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Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents

A Case-Based Guide

  • Provides a case-based look at human trafficking from a medical perspective
  • Is the first publication of human trafficking specific to Adolescent Medicine
  • Written by physicians and lawyers

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Table of contents (21 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
  2. Human Trafficking: Definitions, Epidemiology, and Shifting Ground

    • Patric Gibbons, Makini Chisolm-Straker, Hanni Stoklosa
    Pages 1-12
  3. Adolescent Medicine: Physical and Neurocognitive Development

    • Elizabeth Miller, Kenneth R. Ginsburg
    Pages 13-19
  4. Adolescents and Labor Trafficking

    • Corey J. Rood, Stephanie Richard, Laura T. Murphy, Julia Einbond, Alison Iannarone, Alessandra Amato et al.
    Pages 69-112
  5. Technology/Sexting/Social Media

    • Jessica Whitney, Sofya Maslyanskaya, Marisa Hultgren
    Pages 113-125
  6. Child Abuse

    • Dana Kaplan, Jordan Greenbaum, Linda Cahill
    Pages 127-135
  7. Human Trafficking in the Foster Care System

    • Catherine G. Coughlin, Robyn R. Miller, Selina Higgins, Kidian Martinez, Christine Dipaolo, Jordan Greenbaum
    Pages 137-149
  8. The Psychiatric Patient

    • Mary C. Reissinger, Amanda C. Castro, Rachel A. Robitz, Mollie R. Gordon
    Pages 151-163
  9. Human Trafficking in Adolescents and Young Adults with Co-existing Disordered Eating Behaviors

    • Tonya Chaffee, Kristina L. Borham, Nadia E. Saldanha, Amy Gajaria, Heidi Strickler
    Pages 165-177
  10. LGBTQIA+ Youth and Human Trafficking

    • Miriam Langer, Nat Paul, Uri Belkind
    Pages 179-196
  11. Homelessness, Unstable Housing, and the Adolescent Patient

    • Nkemakolem Osian, Elizabeth Miller
    Pages 197-206
  12. The Patient with Substance Use

    • Elizabeth S. Barnert, Mikaela A. Kelly, Alexandra G. Shumyatsky, Marti MacGibbon
    Pages 207-219
  13. Human Trafficking in Suburban and Rural America

    • Sarah Chaffin, Sarah Hofer, Sawan Vaden, Ronald Chambers
    Pages 221-228
  14. Boys Are Trafficked Too?

    • Sarah Chaffin, Ronald Chambers, Erik Gray
    Pages 229-236
  15. Surgery and ObGyn: Beyond the Chief Complaint

    • Elizabeth A. Berdan, Julia Geynisman-Tan, Deborah Ottenheimer, Miriam L. Tarrash, Brittany A. Jackson
    Pages 237-261
  16. The Subspecialties

    • Kanani E. Titchen, Jack Garden, Shirley Louis, Natalia Vasquez-Canizares, M. Susan Latuga
    Pages 263-279
  17. Medicolegal Aspects and Mandatory Reporting

    • Shea Rhodes, Stephanie Mersch, Jordan Greenbaum
    Pages 281-291
  18. Survivor Insights

    • Christine Cesa, Marti MacGibbon, Erik Gray, Nat Paul, Suleman Masood, Wendy Barnes
    Pages 293-314

About this book




Human trafficking is an increasingly large issue in medicine, particularly for the adolescent population. The pubertal and neurologic development of early- and mid-adolescence may serves as a foothold for trauma bonds and human trafficking. To date, there are few case studies of human trafficking in the medical literature.  More often, these cases are missed, and human trafficking patients are unlikely to disclose their victimization to their physicians for multiple reasons.  As a result, physicians fail to ask key questions and fail to notice important red flags for human trafficking. Research shows that this is primarily due to a lack of medical training and awareness and a resultant denial on the part of many physicians that victims of human trafficking present to their clinics or specialties.


This book provides clinicians with a case-based guide to scenarios they may encounter in their practice that involve human trafficking. These cases include those involving sex trafficking and labor trafficking; male and female and transgender victims; victims from a range of racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds; as well as presentations of adolescent and young adult victims to fields such as adolescent medicine, general pediatrics, neonatology, rheumatology, transplant medicine, and obstetrics-gynecology, in addition to the stereotypical presentations to emergency departments.  


Each case is followed by a discussion that highlights key aspects of human trafficking in adolescent and young adult patients. These discussions also reference the growing body of research on human trafficking, orient the reader to medico-legal aspects of reporting human trafficking in the adolescent and young adult populations, and feature useful questions, exercises, and resources to promote discussion among those medical professionals who interact with adolescent medicine and young adult patients. 


Written by physicians, legal advocates and lawyers, Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents is the definitive guide for all clinicians who care for adolescentpatients. It is also a useful resource for mental health professionals and social workers. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, USA

    Kanani E. Titchen

  • Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA

    Elizabeth Miller

About the editors

Kanani Titchen, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics at Rady Children’s Hospital. She formerly was director of Adolescent Medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital System in Bronx, NY, and has trained with GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services), Sanctuary for Families, HEAL Trafficking, and the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services. Dr. Titchen has spoken on television news, public radio, and TEDx about the need for a trauma-informed approach for working with trafficking victims and survivors. Through the Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans with the American Medical Women’s Association, she has conducted CME-accredited human trafficking trainings at hospital systems nationwide and produced an online video tutorial to teach healthcare professionals about sex trafficking. She has authored articles about human trafficking for medical journals, textbooks, and the lay press. Dr. Titchen holds an MD from Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University where she also completed her pediatrics residency, and she is a graduate of Montefiore’s fellowship in Adolescent Medicine.

Elizabeth Miller, MD, PhD, is chief of Adolescent Medicine at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Trained in medical anthropology as well as internal medicine and pediatrics, Dr. Miller’s research has included examination of sex trafficking among adolescents in Asia, teen dating abuse, and reproductive health, with a focus on underserved youth populations including pregnant and parenting teens; and foster, homeless, and gang-affiliated youth. Her current research focuses on the impact of gender-based violence on young women’s reproductive health. She conducts research on brief clinical interventions to reduce partner violence and unintended pregnancy, funded bythe National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Justice. In addition, she is conducting a study of a sexual violence prevention program entitled; Coaching Boys into Men; which involves training coaches to talk to their young male athletes about stopping violence against women, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is also involved in projects to reduce gender-based violence and improve adolescent and young adult women;s health in India and Japan.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents

  • Book Subtitle: A Case-Based Guide

  • Editors: Kanani E. Titchen, Elizabeth Miller

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43367-3

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-43366-6Published: 02 July 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-43367-3Published: 01 July 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIII, 353

  • Number of Illustrations: 8 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Pediatrics, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, General Practice / Family Medicine

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access