Model of care

The relationship between a service provider and the individual they’re working with is the key factor for engagement and successful outcomes. Trust is an essential element in every relationship, but particularly with those who have experienced sex trafficking. Gaining trust can be complex and hard-earned. This is understandable considering the repetitive experiences of manipulation, lies and broken promises survivors may have experienced at the hands of those they trusted. It's the responsibility of the service provider to earn that trust by establishing transparency, stability and dependability.

Harm reduction is an important piece. This involves ensuring you do no harm. Patience, collaboration, compassion, consistent engagement and non-judgmental support will be necessary to nurture the relationship and help the individual you’re supporting feel safe to work through their past experiences and future goals with you.

Safety plan creation is a critical aspect of harm reduction. Safety plans are developed through ongoing discussions with the survivor. It’s a matter of consistently checking in about what they’re currently experiencing, how they’re feeling about it, offering opportunities to weigh pros and cons, and support change that can lead to positive outcomes for them.

Reflective practice can also be of great value. Guiding survivors to reflect upon their situations, needs and goals is an important exercise to support their journeys.

Reflective practice is also valuable for service providers. By nature of the role of helping someone, a service provider’s relationship with a survivor is inherently an imbalance of power. If left unchecked, what may begin as a well-intentioned desire to help may shift to a desire to “rescue,” which can supersede the needs and goals of the person you are supporting. This harms the individual by silencing their voice and suppressing their agency. It can mirror the aggressor-victim dynamic they had with others in their experiences of trauma.

Supervisors and team members can also play a role in supporting reflective practice by encouraging discussions around the steps taken to support survivors when reviewing cases or during debriefs.

Authentic relationships necessitate respect for autonomy, and while it may be challenging for staff to refrain from intervening, it's at these times that trust and genuineness of the relationship can flourish.

The perceptions and interpretations of each victim and survivor’s experiences are unique. Trauma-informed care insists on recognizing these unique experiences, and specifically, the impact of trauma. From this lens, this approach to care aims to prevent re-traumatization and offers appropriate support to empower the individual.

Therefore, understanding the history of gender-based violence (particularly for female-identified survivors), providing a platform/space for the survivor's voice to be heard and responding with an individualized and rights-based approach are the recommended ways to provide support.

This requires tailoring a plan with active direction from the survivor, which reflects their rights, unique needs and goals. This also means recognizing the dynamic nature of change, and working with agility alongside them on their journey.

It is important that your work is individualized and survivor-led as you will never have the whole picture. Trauma can be multi-faceted and overwhelming for the individual, which makes it hard to share and/or explain. We must not assume we ever fully know what someone has gone through or is currently going through, or imagine that we know what the best path for them might be. What we can offer is an unwavering presence and an opportunity to feel supported.

The youth we see every day at Covenant House have demonstrated extraordinary resilience that helped them survive. Many have endured extreme abuse and violence, and this is common with young people who have experienced sex trafficking.

Survivors have shared that feelings of shame can be overwhelming, which results in a sense of hopelessness and a belief of unworthiness. Our responsibility as service providers is to assist in countering these feelings by helping them overcome their experience.

With your compassionate support, survivors can regain their sense of power by recognizing the resilience they've demonstrated. Acknowledging self-sustaining behaviours can help foster self-confidence, encourage survivors to see their strengths and believe in their ability to lead their own development.

It's important to note that recognizing resilience does not overlook the potential risks that can be inherent in some survival and coping mechanisms, such as the use of substances. The key is focusing on the qualities of self-preservation, persistence and resourcefulness. Help survivors own these qualities and then apply them in identifying goals and taking the steps needed to achieve them.

Working in this area is demanding. You will experience a spectrum of emotions and will inherently be impacted by the struggles of those you are serving.

For you to function optimally, it's important to think about your health and well-being. Your agency can play a critical role in ensuring the health of staff remains top of mind by building it into the structure of how they operate.

Techniques include:

• Being clear about expectations and limitations of roles to help staff understand boundaries and prevent overextending themselves:
  • As you work compassionately with the survivor, there is a risk of over-identifying with them, leading to blurred boundaries (always being available for them). As a manager/colleague, observe your staff to see if they are overworking or never turn off their work phone (if they have one).
• Ensuring staff are aware of the support resources available to them and how they can access them:
  • Health benefits your agency may offer.
  • If your agency does not have an Employee Assistance Program available, consider adopting one.
• Holding regular team meetings and debriefs where staff have the opportunity to talk about their challenges and can access support from their colleagues (peer support).
• Putting policies and practices in place that reinforce the value of self-care and offer clarity on how to attain it:
  • A policy related to on-call support for staff.
• Having an open-door policy with supervisors so that staff feel comfortable raising issues or concerns.
• Providing appropriate training and opportunities for reflective practice so staff are properly equipped for their work:
  • Training for trauma-informed care, establishing mentorships, visiting other agencies and sharing experiences in their work and for health promotion, etc.
• Incorporating opportunities for socializing to relax and have fun.
• Regularly celebrating staff efforts and accomplishments to help create a more positive and nurturing environment.

In addition to the support you receive from your agency, self-care is critical to ensure your well-being. This is important to recognize as vicarious trauma is a serious concern for those working with individuals who have been trafficked or sexually exploited.

To find out more about vicarious trauma and the steps you can personally take to support your health and wellness, refer to the Vicarious trauma section.