Mass General Hospital

Boston, USA | 2010 – 2015

From 2010 through 2015, Give Way to Freedom supported the Human Trafficking Initiative at MGH in its development of best–evidence trainings for health care professionals on human trafficking. These trainings garnered a very positive response and to date approximately 1,250 health care providers have been trained. Also as part of this initiative, MGH developed a human trafficking manual for health care workers in the United States.

Our Work with Mass General Hospital

MGH has completed and is rolling out best–evidence human trafficking trainings for health care professionals that combine the use of didactic lectures, case–based teaching, and multidisciplinary panel discussions. The trainings are designed and targeted toward different audiences, such as hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, and sexual assault nurse examiners.

Our work with Mass General includes:

  • In December 2011, the MGH teaching faculty, in collaboration with GWTF, Fletcher Allen Healthcare, and Central Vermont Medical Center, conducted a series of trainings on human trafficking. Over 60 health care workers attended these trainings.
  • In the fall of 2012 MGH travelled to Curacao to provide training to over one hundred healthcare professional from all over the Caribbean.
  • In the fall of 2012, staff from MGH and GWTF held a Grand Rounds at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill’s Department of Psychiatry.
  • Additional trainings have been provided at Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical School, and the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in Northern Boston.
  • In June of 2013, GWTF sponsored MGH’s training to approximately 50 health care providers from Kisumu, Kenya. The training was held at K-MET, one of our International partner sites.

Another goal of MGH’s Human Trafficking Initiative is to educate non–health stakeholders about the potential role of the health sector in anti–trafficking activities. To this end, MGH faculty members facilitate dialogue about human trafficking through scientific publications (e.g., in medicine as well as business management journals), academic presentations and working groups.

  • MGH faculty have presented on human trafficking as a health and human rights issue at universities throughout the U.S., and serve on various anti–trafficking working groups (e.g., Harvard Carr Center Working Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery).
  • MGH spoke at the 2012 Tri–State (ME, NH & VT) Victims Services and Law Enforcement “Not for Sale: responding to sexual exploitation” two day conference with 240 attendees.
  • MGH spoke at the 2011 “Not Here Conference” in Auburn, ME.
  • In June of 2013, GWTF sponsored MGH’s training to approximately 50 health care providers from Kisumu, Kenya. The training was held at K–MET, one of our International partner sites.

GWTF is very excited at the opportunity to see a bridging/ overlap of our different projects. Please contact us if you are interested in exploring the possibility of holding one of these trainings.

Mass General Group