Page 15
responses. Victims of trafficking often experience multiple victimizations that include sexual assault and intimate partner violence. For example, a woman may escape a situation of trafficking with the help of a man who later becomes an abusive partner. She may seek a certified domestic violence center for services related to the immediate abuse, though she may have additional needs related to the trafficking she experienced. 20“Florida Responds to Human Trafficking” 26 SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITIES Members of minority sexual orientation and gender identity or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities may experience increased vulnerability to trafficking, particularly sex trafficking, because of the discrimination they experience in their homes and communities.21 Non-accepting families may reject their children who identify as or are perceived to identify as LGBT and refuse to provide basic care, including housing. Without stable social support networks, these youth may experience homelessness and lack access to vital resources. LGBT victims of trafficking may face additional barriers, such as a lack of institutional awareness and discrimination, when attempting to access social services, community support, resources, and relief. The fear of continued violence and oppression by providers may further silence LGBT victims. Such barriers increase for transgender victims, for whom social services related to sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and reproductive health are limited or non-existent. LGBT victims without legal immigration status may be eligible for a U-Visa or T-Visa or file an Asylum application based on fear of persecution concerns in their country of origin because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. COORDINATED COMMUNITY RESPONSE A multidisciplinary coordinated community response (CCR) is one of the best ways for communities to respond to victims of trafficking. Just as with domestic violence survivors, victims of trafficking have a variety of needs. Developing and maintaining a coordinated community response to human trafficking requires the collaboration of many individuals, agencies, and organizations. Efforts to coordinate a response to human trafficking should promote awareness and education through ongoing conversations about the issue. Despite efforts to educate the public about the extent of modern-day slavery, many communities are still largely unaware of the scope of human trafficking and its devastating impact. As with a coordinated community response to domestic violence, a coordinated community response to human trafficking should have a clear purpose or range of goals, such as organizing community members to identify, respond, and provide safe, meaningful, and effective services to victims.The Florida Department for Education (FDOE) was awarded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cooperative agreement to promote Adolescent Health through School-Based HIV/STD Prevention and School-Based Surveillance for five years. The Child Human Trafficking addition to Florida’s Sexual Health Education Community Outreach Tool Kit is designed to provide resources to identify human trafficking and raise awareness within the community. The Governor’s Office of !doption and Child Protection and Department of Juvenile Justice collaborated with FDOE’s Healthy Schools to revise the Tool Kit. Human trafficking training helps to raise awareness in schools and in the community. Educators, other school/community based professionals and parents have a critical role to play in recognizing potential human trafficking and in helping potential victims access specialized services. We encourage you to use these resources in the stand against human trafficking. The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, slavery or a commercial sex act. Currently, there are approximately 30 million people enslaved throughout the world with 3 million located right here in the United States.