This session explores the critical role of substance use disorders (SUDs) as a common and emerging prevalent issue among survivors of human trafficking in the 21st century. This session delves into the intricate relationship between SUDs and human trafficking, shedding light on how these dual challenges complicate survivor’s identification, screening, and access to essential treatment and legal remedies. The research reveals that traffickers exploit pre-existing SUDs in individuals to coerce them into trafficking or actively facilitate substance use to maintain control over their victims. In addition, substances are often employed by trafficking survivors as a coping mechanism to endure the profound trauma they experience. The session emphasizes the urgent need for collaborative efforts between service providers, survivor advocates, and criminal justice practitioners to address this multifaceted crisis effectively. Drawing upon the research findings, the panel proposes recommendations for implementing comprehensive strategies for health risk behavior management, sexual abuse intervention, substance use harm reduction, and combating violent crime within the context of sex trafficking. Data suggests that up to 88% of trafficking victims come in contact with a medical professional while less than 1% are identified or provided with necessary resources. We are in a unique and important position to screen and provide assistance for victims of human trafficking. By providing practical insights, this session aims to empower professionals in the field to better identify, support, and offer tailored assistance to trafficking survivors grappling with SUDs.
Mollie Gordon, MD, Presenter Dr. Mollie Gordon is an Associate Professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She completed medical school and residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis. She is clinical faculty, the Associate Director of the inpatient Psychiatric Unit at Ben Taub Hospital and supervises residents, medical students and a team of interdisciplinary providers. She cares for adults with acute exacerbations of chronic mental illness, many of whom are vulnerable and marginalized.Her research background is in pharmacokinetics of dopamine dependent disease pathways, and the trauma of individuals who suffer from these conditions. She has worked with survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to reintegrate them back into the workplace. In 2016 she participated in the development of the first fellowship in the mental health impacts of human trafficking at an academic medical center where she is Medical Director of this program. She is was a co-chair of the American Medical Women’s Association – Physicians against the Trafficking of Humans where she leads train the trainer workshops nationally. She is on the HEAL trafficking speakers bureau, has testified for the national advisory council for the office of trafficking in persons, and lectures at national meetings on human trafficking.Recently she founded BCM division of global mental health to treat survivors of torture, trafficking and mass violence atrocities. She has published numerous papers in the field, edited a book in the space, and won numerous awards for her work. Jeremy Weleff, DO, Presenter ADr. Jeremy Weleff is an Instructor and Public Psychiatry Fellow at Yale University School of Medicine. He will soon (July 2024) be Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) at Yale School of Medicine. He completed psychiatry residency training at the Cleveland Clinic and completed both Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship and Public Psychiatry Fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine.