The Healthcare Response to Human Trafficking

By Dr. Jarrod Sadulski  |  05/22/2026

Healthcare facilities have an important role in monitoring their patients for signs of human trafficking. For instance, doctors, nurses, and other people in healthcare can offer resources to victims and report people they suspect are involved in this heinous crime.

The rate of human trafficking has increased consistently. Unfortunately, human trafficking is a problem in every U.S. state.

How Human Traffickers Control Their Victims

Human trafficking survivors are especially vulnerable due to the amount of coercion and control traffickers exert over their victims. The victims are commonly threatened with injury or death to themselves or their families if they seek help from anyone.

They may also be:

• Physically abused
• Drugged
• Coerced into believing that they are to blame for their circumstances

The Romeo method is another way of coercing victims to avoid telling others about their predicament. With the Romeo method, a human trafficker deceives victims into believing that the trafficker cares for them and convinces them to stay quiet. That way, the trafficker who “cares” for them won’t get into trouble with law enforcement.

Over the past several years, I have been involved in efforts to prevent human trafficking, testified to the U.S. Senate, and conducted years of research. I’ve also spoken with countless victims and have provided training in various places around the world.

From all of this work, I’ve learned that very few victims who went to healthcare personnel disclosed their trafficking situation and asked for help. In most cases, the reluctance of victims to tell someone is commonly due to overwhelming fear or an inability to recognize they are human trafficking victims.

How Healthcare Providers Recognize Human Trafficking Victims

The healthcare community, including hospitals, can take a more proactive role in combating human trafficking. Healthcare personnel should obtain an education on what human trafficking is and the common signs of human trafficking to ensure they can recognize victims.

Healthcare professionals should also remain aware that any persons receiving care are likely to conceal being involved in trafficking. But once the signs of human trafficking are encountered, healthcare employees can create a rapport with those victims to build trust and help victims become more comfortable in asking for help.

In addition, it is crucial to keep in mind that traffickers commonly accompany their victims to medical appointments and hospital visits to intimidate them into staying quiet about their situation. Often, these traffickers speak on the patient’s behalf and avoid any revealing language that would indicate to hospital staff that the patient was in danger.

In one case I observed, a female trafficker escorted her female victim to a routine doctor’s appointment. She exhibited the normal signs of trafficking and attempted to speak for the patient.

When the patient was brought into the exam room of the doctor’s office for treatment, the trafficker accompanying her was not allowed to enter and that trafficker caused a scene in the lobby. Once the victim was out of direct contact with her trafficker, the victim felt safe enough to inform medical staff that she was being trafficked and in danger.

However, most human trafficking cases are not so clear-cut. However, helping victims to realize that what is happening to them is a crime can result in victims talking to healthcare employees more readily.

In most cases, healthcare professionals need to ask probing questions for screening purposes to determine whether someone is being trafficked for sexual favors or forced labor. These probing questions include:

• Are you free to leave your home or your workplace, or would doing that put you at risk?
• Does someone control your movements over time?
• Do you have access to your money, identification, and personal belongings?
• Is someone forcing you to do something you don’t want to do?
• Do you have any health concerns related to how you make money?
• Is there anything you wish to address with me that you can’t tell anyone else?

During treatment in hospitals or other locations, medical staff should monitor those persons for any sign of human trafficking, such as:

• Bruises at various stages of healing without a reasonable explanation
• Lack of eye contact
• Nervousness
• Coaching on what to say from someone else
• An inability to answer questions without asking someone else for guidance or how to respond
• Medical conditions with symptoms that may indicate exploitation, such as sexually transmitted infections

Why Raising Awareness of Human Trafficking Matters

For healthcare providers, training people about human trafficking, raising awareness of this nationwide problem, and establishing policies on how to treat victims is essential for treating and healing trafficking survivors. Medical personnel should also tell their patients about different resources to help them escape from their traffickers and encourage them to contact others to get the treatment they need to recover from the trafficking.

These resources include counseling services and safe houses, located in different places around the U.S. Another resource is the Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888).

Medical personnel working in hospitals and clinics are on the front lines of healthcare facilities. They have a unique opportunity to ensure that individuals are identified as human trafficking victims and making those people aware of resources. Ultimately, timely intervention from healthcare providers could protect many children and adults by improving their mental health and saving them from further injury or even death.

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