WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing to review H.R. 5411, the Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2014, authored by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC). The legislation seeks to provide health care professionals the tools necessary to identify and care for victims of human trafficking. Witnesses discussed the important role health care providers can play in helping these victims.
“Many people don’t realize this is happening here in the United States," said Ellmers. “This is something that we have to make sure that our health care providers are understanding and aware of."
Katherine Chon, Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons at the Department of Health and Human Services explained, “Victims of human trafficking encounter a variety of health care professionals while still trafficked - this is an often missed opportunity to intercede."
“Human trafficking is a pervasive and pernicious problem within our borders," said Hanni Stoklasa, M.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Health providers are on the frontlines of victim identification and care, but without empowering clinicians with awareness of the problem or an action plan, victims of trafficking will continue to go through our health facility doors undetected."
Vednita Carter, Founder and Executive Director of Breaking Free, agreed. “Health care professionals are in an excellent position to identify and help victims-but they need coordinated, evidence-based, and trauma-informed training to be able to do so. The Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2014 offers the medical community the opportunity to develop best practices for identifying and caring for victims and the opportunity to help thousands of victims in our nation break free."
Laura Lederer, Director of the Bastian Center for the Study of Human Trafficking, Indiana Wesleyan University added, “An important part of this training will be to help health care providers understand the coercive dynamic of trafficking, especially the extreme degree of control exercised by the trafficker, and the prevalence of criminal exploitation of women and children. The medical community can play a vital role in the ongoing fight to eliminate modern day slavery …the Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2014 is an important step in helping equip them for this fight."
Ken Miller, President of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, thanked Ellmers for introducing the bill, stating, “The American Association of Nurse Practitioners thanks the Committee and Congresswoman Ellmers for their work on this important topic and we look forward to working together in the development of this project. By working together we can put a stop to the terrible crime of human trafficking."
