title: Human Trafficking in Areas of Conflict: Health Care Professionals' Duty to Act.
abstract: Given the significant global burden of human trafficking, the ability of clinicians to identify and provide treatment for trafficked persons is critical. Particularly in conflict settings, health care facilities often serve as the first and sometimes only point of contact for trafficked persons. As such, medical practitioners have a unique opportunity and an ethical imperative to intervene, even in nonclinical roles. With proper training, medical practitioners can assist trafficked persons by documenting human trafficking cases, thereby placing pressure on key stakeholders to enforce legal protections, and by providing adequate services to those trafficked.
authors.affiliation: Clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine and the director of the Division of International Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York City, and a founding member and president of EMEDEX International.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bloem
authors.affiliation: International emergency medicine fellow at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York City.
authors.forename: Rikki E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and the co-founder of HEAL Trafficking, an international network of professionals combatting trafficking.
authors.forename: Makini
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chisolm-Straker
mesh_terms: D000068337:Armed Conflicts; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004282:Documentation; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D006268:Health Facilities; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000941:ethics*; D006296:Health Services; D064410:Human Trafficking / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D024382:Professional Role; D012941:Social Responsibility