People with disabilities are targeted at higher rates than their peers for exploitation and/or abuse, including trafficking. Traffickers deliberately target individuals they know they can isolate and control and both individual and systemic conditions increase the risk for people with disabilities. Specifically, people with disabilities often live in relative isolation, may rely on assistance from others to get to work and to access basic services and may be denied information about trafficking. Compounding these individual risk factors are barriers within our systems to identifying and supporting survivors with disabilities. This includes barriers to reporting or seeking help, a lack of disability-centered victim responses, and a lack of economic resources due to the devaluation of people with disabilities and their labor.

In an effort to address some of these gaps, Activating Change, in partnership with the National Human Trafficking of People with Disabilities Working Group, has developed an in-depth training for law enforcement on effectively identifying and responding to trafficking cases involving victims with disabilities. This webinar will introduce the training to the field, explore the barriers it is attempting to address, and preview how you can access the training.