Featured counter-trafficking program: Resiliency Interventions for Sexual Exploitation (RISE)

Kelly M Whaling; Alissa der Sarkissian; Jill Sharkey; Lisa Conn Akoni

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104139

Featured counter-trafficking program: Resiliency Interventions for Sexual Exploitation (RISE)

Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Feb:100:104139. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104139. Epub 2019 Aug 29.

Authors

Kelly M Whaling¹, Alissa der Sarkissian², Jill Sharkey³, Lisa Conn Akoni⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States. Electronic address: kwhaling@ucsb.edu.
² Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States. Electronic address: adersarkissian@ucsb.edu.
³ Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States. Electronic address: jsharkey@education.ucsb.edu.
⁴ RISE Project (Resiliency Interventions for Sexual Exploitation) of the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness, United States. Electronic address: lisaconnakoni@gmail.com.

PMID: 31474307
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104139

Abstract

This invited article is one of several comprising part of a special issue of Child Abuse and Neglect focused on child trafficking and health. The purpose of each invited article is to describe a specific program serving children who are survivors of trafficking (a subset of commercial sexual exploitation-CSE). These programs are featured to raise awareness of innovative counter-trafficking strategies emerging worldwide and facilitate collaboration on program development and outcomes research. This article describes Resiliency Interventions for Sexual Exploitation (RISE), a US-based multidisciplinary program dedicated to assisting female, LGBT and gender non-conforming (GNC) youth victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and child trafficking to develop the skills and resources for successful community reintegration. This is accomplished through daily collaborations with community partners (MDT-Multidisciplinary Treatment Teams), gender-specific trauma-focused services, comprehensive outreach and engagement efforts and intensive case management.

Keywords: Adolescents; Resilience; Risk factors; Sex trafficking; Treatment engagement.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Awareness
California
Child
Child Abuse, Sexual / psychology*
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / methods*
Female
Human Trafficking / prevention & control
Human Trafficking / psychology*
Humans
Male
Mental Health Services*
Program Development
Psychological Trauma / rehabilitation*
Sex Work
Sexual Trauma / rehabilitation*
Survivors / psychology*