A Qualitative Study of Risk and Protective Factors for Resilience in Survivors of Sex Trafficking.

This study explored risk and protective factors for resilience in survivors of sex trafficking from the survivors' perspectives. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 participants recruited from survivor-led advocacy agencies and social service agencies that provide trafficking-specific services. Two overarching themes emerged from data analysis: (a) deep connections to self and others facilitate resilience and (b) detrimental "help" threatens survivors' resilience. Our findings suggest that it may be important for service providers to assist survivors build healthy relationships with themselves and others to promote survivors' resilience. Further, our results highlight the importance of offering more inclusive, survivor-centered, and trauma-informed services.

Trauma Bonding Perspectives From Service Providers and Survivors of Sex Trafficking: A Scoping Review.

A trauma bond is an emotional attachment between an abuser and victim. Trauma bonds in sex trafficking compel victims to submit to continued exploitation and protect the trafficker. This scoping review examines trauma bonds in sex trafficking situations, its conceptualizations, and key characteristics. Ten databases were searched using sex trafficking AND trauma bonding-related terms; sex trafficking AND Stockholm syndrome, attachment, coercion, and manipulation. Articles were included if they featured trauma bonding, were published in English after 2013, or featured sex trafficking victims or traffickers in a Western country. Fifteen articles were included. The features of trauma bonding identified in these articles were (1) imbalance of power that favors trafficker, (2) traffickers' deliberate use of positive and negative interactions, (3) victim's gratitude for positive interactions and self-blame for the negative, and (4) victim's internalization of perpetrator's view. We also identified four aspects related to trauma bonding: (1) prior trauma made victims vulnerable, (2) victim's feelings of love remained even after exiting trafficking, (3) love is why victims do not prosecute traffickers, and (4) traffickers' intentional cultivation of the trauma bond. No article indicated how trauma bonds could be severed and replaced with healthy attachments. These findings reveal the need for practitioners and law enforcement and criminal justice professionals to address trauma bonding in both trafficking and posttrafficking situations. The findings also represent potential targets for urgently needed interventions that promote the replacement of trauma bonds with healthy attachments.

A Scoping Review of Resilience in Survivors of Human Trafficking.

Resilience is critical among survivors of trafficking as they are mostly vulnerable populations who face multiple adversities before, during, and after trafficking. However, resilience in survivors of trafficking is understudied. This scoping review aims to clarify the current state of knowledge, focusing on definitions of resilience, how resilience has been studied, and factors associated with resilience among survivors. Five databases were searched using key words related to trafficking and resilience. Studies were included if they were published in English between 2000 and 2019 and focused on resilience with the study design including at least one of these four features: (a) use of standardized measures of resilience, (b) qualitative descriptions of resilience, (c) participants were survivors or professionals serving survivors, and (d) data sources such as case files or program manuals directly pertained to survivors. Eighteen studies were identified. Findings indicated that resilience was primarily described as emergent from interactions between the survivor and the environment. Resilience in trafficking appeared largely similar to resilience in other kinds of victimization. Nonetheless, trafficking survivors also may display resilience in alternative ways such as refusing treatment. Positive interpersonal relationships were the most commonly mentioned resilience factor. In addition, current research lacks studies featuring longitudinal designs, interventions, participatory methods, types of trafficking other than sexual trafficking, and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and national origin. Future research needs to establish definitions and measures of resilience that are culturally and contextually relevant to survivors and build knowledge necessary for designing and evaluating resilience-enhancing interventions.