The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Office on Women's Health (OWH) is seeking innovative and life-changing approaches to address human trafficking prevention (e.g., at the primary, secondary, and/or tertiary levels) among women and girls in the United States through the HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls.
Background/Issue
The HHS Office on Women's Health (OWH) is charged with providing expert advice and consultation to the Secretary on scientific, legal, ethical, and policy issues relating to women's health, and serving as a coordination point throughout HHS on issues affecting the health of women and girls. OWH establishes short and long-term goals within the Department for research, disease prevention and health promotion, service delivery, and education for public health and health care professionals about women's and girls' health. OWH identifies needs and monitors activities within the Department that contribute to women's and girls' health and leads the Coordinating Committee on Women's Health. Additionally, OWH is responsible for facilitating the exchange of information through the National Women's Health Information Center and promoting women's and girls' health programs and policies, all aimed at improving the health of women and girls.
Human trafficking is the crime of exploiting a person for compelled labor, services, or commercial sex acts. Human trafficking impacts an estimated 26.7 million individuals globally. While anyone, can be a victim of human trafficking, there are significant variations in the populations that are most at risk of being trafficked. Other factors that can contribute to an individual's risk of being trafficked include recent migration or relocation, substance use, unstable housing, abuse, childhood trauma, and mental health issues.
Women and girls are a particular group that has a substantially increased risk of being impacted by human trafficking, which in turn undermines their safety, health, and well-being. Data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline (“Hotline”) shows women and girls comprised approximately 84% of individuals in trafficking situations and 50% of individuals in labor trafficking situations reported to the Hotline in 2019[1]. Individuals who experience one form of violence are at higher risk of further violence. Women and girls who are sexually abused are more likely to suffer physical abuse, sexual re-victimization, and/or intimate partner violence later in life. Because 1 in 3 women experience intimate partner and/or domestic violence at some point in their lives, they are at high risk of human trafficking and other forms of abuse.
Traumatic events like human trafficking have an impact on health outcomes, including on short- and long-term physical and behavioral health. Additionally, health outcomes of human trafficking include toxic stress that wears down immunity, contributing to risk of liver disease, chronic renal disease, and other autoimmune and neurological disorders. Other forms of trauma impact the physical, reproductive, and behavioral health of women and girls throughout their lives.
Purpose
OWH is creating a national competition to identify existing innovative programs that address human trafficking prevention (e.g., at the primary, secondary, and/or tertiary levels) among women and girls in the United States. The goal of this competition is to identify and award existing programs that demonstrate effectiveness in preventing human trafficking and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking among women and girls, sustainable program practices, and the ability of the program to be expanded and/or replicated.
Subject and Scope of Prize Competition
The program must demonstrate evidence-based interventions and approaches to preventing the occurrence and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking on women and girls. The program should include attention to variations that contribute to an increased risk of being trafficked for women and girls. The program will be shared with the general public, including through informational webinars, websites, social media, and listservs.
The competition has two phases. Phase 1 will award existing, innovative programs that have demonstrated outcomes in successfully preventing human trafficking and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking among women and girls. Phase 2 will award programs that have successfully expanded and/or replicated to increase the impact of their program in preventing human trafficking and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking on women and girls.
This prize competition emphasizes prevention for women and girls through innovation. Innovative approaches may include, but are not limited to, primary, secondary, and/or tertiary prevention methods, as well as prevention methods that focus on recent migration or relocation, substance misuse, unstable housing, abuse, childhood trauma, peer/dating relationships, school engagement, faith-based support, self-esteem, emotional regulation, positive coping skills, and mental health issues. Primary prevention involves intervention before health effects occur, secondary prevention involves screening methods to identify an issue at the earliest possible stage, and tertiary prevention involves managing an issue once it has already been identified.