Eleison Foundation has been awarded a $50,000 research grant from the Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Human Trafficking Research Initiative (HRTI). HTRI is funded by the Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS) at the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The initiative aims to foster partnerships between researchers and practitioners, strengthen research methods for studying human trafficking, support pilot testing of anti-trafficking programs, and launch large-scale studies on anti-trafficking efforts.
Eleison’s grant will fund a pilot evaluation of Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT), in collaboration with the University of Alabama and the HaRT team. HaRT is a 12-week group mental health program for survivors incorporating mindfulness, mind-body practices, and supportive group discussions. The intervention explores three core themes: 1) safety in the body, 2) radical self-love, and 3) healthy relationships. Although the anti-trafficking sector has increasingly recognized the need to address survivors’ mental health, most survivors do not have access to evidence-based mental health interventions and evaluations of mental health programs for survivors are scarce, particularly in low-resource contexts.
Study participants include Filipina survivors of trafficking for sexual exploitation, online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC), and/or labor trafficking. The study utilizes a convergent mixed-method design conducted over 12 months, using the Stage Model of Behavioral Therapies. Survivors participating in HaRT are interviewed at four time points – baseline, midpoint, end-of-program, and 1-month follow-up. Primary outcomes include a reduction in depression, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety. The study will quantitatively and qualitatively assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness, while also exploring self-identified changes in mental wellbeing.
In this study, we begin to address the gap in evidence-based reintegration support programs for human trafficking survivors, including trauma- and survivor-informed interventions delivered in community-based settings in low-resource contexts.
To learn more about the HaRT program, you can read more here.
