"All I was Thinking About was Shattered": Women's Experiences Transitioning Out of Anti-Trafficking Shelters During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Uganda

Human trafficking is an egregious violation of fundamental human rights and a global challenge. The long-term harms to survivors' physical, psychological and social wellbeing are profound and well documented, and yet there are few studies exploring how to best promote resilience and holistic healing. This is especially true within shelter programs (where the majority of anti-trafficking services are provided) and during the transition out of residential shelter care, which is often a sensitive and challenging process. The current study begins to address this gap by centering the lived experiences of six women residing in a trafficking-specific shelter in Uganda as they unexpectedly transitioned back to their home communities due to the COVID-19 lockdown. We explore this pivotal moment in participants' post-trafficking journey, focusing on how these women described and interpreted their rapidly changing life circumstances—including leaving the shelter, adjusting back to the community setting, and simultaneously navigating the uncertainties of a global pandemic. Four core themes emerged from the analysis: economic insecurities as a cross-cutting hardship;intensification of emotional and physical symptoms;social disruptions;and sources of hope and resilience. By centering their personal stories of struggle and strength, we hope to elevate survivors' own accounts and draw on their insights to identify actionable considerations for future programming.

Trauma-informed phone interviews: Learning from the COVID-19 quarantine

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and associated lockdowns have significantly affected populations with prior trauma histories, as well as research studies with trauma survivors. This article describes the transition from in-person to virtual research during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Uganda in 2020. The lockdown occurred during an evaluation study of a trauma-informed yoga intervention (hartyoga .org) with survivors of human trafficking residing in shelters. We discuss strategies taken and lessons learned in conducting virtual intervention and interview sessions with trauma survivors. Approaches we found to be particularly important included preinterview calls with participants;intense active listening for changes in tone, cadence, and background noises;reacquiring informed consent at multiple points in the interview;actively engaging interviewees as partners in ensuring ethical guidelines;and ensuring support for research team members to avoid burnout or secondary trauma. We believe that these strategies have relevance for other virtual or telephone research studies with trauma survivors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

“All I was Thinking About was Shattered”: Women's Experiences Transitioning Out of Anti-Trafficking Shelters During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Uganda

Human trafficking is an egregious violation of fundamental human rights and a global challenge. The long-term harms to survivors’ physical, psychological and social wellbeing are profound and well documented, and yet there are few studies exploring how to best promote resilience and holistic healing. This is especially true within shelter programs (where the majority of anti-trafficking services are provided) and during the transition out of residential shelter care, which is often a sensitive and challenging process. The current study begins to address this gap by centering the lived experiences of six women residing in a trafficking-specific shelter in Uganda as they unexpectedly transitioned back to their home communities due to the COVID-19 lockdown. We explore this pivotal moment in participants’ post-trafficking journey, focusing on how these women described and interpreted their rapidly changing life circumstances—including leaving the shelter, adjusting back to the community setting, and simultaneously navigating the uncertainties of a global pandemic. Four core themes emerged from the analysis: economic insecurities as a cross-cutting hardship;intensification of emotional and physical symptoms;social disruptions;and sources of hope and resilience. By centering their personal stories of struggle and strength, we hope to elevate survivors’ own accounts and draw on their insights to identify actionable considerations for future programming. [ FROM AUTHOR]