Indicators of labor trafficking

On Dec. 8, the second Sunday of Advent, the Roman Catholic Church of the Philippines remembers the Anti-Human Trafficking Sunday.

It must be clear, however, that human trafficking is not only about sexual abuse. It is also about forced labor.

Because labor trafficking victims need medical and health care several times, healthcare workers, from ambulatory care and emergency departments to ophthalmologists and laboratory technicians, have all the opportunity to identify possible labor trafficking victims.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center indicated that healthcare workers should know several health indicators of labor trafficking, both physically and behaviorally.

Physical indicators of labor trafficking include signs of physical abuse (unexplained injuries, such as blunt force trauma, burns, bruising, broken teeth, cuts (or wounds), fractures, and torture signs. Neurologically, signs include difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, unexplained memory loss, migraines (headaches) and traumatic brain injury.

Victims of labor trafficking also demonstrate cardiovascular symptoms (irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure), respiratory symptoms (severe breathing distress) and gastrointestinal problems (constipation and irritable bowel syndrome). They also demonstrate severe loss of weight, malnutrition and appetite loss.

Behavioral signs include anxiety (panic) attacks (e.g. shortness of break, chest pains), inconsistent stories, overly vigilant (paranoid) behavior, inability to make independent decisions and irritability.

Employer policies are also strong indicators. These policies include abuse or threat at work, unpaid or very little wage, disallowed for adequate breaks for food and water, unprotected hazardous work, working in tasks not recruited for, employer housed, high debt from employer or recruiter and no control of personal identification documents (e.g. passport).

Jobs often staffed with trafficked labor include agriculture, begging rings, domestic work, health/beauty services, landscaping, restaurant/food service, retail or small business and traveling sales personnel.

Your help in detecting these labor trafficked Filipinos or foreign nationals will help control labor trafficking within our borders. Healthcare professionals play a very important role in this effort. Paraphrasing Matt Maher’s line in “Love Will Hold Us Together”, we are still our “brethren’s keeper” whether they are men, women, or children victims of human trafficking.