Susie Baldwin

The root of the problems of sex trafficking and labor trafficking is very similar.

When we focus on primary prevention, we have the ability to stop the problem before it presents itself.

Looking at human trafficking from a healthcare perspective is a fairly new concept; however, it has changed the way we approach and deal with human trafficking.

Viewing human trafficking as a healthcare issue, allows us to take a holistic approach to solve this issue. Meaning, it allows us to focus on the roots of the problem within our community, rather than making it an individualistic issue.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is episode number 235: Human Trafficking and Public Health.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we’re so glad to welcome an expert with us to really help us look at the complex and important intersection around human trafficking and public health. I’m so glad to welcome Susie Baldwin to the show today. Susie is a preventative medicine physician whose career focuses on public health, women’s health, sexual and reproductive health, and advancing health equity. She has worked as a clinician, researcher, advocate, epidemiologist, and trainer. Dr. Baldwin serves as the medical director for the Office of Women’s Health at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and is the co-founder and board president of Heal Trafficking, where she also leads work on developing protocols to respond to trafficked people in health care settings. Susie, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Susie [00:01:32] Thank you, Dave. I’m very excited to be here. And good morning, Sandie.

Sandie [00:01:36] Good morning. I’m just reading your bio out loud. I could imagine five podcasts could go in this direction. But first, I really want people to understand the scope of public health. And then we’ll dive into where that really intersects in human trafficking. Can you address that?

Susie [00:02:00] Of course. Public health is a big field and the goal of public health, in general, is to allow people to be healthy and to live in communities that are healthy and that optimize conditions for them to have lives where they can enjoy safety and well-being. So public health is a field that’s extremely broad and it’s almost humorous when you think about the American Public Health Association, which is the U.S. body that brings together public health professionals, the conferences have so many different topics going on at every given moment. You might want to be attending five different sessions. So public health incorporates things ranging from health behaviors and health education that the very individual level all the way to transforming communities and societies through policies and laws that can advance wellness for people and health equity. So many things under the sun can fall under the realm of public health. But I think some of the key things about the field and the aspects of it which are important to human trafficking or approaching human trafficking are that, number one, it is grounded in science and evidence. Number two, that it takes a population-level approach. So while health care delivery is a very important part of public health, particularly when systems are publicly funded, but also because the health of all people in a community, whether it’s a county or state or town or tribe or a country or the world, the health care that people receive is an important factor contributing to the overall health of people. But the realm of public health goes beyond your health care and getting your vaccination or getting your mammogram to creating the conditions in which people live. So inclusive of the first public health effort, which was getting people clean water, which saved more lives than many of the interventions we have today that we rely on. So, it goes to very fundamental issues of sanitation and safety and life. So, it’s research-based or evidence-based. It’s inclusive of health and health care. And it’s also focused on prevention. So whereas health care, particularly in the United States, given our system, which is rather unique in the world, sometimes in wonderful ways and sometimes in terrible ways, public health aims to prevent disease, disability, and death. So, we really take what’s known as an upstream approach where you go back to try to look at where things start, where the problems start, and correct them at their roots, which is often very challenging. But that’s also part of what makes it exciting, because when you can really change the origins of where problems come from, then you have the opportunity to impact millions of lives in a good way.

Sandie [00:05:21] And I think you may remember that my background’s pediatric nur...