Practitioner Experiences Responding to Suicide Risk for Survivors of Human Trafficking in the Philippines

Abstract

Human trafficking survivors experience elevated suicide risk in comparison to the general population. Anti-trafficking service providers in the Philippines have identified capacity building in suicide prevention as a critical priority given the insufficient number of trained mental health professionals and lack of culturally adapted evidence-based interventions in the Philippines. We conducted a focused ethnography exploring the experiences of non-mental health professionals working in the anti-human trafficking sector in the Philippines in responding to suicidality among survivors of human trafficking (n = 20). Themes included: emotional burden on service providers, manifestations of stigma regarding suicide, lack of clarity regarding risk assessment, lack of mental health services and support systems, transferring responsibility to other providers, and the need for training, supervision, and organizational systems. We discuss implications for training service providers in the anti-human trafficking sector, as well as cultural adaptation of suicide prevention interventions with human trafficking survivors in the Philippines.