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Honoring a Human Trafficking Survivor’s Unique Experience is Vital to Providing Appropriate Services


Like our diverse country, survivors of human trafficking represent different races, skin colors, national origins, disabilities, religions, ages, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, education levels, and citizenship statuses. And just as there is no single profile of a trafficking survivor, their experiences differ too.

In a recent guest post on the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) blog, OVC Director Kristina Rose reacts to an OVW podcast featuring Savannah Sanders—founder of SexTraffickingPrevention.org and author of Sex Trafficking Prevention: A Trauma-Informed Approach for Parents and Professionals.

During the podcast, Ms. Sanders shares her unique experience as a survivor of child sex trafficking. The conversation also covers a number of topics including the harmful impact of imagery that reinforces misconceptions about human trafficking and the importance of ensuring individuals with lived experience are participating fully in anti-trafficking work.

Read OVW’s blog to learn more about Ms. Sanders’ experience, OVC’s commitment to fostering survivor engagement and the survivor-informed approach for all aspects of anti-trafficking efforts, and resources to help organizations be survivor-informed and reflect the full diversity of survivors’ experiences.

Read the blog

Date Published: September 2, 2021