School Nurses' Awareness and Attitudes Toward Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Abstract

Human trafficking is a global, multibillion-dollar industry. Most victims are female and more than half are children. At-risk youth continue to attend school with school nurses on the frontline of this health crisis. Using the Peace and Power Conceptual Model, a mixed-methods study was conducted to explore school nurses' awareness, attitudes, and role perceptions in the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Six peace-power versus power-over power themes and 4 subthemes were identified: "exposure/knowledge, "collaboration," "role boundaries," and "creating respite space." Policy efforts should focus on improving practice conditions for school nurses to support the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Systematic Review of Human Trafficking Educational Interventions for Health Care Providers

“…Similar to other provider disciplines noted in the literature, nurses may lack awareness of HT. In the school context, youth at most risk are often the ones who experience disciplinary issues and may be labeled by school personnel, including nurses, as “difficult students” (Fraley, Aronowitz, & Jones, 2018; L. G. Grace et al, 2012).…”

School Nurses on the Front Lines of Healthcare: Recognizing the Signs and Putting the “BRAKES” on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

“…Many CSEC victims will present for medical care at some time during their exploitation, often for acute conditions like urinary tract infection and physical trauma (Greenbaum et al, 2013). Therefore, school nurses are on the front lines of child trafficking and other forms of CSEC with the potential for aiding in the identification of youth at risk for or actual victims of CSEC (National Association of School Nurses, 2018); however, school nurses may lack awareness of CSEC or have negative perceptions about youth who may be at risk, impeding holistic assessment and risk identification of students (Fraley et al, 2018). School nurses may be the last point of possible intervention for potential or actual victims of CSEC and child trafficking, and school nurses in the United States are in an ideal position to effectively screen, intervene, and prevent CSEC (Fraley et al, 2018).…”

White Paper: Recognizing Child Trafficking as a Critical Emerging Health Threat

“…The Joint Commission issued a Quick Safety bulletin in June 2018, urging health care environments to identify potential victims of HT (Joint Commission, 2018). Although well-designed evidence-based CT education has an important role in effectively equipping clinicians, awareness among HCPs remains low (Barron, Moore, Baird, & Goldberg, 2019;Sprang & Cole, 2018;Donahue, Schwien, & LaVallee, 2019;Fraley, Aronowitz, & Jones, 2018;Katsanis et al, 2019;Lutz, 2018;Recknor & Chisolm-Straker, 2018;Sinha et al, 2019;Viergever, West, Borland, & Zimmerman, 2015). Misconceptions regarding the nature and scope of trafficking persist and impede efforts to improve outcomes.…”