Human Trafficking and Your Ethical Responsibility as a Dentist

Charles S. Travagliato, DDS Chair, Western New York Section

This past October I attended the American College of Dentists Annual Session in Houston as our Section’s representative. I participated in all the events on the two-day meeting schedule which consisted of the usual business meetings, orientations, presentations, dinner receptions and the American Society for Dental Ethics course titled Rising Issues in Oral Healthcare through an Ethical Lens. This forum had several speakers who gave presentations on equity in health care, environmental concerns, and the topic of my article, human trafficking. Honestly, this last topic was unexpected and got my attention.

Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for forced labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. This is a modern form of slavery. It is estimated that 50,000 people per year are trafficked, many are between the ages of 12-14, and are involved in the sex trade. The migration crisis at our US southern border is fueling the increase in human trafficking. It is not my intention to discuss our government’s policies regarding the border. My intent is to awaken you to the existence of human trafficking and your ethical responsibility to recognize it and do something about it if you suspect a patient is a victim.

The signs of human trafficking are similar and include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The person avoids making eye contact when speaking to you.

• They are not allowed to or seem scared to speak for themselves.

• The responses the person gives seem scripted or rehearsed.

• You cannot speak to them alone or someone else is constantly with them.

• They don’t have any identification, such as a passport or driver’s license, or the employer is keeping these documents for them.

• They have branding marks such as tattoos, cigarette burns, or bruises, especially on their neck or lower back.

• The person escorting the suspected victim requests inappropriate cosmetic treatment.

• They live with their employer or at their place of employment.

• They are working long hours.

• The person doesn’t know where they are, has traveled a lot or is coming from another area.

• They seem poor, destitute and have few, if any, personal possessions and may wear the same clothes regardless of circumstances or weather.

• The person appears malnourished, in poor physical health, has poor dental health or poor hygiene.

• The place where they live or work has security measures that appear to keep people in, such as bars covering the insides of windows or barbed wire on the inside of a fence.

• They appear to be afraid of law enforcement or other authority figures.

What to do if you suspect human trafficking?

Trust your gut feeling. It is better to be safe and risk being wrong about the situation than to ignore the signs and risk further harm to the victim.

However, if you suspect a child or adult is being trafficked, do not try to rescue them yourself. You can’t be sure how the perpetrator will react and if they might cause further harm to the person or their family.

Instead, here’s how to help a victim of human trafficking:

• Call 911 and report your suspicions and the details of where the person is as well as the situation they are in.

• Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 and report your information to the trained representative. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Both victims of human trafficking and those who suspect human trafficking can call the hotline for help, answers to questions and resources.

The annual ASDE Ethics Course provides three hours of the highest quality continuing education in ethics. These sessions include practical topics and best practices, as well as higher-level discussions of ethical issues. The course this year will be offered on Wednesday, October 4 at 1:00 PM, Eastern, at the Hyatt Regency, Orlando, in conjunction with the ACD 2023 Annual Meeting and Convocation. The course often sells out, and on-site registration is not guaranteed. Please plan on registering early.