Artefacts

Artefact 1

Psychological Effects of Human Trafficking: Depression, Anxiety, & Substance Use.

Part 1

Instinctively, we understand that sex trafficking has negative effects on its victims.

Our personal experience and empathy help us care for others who’ve been through
traumatic events and give us a desire to support them. But what we may not know is exactly
how human trafficking impacts its victims and what type of support they need.

The experience of human trafficking can cause many short and long-term adverse psychological
effects. These effects may lead to maladaptive behaviors, mental health concerns, and substance
use. Knowing what the specific effects are and how they impact a victim is an important part of
understanding the complexity of this crime and providing appropriate support.

How does it happen?

The definition and act of sex trafficking have in them the recipe for creating and maintaining
adverse psychological effects on victims. Trafficking is essentially taking control of another
person and using them for one’s own gain through force, fraud, or coercion. Traffickers often
seek vulnerable individuals, such as the displaced or homeless, runaways, those with little social
support or few resources, and individuals with psychological and emotional vulnerability.
Traffickers believe they have the best chance of controlling and manipulating others by
capitalizing on any existing vulnerabilities, while simultaneously creating dependence and a
distorted sense of reality. The reality that the trafficker shapes through fraud, manipulation,
and force leaves victims questioning their own ideas about what is true, who they can trust,
and what their alternative options are.

The experience of being trafficked may induce or exacerbate mental health concerns and
symptoms. While those with pre-existing mental health concerns or disabilities are also
extremely vulnerable to the manipulation and exploitation of trafficking.

Possible psychological effects of human trafficking include:

● Depression
 ● Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder
● Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
● Substance use and disorders
● Shame and guilt
● Alienation and isolation from social supports
● Suicidal ideation (thoughts of suicide)
● Identity disturbance/confusion

The risk of developing a mental health disorder, as a victim of trafficking, may be influenced by
multiple factors:

● Past experience of trauma/abuse

● Duration of exploitation
● Violence
● Restrictions on movement while being trafficked
● Greater number of unmet needs
● Lower levels of support following trafficking

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5618827/

Many of us are familiar with most of the psychological effects on this list, as they are commonly
experienced by individuals impacted by other forms of trauma or negative life events. However,
understanding how these diagnoses and symptoms impact someone’s ability to cope and survive
while being trafficked or afterward may be helpful in working with and relating to victims of
trafficking.

Depression, Anxiety and PTSD:

Depression—When a person is depressed, they may experience symptoms that make it difficult
to realistically evaluate and change their circumstances. They may have trouble thinking clearly
and making decisions, properly caring for themselves, or feeling worthy or motivated to change.

Anxiety—When a person has an anxiety disorder, they may experience general or specific fears
and worries. The person may become preoccupied with anxious thoughts, making it difficult to
function normally, as they attempt to navigate through their fears and worries. They may have
trouble making decisions and concentrating, changing their routines, or trusting new people and
situations.
PTSD—When a person suffers from PTSD, they may avoid people, places, and things, in an
attempt to avoid any triggers/reminders of the traumatic event/s. They may experience intrusive
thoughts, images, and flashbacks, which impact their ability to cope in the present. They may
also experience mood changes and trouble concentrating.

When someone is trying to help a victim of human trafficking, it may be frustrating

because it might appear that the person is not receptive to help or committed to making
any changes. It is important to be aware of the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD
and how they may impact a person’s ability to cope, think, plan, and commit. In addition,
traffickers use these symptoms to maintain control over their victims, taking advantage of the
fact that victims may be struggling to evaluate reality and make informed decisions. Awareness
of symptoms, patience and understanding, and referrals to appropriate professional services are
essential.

Substance Use Disorders:

Substance Use Disorders—When a person uses substances to self-medicate or is addicted to one

or more substances, they may spend a large amount of time obtaining, using, and recovering
from the substance. This leaves little time to evaluate their circumstances or make plans to
change. While under the influence or going through withdrawals, it can be challenging to think
clearly and make healthy decisions. This may lead to self-destructive behavior. In addition,
traffickers use substances to control victims, either by introducing them to substances or by
controlling access to substances, allowing them to control, manipulate and exploit the victim.

When attempting to help a victim of human trafficking, it is important to recognize that

substance use is a common consequence which complicates a victim’s ability to get out of
the life and make changes. Like depression, anxiety, and PTSD, the person may seem
unreceptive to help and uncommitted to changes, due to the grasp the addiction has on the
person. Most people need professional treatment for their addiction, so it is imperative victims
with substance use issues are linked to services that can provide appropriate help for addiction.

These four mental health diagnoses and the corresponding symptoms may be typical reactions to
stress and trauma. The symptoms associated with these conditions can be serious, persistent, and
challenging to manage and live with. It is crucial that individuals with these symptoms are
provided with supportive resources and services to help educate about and address their
symptoms and learn how to cope and manage them so that they may lead happy, healthy lives.
Part 2

We began our three-part series on the psychological effects of human trafficking by explaining
how the tactics that abusers use can produce many adverse psychological effects on victims. Our
discussion further focused on four mental health diagnoses and corresponding symptoms that
may result from victimization.

In this segment, we will discuss four more psychological effects of human trafficking. These
effects are not necessarily mental health diagnoses, but are psychosocial states or symptoms that
may occur in addition to other symptoms and diagnoses as a result of trauma.

Shame & Guilt, Alienation & Isolation:

Shame and guilt—Although these are not specific mental health diagnoses, they are
psychological symptoms that can cause great distress and can lead to depression, anxiety and
substance use. When an individual experiences extreme shame or guilt, they may feel unworthy
of help or support and may blame themselves for the trauma and experiences they have suffered.

Alienation and Isolation from social supports—When an individual is isolated or alienated from
family, friends or other supports, they are more vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation.
Traffickers seek out individuals that are already isolated, then further isolate and alienate them
from any outside support or resources. This creates dependence and loyalty from victims, who
look to the trafficker to provide for them.

When attempting to help a victim of human trafficking, it is important to understand how shame
and guilt, as well as isolation and alienation, impact a victim’s ability to accept help. If they feel
undeserving of help or change, then they may seem unwilling to accept help. If they are
dependent on or loyal to the trafficker, they may be unreceptive to help because they don’t trust
outsiders and have been brainwashed to believe they need the trafficker.

Suicidal Ideation:

Suicidal Ideation—Perhaps the most serious and extreme response to manipulation, trauma, and
its effects, is thoughts of suicide. When an individual feels hopeless and trapped, suffering from
isolation and other adverse psychological effects, they may feel as though there are no other
options and may consider ending their life.

Suicidal ideation is a serious symptom that should always be addressed with genuine concern
and urgency. If you suspect someone is having suicidal thoughts, it is imperative to talk to them,
offer support, and link them to appropriate services to assess the situation and provide
intervention. The national suicide prevention hotline is 1-800-272-TALK (8255).

Identity Disturbance/Confusion:

Identity Disturbance/Confusion—This can be described as the state of not having a clear sense of
self in relation to others and the world outside the self. This can occur when one’s own thoughts,
emotions and behaviors are influenced and manipulated by external forces, rather than one’s own
internal drives, beliefs, attitudes, or instincts.

This psychological effect of trafficking may be less familiar than the others described above. It is
harder to recognize and is seldom mentioned or discussed; however, it has a powerful impact on
an individual’s ability to practice self-determination and make informed, independent decisions.
It also impacts an individual’s ability to see themselves as a separate entity with individual value,
beliefs, and choices.

How does this happen?

We all, with few exceptions, have insecurities and a need for belonging. It is precisely these
vulnerabilities that make it easier for someone to manipulate and prey upon others. Many of the
tactics used by traffickers distort one’s sense of reality through manipulation, coercion, and
fraud, amplifying one’s personal or physical insecurities and creating confusion. Traffickers (and
other abusers) use a variety of tactics to achieve this state in their victims, leading victims to no
longer trust their own instincts, feelings, and thoughts, while relying on the trafficker to
determine their sense of reality.

The tactics include:

● Lying and twisting facts or gaslighting

● Making promises of a better life, instilling hope, yet rarely following through
● Using fear, intimidation, and violence to gain control
● Breaking them down, only to build them back up
● Creating dependence, through isolation and the provision of basic needs

Loss of self or identity disturbance might look like this:

If my trafficker says no one loves me or will ever want me again, and I believe that I am
“damaged and dirty” and he manipulates situations so that this becomes true, then he is right.
When my trafficker continuously tells me that this is the only way I can survive and that
my only value is in sex work, and I’m given no other opportunities to experience something
different, then I begin to believe him. When my trafficker breaks me down mentally and
emotionally, then builds me back up as my sole source of “support,” then I rely on him to tell me
who I am, what I am worth, and what my purpose is. I begin to lose my own sense of self, and
take on the reality that he has shaped, in order to avoid negative repercussions or further harm or
abuse. I learn to survive in this chaotic, unsafe world by relying on my trafficker and silencing
my own identity and instincts. I may even take on a new persona to separate myself from my
original identity before trafficking, and over time, I may forget who I was before.

The experience of trauma, especially in the form of human trafficking, leads to many subtle and
overt changes in an individual, including mental health symptoms, substance use and addiction,
shame, guilt, suicidal thoughts, isolation and identify disturbance, any of which can be mild to
severe. Often victims have multiple, complex symptoms related to these psychological effects
making it difficult to seek and accept help and make the necessary changes needed to lead safe,
healthy lives. Many victims require assistance to heal and move forward.
Artefact 2

Human Trafficking Poetry

I ran from the unloving family, the abusive home

Running wherever my feet would take me, wherever they would go

I was broken, misunderstood, jaded, lost, unloved, heart tainted

Then you came along cherishing me, treating me right

I finally felt loved, my future looked bright

We left one day, picked up and went far, far away and then soon came that dreadful day

When you violated me, raped me, told me I was yours

You started beating me daily, started locking the doors,

You told me I owed you, you owned me, I must sell my body for sex,

Molesting my very being, all because of you

A different man every night, inside me, my dreams, my nightmares,

My innocence taken, my world turned upside down…shaken to my core

I knew I’d never be free of the hell you put me through

Too scared to sleep…the fright! Too scared to run…too scared to leave

Because I knew if I did you’d come looking and catch me

You looked right through me, never saw me as a person

I hope it bothered you…cuz I was only 13

Just one question….Are you even sorry?

Will you ever feel remorse for the pain you’ve caused me?

Every morning I wake up and hate who I see

I’m discussed with the things I’ve done

The person you’ve made me be

Every day I endured the torture another man put me through

It’s safe inside my head, that’s where I run to

I’m frightened, incoherent….told to listen and obey

Will I live to see tomorrow, will I get to eat today?

God please help me!…Why are my prayers unanswered?

Are there too many cries for help or am I not worth saving?

Can’t stay here to live in fear….I’m old enough to live on my own

Decide to run, family don’t treat me right

My step dad creeps into my bed at night

Can’t stay here to live in fear….I’m old enough to live on my own

Living with friends then on the street

No place to call home….no food to eat

Can’t stay here to live in fear….I’m old enough to live on my own

Answering an ad….becoming one of many girls

Sold to the highest bidder…no more innocence or curls

Can’t stay here to live in fear….I’m old enough to live on my own

Broken, beaten, addicted and lost

Just a shell of a person who dreams of escape at any cost

Didn’t stay here, rescued from fear….too young to live on my own

Artefact 3

RUN

I believed in a lie dressed in beauty

Never have I been so wrong
Cheapened to become a possession
Captured at the cost of my soul

My face unknown to those who turn away

My name has been forgotten and replaced
This body pays the price for tainted pleasure
I’m a slave to a bed of broken tears

Fear is my anchor, quickly I’m fading

For this vaulted heart longs to be released

I will lead you home

Dry these stormy eyes for me to see
Where your feet may roam,
Unconstrained there will be
Freedom for the soul
Will you take my hand
(I will take your hand) and run

They say that only fools attempt escape

But I’d be forever lost to remain
Find the chance to take the leap
Reaching out, I will give my all trying

Hope is my anchor, courage is rising

For this vaulted heart longs to be released
 Bibliography
Work cited

Artefact 1

Website:
Canfield, Amy. “Psychological Effects of Human Trafficking: Depression, Anxiety, & Substance
Use”. Growfreetn, 28 July 2020,
growfreetn.org/psychological-effects-of-human-trafficking-depression-anxiety-substance-use.

Artefact 2

Poem:
AMP Youth, “Human Trafficking Poetry”. Facebook, 20 Oct. 2020,
facebook.com/poeticinspiration1/posts/human-trafficking-poetry-by-amp-youth-i-ran-from-the-u
nloving-family-the-abusive.

Artefact 3

Song:
“RUN - Human Trafficking Awareness: Music Video”. Youtube, uploaded by Sinead Marie, 15
Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edy1XpMOhDU