Doctors know little about helping sex-trafficking victims: Study

The biggest challenge for medical students is the lack of awareness

Doctors are in a unique position to identify and help victims of sex trafficking, but little is taught in medical school about this issue, a review paper suggests.

About 400,000 people in the US are estimated to be affected by human trafficking, and research indicates that up to 88 per cent of them have seen a health care professional for treatment during their exploitation, the authors write in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

But there isn’t enough discussion or education on the role doctors can play in helping these women, children and men, lead author Jennifer Talbott, a third-year medical student