A form of modern-day slavery, human trafficking is a problem in every state, including Florida. NSU has been at the forefront of addressing this issue through education, research, and services to victims for more than a decade. In recognition of the university’s efforts and leading up to Human Trafficking Prevention Month in January, Donor Connection spoke with Fellows Society member Heidi Schaeffer, M.D., a nationally recognized expert in human trafficking awareness and intervention.
“I believe NSU has a keen interest in social justice,” Schaeffer said. “They particularly care about vulnerable populations like our human trafficking victims, and that’s very unique even amongst health care colleges.”
Schaeffer serves on the advisory boards for NSU’s Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, as well as the NSU Coalition for Research and Education Against Trafficking and Exploitation (CREATE). Prior to these roles, she served three years as community advisor to NSU’s Project HEAT (Health Educators Against Trafficking) before it became CREATE in 2015.
She has helped advance human trafficking legislation on a national level and received the State of Florida’s Human Trafficking Community Advocate of the Year Award in 2017. Schaeffer led the Human Trafficking Coalition of the Palm Beaches and served on the boards of numerous other organizations at the forefront of this issue.
In her efforts to bring awareness to and expand education around the issue of human trafficking, Schaeffer has worked with several Florida universities, including NSU. Her involvement at NSU began over a decade ago with a conversation with Brianna Kent, Ph.D., assistant dean of professional development and education for the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences and one of the founders of NSU CREATE.
“I was impressed by what Dr. Kent told me about NSU’s efforts to combat human trafficking,” Schaeffer said. “NSU was already doing qualitative research and engaging faculty members by surveying them about the topic and whether they would feel comfortable teaching it to their students.”
“I feel like NSU has led the race by prioritizing education, research, and even services to these victims. I think you need that three-pronged approach, and NSU has a great balance.”
In addition to research and educating both professors and students about this public health epidemic, NSU also offers courses in human trafficking to undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral students. The result is an improvement in clinical awareness of human trafficking.
For victims of human trafficking, CREATE provides a victim-centered approach when delivering free services in the fields of optometry, psychology, and dentistry. Currently, NSU CREATE is the only entity that offers free dental services to victims.
“Part of the reason I’ve donated to CREATE is that I’ve seen my money is well-spent,” Schaeffer said. “When you have patients in need, you’re able to literally help fund their smiles, to give them their confidence back. We can train people to go to a job interview, but what person would feel comfortable showing up with broken or no teeth—punched out by their pimp or johns?”
In another example of CREATE’s impact, Schaeffer shared that when one survivor managed to escape, the organization provided him with prescription glasses. “Something so basic that we take for granted. No money. No food. No clothing, and he couldn’t even see. NSU filled that void, and that’s an incredible gift that people really don’t think about,” she explained.
“When victims flee, they literally have nothing,” she added. “Historically, they don’t even have panties on; they don’t have sanitary napkins. Literally every dollar that a donor can give will make a difference in restoring these victims and give them opportunities to have a better life.”
Human trafficking is a growing problem. In 2018, Polaris, a national organization that works to respond to, prevent, and end sex and labor trafficking, reported a 25 percent increase from the previous year in the number of cases opened through the National Human Trafficking Hotline. There were nearly 11,000 cases and more than 23,000 survivors identified in the United States alone.
Schaeffer feels that NSU is a leader in the fight against human trafficking and praises the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences for caring about victims in a holistic manner. “I’ve honestly found that from the dean level all the way down, the college’s faculty members exemplify trauma-informed and competent care,” she said. “They are truly compassionate with the patients they serve.”
She hopes that the university and NSU CREATE can continue and even expand their efforts in research and services, as well as find a way to get even more people involved through education.
“I envision CREATE taking a lead role in educating all its NSU graduates from all disciplines to learn about the horrific crime of human trafficking and how to report it,” she said. “I also see CREATE as a dominant catalyst for badly needed research and study into human trafficking victimization in response to health care services. Lastly, I hope CREATE will be able to expand its breadth of medical services to victims. I think it’s a win-win for everyone if we can get more people engaged in this fight.”
For more information on how to support the NSU Coalition for Research and Education Against Trafficking and Exploitation (CREATE), please contact Catie Dargue, senior director of development for NSU University Advancement, at (954) 594-2018 or via email at cdargue@nova.edu.