Human trafficking

Barbara Reuer, Ph.D. MT-BC of Resounding Joy, Inc. in San Diego, CA, has been working with women affected by human trafficking. She offers this information:

Resounding Joy, Inc., a nonprofit based in San Diego, CA, just completed an exciting project with "victims of human trafficking”—it was so successful that the agency we worked with would like to find funding for future programming. This project was a pilot program conducted by one of the MusicWorx interns, Rebekah Sullivan. (By the way, the women our therapists worked with were from U.S., Russia, and Mexico).

80% of human trafficking cases in California occur in San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, resulting in countless rescued victims with little aftercare, psychosocial support available. Human trafficking is the world’s third largest criminal enterprise. It’s estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people trafficked across international borders annually (U.S. Department of State). Those rescued suffer from various psychological problems like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and re-integration back into society. Federal and state agencies fight against trafficking through arrests and rescue, however little aftercare is provided for victims.

Resounding Joy collaborated with Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition of San Diego by starting the first group aftercare program through BSCC for rescued victims. This pilot study consisted of eight one-hour weekly music therapy group sessions directed by professional music therapists (volunteered). Music therapy allowed the women to process their trauma through music making, song-writing, lyrics analysis and creative arts empowering the women to re-integrate into society. After the program, the women’s anxiety decreased over 50%. One woman stated: “Because of music therapy I have seen growth and can return happy.”

By: Petra Kern