Social Work Practice with Survivors of Human Trafficking: Ethical Frameworks and Trauma-Informed Intervention Strategies

Abstract

Human trafficking constitutes one of the most severe and persistent violations of human rights, affecting tens of millions of people globally and demanding a sophisticated response from social work practitioners. This paper examines ethical frameworks and trauma-informed intervention strategies for practice with survivors of sex trafficking, labour trafficking, and domestic-servitude trafficking. Through a comprehensive literature review and theoretical synthesis, this study explores the intersection of social work values, complex-trauma theory, and the political-economic conditions that produce and sustain trafficking. Key findings indicate that anti-trafficking practice involves distinctive ethical tensions including the limits of informed consent under conditions of coercion, the conflict between mandatory reporting and survivor safety, and the risk of re-traumatisation through poorly designed identification and prosecution-oriented services. The paper proposes a six-step ethical decision-making framework that integrates survivor-centred and rights-based principles with established social work ethics, and identifies critical intervention strategies including trauma-informed initial engagement, multidisciplinary case coordination, economic empowerment and livelihood restoration, long-term mental health support, and the meaningful inclusion of survivor leadership in service design and advocacy. Implications for social work education, inter-agency policy, and future research are discussed, with particular emphasis on the need for culturally humble, anti-oppressive practice and structural engagement with the political-economic drivers of trafficking.