intervening as a nurse in solving the issue of human trafficking is asking questions. The questions asked will help you determine whether the case at hand involves human trafficking. Don't just ask plainly whether the individual is trafficked; consider the fact that the person may not be aware of the illegality of human trafficking. The individual may also be afraid of the repercussion of speaking out on who trafficked him or her.

There may also be mistrust in health care personnel and law enforcement agencies. That makes the person wary of speaking out to strangers or individuals who may help. In other cases, they may be afraid for the safety of their families. It is important when trying to find out whether the individual is a victim of human trafficking; you should make the conversation to be private and confidential. As a nurse, gain the trust of the victim and proceed to assure him or her of protection for providing crucial information about the traffickers.

The World Health Organization has provided a manual that can be used by nurses to determine whether a person has been trafficked. The questions involve the background of the person, whether the person has been abused, current work, and whether the person is at liberty to perform his duties without fear or coercion. Patience is required when asking the questions. Once the questions yield the desired result in identifying a victim of human trafficking, the case is forwarded to the National Human Trafficking Resource Centre, where the necessary investigation can be done.

Implication on The Nursing Profession

Nurses are better placed in helping the victims of human trafficking. They can make a huge difference in making the lives of such victims to be better. They are the first individuals to encounter the victims apart from their traffickers. The critical role played can help in the investigation and saving of the victims from their captors and abusers.

With enough education and continuous learning, nurses can identify the cause of human trafficking. Awareness should be created to ensure that more and more victims are saved from their traffickers. The act of intervening in a typical health problem case to identify whether it falls under human trafficking is the same regardless of background and the circumstances in place. (Donahue et al., 2019)

The role of the nurse is treating the person seeking medical services first before engaging the person to identify a case of human trafficking. The nurse should ensure that any individual visiting the hospital should be treated and well taken care of depending on what ails him or her. All medical services that the person seeks should be dealt with and ensure proper preventive care is also provided.

It is not only nurses who should play a role in combating human trafficking. Even physicians and emergency response teams should play a role in solving this issue. The facility administration should provide a learning program to train both the nurses and other medical professions. Procedures should also be outlined when a case of trafficking has been identified. The policies may involve identification, reporting, and forwarding to relevant agencies. (Hachey et al., 2017)

To ensure easier identification and proper procedure is followed when a case of trafficking is reported. Other mechanisms can be put in place to ensure that the process runs without mishaps and endangering the victim or his family. The nurses should be well-informed on human trafficking cases, a hot-line number provided at the posters and collaboration with other professionals should be considered.

Conclusion

Various regulations have been enacted by the governments of each country to ensure that human trafficking has been completely alienated. Proposals and awareness have been made to make it possible to curb this vice, but more work is needed to be done. Residential treatment services should be provided to the victims of human trafficking. Treatment facilities should be able to ensure that direct treatment is given to the victims of human trafficking.

A more direct approach by nurses in advocating for better direct healthcare to victims of human trafficking is beneficial. Programs that serve the needs of the victims should be incorporated in the regular health care service delivery. Lessons involving effect and identification of human trafficking is essential to medical practitioners. (Lutz et al., 2018)

Most health practitioners encounter victims of human trafficking, yet they don't realize it. (Beck et al., 2015). The main reason for such opportunities being lost is the lack of knowledge in identifying those victims. Healthcare is the most suited place to identify and encounter those people who have been trafficked. It is the right place to put all efforts towards eradicating human trafficking. It is estimated that victims who have been trafficked receive healthcare at least once while in captivity. (Scannell et al., 2018)

Consistent collaboration between the healthcare sector and non-governmental agencies contributes to counter...