The Demand Change Project Pre-Conference Meeting on Health and Human Trafficking

About the Demand Change Project:

The Breaking Free Demand Change Project brings together local, national, and international leaders and experts in the anti-human trafficking movement for an interactive conference on May 28-30, 2015 to end the demand for commercial sex.

About the Pre-Conference Meeting on Health and Human Trafficking:

The 2015 Breaking Free Demand Change Project is adding an exciting new pre-conference session on Health and Human Trafficking. Led by trafficking expert Laura Lederer, it is designed for health care providers and policy makers working on or interested in the health consequences human trafficking.

A recent survey of 150 survivors indicated that they experienced serious physical and mental health problems while being trafficked. Most startling of all, a majority of survivors (87.8%) sought healthcare during the time they were trafficked. Victims went to hospital emergency wards, urgent care clinics, neighborhood clinics, women's clinics, Planned Parenthood clinics, and primary care practitioners. Many providers were unaware of the fact that they were treating a trafficking victim, and unaware of the force, fraud, and coercion involved in trafficking.

The purpose of this roundtable discussion is to launch a conversation about these issues and to look at new policy and program developments.

Who Should Attend?

This session is for doctors, nurses, physician's assistants, social workers, clinical psychologists, and other health care providers as well as policy-makers who are working on or interested in how to address the health consequences of human trafficking. Others who are interested are welcome to attend.

About Laura Lederer:

Laura J. Lederer founded and directed The Protection Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1997, and moved it to Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in the year 2000. For six years from 2002 – 2008, she served as Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons to Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. She was Senior Director of Global Projects on Trafficking in Persons in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. Department of State. From 2002 - 2009, she also held the Executive Directorship of the Senior Policy Operating Group on Trafficking in Persons, a policy group that staffed the President’s cabinet-level Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons. For three years she has been working on issues related to health and human trafficking. She is the primary investigator and author of a study entitled, “The Health Consequences of Human Trafficking,” in which she interviewed over 150 domestic survivors of sex trafficking about their physical and mental health problems published in the Loyola University of Chicago Annals of Health Law Winter 2014. In 2014 she testified in the House of Representatives at a hearing for the passage of a bill to address training, referral, reporting, rescue issues for health providers, and she is currently at work designing a model law on health and human trafficking to guide states on how to address health issues resulting from sex and labor trafficking.

Registration Fees and Main Demand Change Conference Registration:

The Pre-Conference Meeting on Health Care and Human Trafficking is FREE but you must register for the event.

We highly encourage you to attend the Demand Change Conference main sessions on May 28-30th. The conference will feature international keynotes and trainers focuse on strategies to end the demand for sex trafficking. Fpr more information and to register for the main conference, click here.

Hotel Accommodations:

The Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront is offering a special discounted rate of $159/night plus tax. Call (651) 292-1900 to reserve your room. Mention "Breaking Free" and reserve by April 12th to receive the discounted rate.

Or else reserve your hotel room online by clicking here. On the Crowne Plaza Riverfront page, enter your the arrival and departure dates and then click the “Check Availability” button and it will take you to the next page that shows the availability and your special Demand Change rate.