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Human Trafficking Is a Public Health Issue pp 379–400Cite as

Human Trafficking: Perspectives on Prevention

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Abstract

The prevention of human trafficking is a laudable goal, which nearly all would support. But what is meant by the term “prevention?” And how can those engaged in the practice of public health approach prevention when it is so difficult to identify those who may be at risk? This chapter provides historical perspectives on slavery and trafficking; explains the importance of adopting a prevention focus when tackling any major public health problem; outlines basic principles of public health; reviews types of prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary); summarizes the social ecological model and the Spectrum of Prevention, and their respective relevance to prevention; and introduces the notion of individual and community “safeness” and its potential contribution to conceptualizing prevention programs. Selected anti-trafficking programs are described to illustrate key prevention-focused initiatives that can potentially be implemented on a larger scale or in other settings. Finally, this chapter posits that the only way to effect meaningful prevention is to think and act broadly, collaboratively, proactively, and boldly, to redress the deeply ingrained root causes of human trafficking.

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47824-1_25

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  • 05 May 2017

    In Chapter 5 titled “The Ignored Exploitation: Labor Trafficking in the United States” the affiliation of the author Susie Baldwin has been updated to read as “HEAL Trafficking, P.O. Box 31602, 3001 North Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90031, USA, e-mail: SBaldwin@healtrafficking.org”.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

    Elaine J. Alpert (Faculty of Medicine)

  2. Independent Scholar and Program Evaluation Specialist, Somerset, NJ, USA

    Sharon E. Chin

Authors
  1. Elaine J. Alpert
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  2. Sharon E. Chin
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Correspondence to Elaine J. Alpert .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Makini Chisolm-Straker

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Hanni Stoklosa

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Alpert, E.J., Chin, S.E. (2017). Human Trafficking: Perspectives on Prevention. In: Chisolm-Straker, M., Stoklosa, H. (eds) Human Trafficking Is a Public Health Issue. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47824-1_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47824-1_22

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