Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Health Promot Pract. 2024 Jul;25(4):537-544. doi: 10.1177/15248399231186639. Epub 2023 Jul 21.
Sex trafficking of persons, a pervasive public health issue disproportionately affecting the most marginalized within society, often leads to health as well as social consequences. Social service provision to meet the resulting needs is critical, however, little is known about the current pandemic's impact on providers' capacity to deliver requisite care.
To examine social service providers' perspectives of care provision for domestically sex-trafficked persons in Ontario, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 providers and analyzed these using Braun and Clarke's analytic framework.
Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on social service care provision were connected to individuals' increased vulnerability to trafficking, difficulties safely and effectively providing services to sex-trafficked persons amid pandemic restrictions, and reduction in in-person educational activities to improve providers' capacity to serve this client population. Securing safe shelter was particularly difficult and inappropriate placements could at times lead to further trafficking.
The pandemic created novel barriers to supporting sex-trafficked persons; managing these sometimes led to new and complex issues. Future efforts should focus on developing constructive strategies to support sex-trafficked persons' unique needs during public health crises.
人口贩卖是一个普遍存在的公共卫生问题，严重影响着社会中最边缘化的人群，往往会导致健康和社会后果。提供社会服务以满足由此产生的需求至关重要，然而，人们对当前大流行对提供者提供必要护理能力的影响知之甚少。
为了研究加拿大安大略省在 COVID-19 大流行期间性交易人口的社会服务提供者提供护理的观点，我们对 15 名提供者进行了半结构化访谈，并使用 Braun 和 Clarke 的分析框架对这些访谈进行了分析。
COVID-19 大流行对社会服务护理提供的影响与个人更容易受到贩卖的影响、在大流行限制下安全有效地为性交易者提供服务的困难以及减少改善提供者服务这一客户群体能力的面对面教育活动有关。确保安全住所尤其困难，不适当的安置有时会导致进一步的贩卖。
大流行给支持性交易者带来了新的障碍；管理这些障碍有时会导致新的和复杂的问题。未来的工作应重点制定在公共卫生危机期间支持性交易者独特需求的建设性策略。
