Scholars, advocates, and front鈥憀ine practitioners convened at the University of South Florida (USF) St.鈥疨etersburg campus for the "Risk to Resilience:鈥疘nnovations in Human Trafficking Research and Response" colloquium on April 25, a full鈥慸ay program highlighting data鈥慸riven strategies for fighting human trafficking, with hands鈥憃n guidance for frontline providers鈥�. This is the 11th annual colloquium hosted by the Florida Mental Health Institute. The institute, led by Executive Director Kathleen Moore, PhD, explores a new, relevant issue each year through the colloquium and the FMHI Annual Report.
Following welcome remarks from 哔咔漫画 St.鈥疨etersburg Regional Chancellor , the symposium featured two keynote presentations. Joan A.鈥疪eid, PhD, LMHC, associate professor of criminology and director of USF鈥檚 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Risk to Resilience Research Lab, spoke on the lab鈥檚 first five years of work, emphasizing statewide projects that support survivor services. , associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and co鈥慸irector of the , shared findings from national self鈥憆eport surveys that reveal that sex鈥憈rafficking victimization is often missed by official data.
Shelly Wagers moderates a panel on collaborative approaches to combating human trafficking. (Photo by: Clifford McBride)
A panel on collaborative approaches to combat human trafficking followed, moderated by Shelly M.鈥疻agers, PhD, associate professor of criminology and director of USF鈥檚 Bridging Resource and Information Gaps in Human Trafficking (BRIGHT) Project. Panelists Dotti鈥疓roover鈥慡kipper of HEARTDANCE Foundation; Brent鈥疻oody, JD, of the Justice Restoration Center; Pastor Kathy鈥疦orfleet, MA, of Images鈥痮f鈥疓lory Orlando; and Marianne鈥疶homas, PhD, of My鈥疦ame鈥疢y鈥疺oice discussed advancements in legal services, trauma鈥慽nformed housing, and survivor鈥憀ed programs.
Afternoon workshops began with "Breaking Invisible Bonds: Navigating Trauma Bonding in Human Trafficking," in which Reid and 碍濒别箩诲颈蝉鈥叠颈濒补濒颈, a USF criminology doctoral student, guided participants through strategies for building rapport with survivors affected by trauma bonds. Ken鈥疎pstein, PhD, LCSW, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San鈥疐rancisco, led "Towards a Trauma鈥慖nformed System," coaching agency leaders on embedding curiosity, reflection, and inclusive decision鈥憁aking into organizational culture to counter staff burnout.
Colloquium presenters gather with event sponsors Dr. Carl Hawkins (back row, center) and Dr. Cynthia Hawkins (front row, second-from-left).
Presenters brought a wide range of expertise. Reid, a licensed mental health counselor, is a nationally cited trafficking scholar with more than 65 publications. Kulig has authored more than 60 works on victimization and leads federally funded studies on child exploitation teams. Wagers directs the multimillion鈥慸ollar BRIGHT digital network that connects survivor services statewide. Groover鈥慡kipper was recognized as Florida鈥檚 Human Trafficking Advocate of the Year in 2013. Woody pioneered Florida鈥檚 expungement law for trafficking survivors. Norfleet oversees state鈥慶ertified safe houses and a K鈥�12 academy for trafficked youth. Thomas, a survivor鈥憇cholar, consults nationwide on building anti鈥憈rafficking programs. Bilali researches interpersonal violence and counsels youth living with HIV, and Epstein designed San鈥疐rancisco鈥檚 Trauma鈥慖nformed Systems model after four decades in family services.