Fordham University HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute (RETI) Fellow Dr. Shira Goldenberg of the University of British Columbia recently published an editorial in The Lancet discussing human trafficking, migration, and health.

Goldenberg stresses that because research on the health of trafficked persons has typically focused on trafficking for sexual labor, it has often been conflated with sex work (i.e., the consensual sale or exchange of sexual services between adults adult), and the idea of migrant labor.

“The conflation of sex trafficking and sex work on an ideological and political basis has historically fuelled repressive policies that have undermined efforts to advance the health and human rights of sex workers,” Goldenberg writes in The Lancet.

Her editorial also highlights the need for policies and programs to better support migrant workers’ labor and human rights, including occupational standards and healthcare.

Dr. Goldenberg has also recently published an article on her RETI mentored research project in Ethics & Behavior on structural and interpersonal benefits and risks of participation in HIV research using perspectives of female sex workers in Guatemala.

For more information on Dr. Goldenberg’s work, please read the editorial in The Lancet, and this post featuring her work.

Related publications by Dr. Goldenberg:
Goldenberg, S. M., Rivera Mindt, M., Rocha Jimenez, T., Brouwer, K., Morales Miranda, S., & Fisher, C. (2015). Structural and Interpersonal Benefits and Risks of Participation in HIV Research: Perspectives of Female Sex Workers in Guatemala. Ethics & Behavior, 25(2): 97-114.

Goldenberg SM, Chettiar J, Nguyen P, Dobrer S, Montaner J, Shannon K. (2014). Complexities of Short-Term Mobility for Sex Work and Migration among Sex Workers: Violence and Sexual Risks, Barriers to Care, and Enhanced Social and Economic Opportunities. J Urban Health 91(4): 736-751.

Goldenberg SM, Liu V, Nguyen P, Chettiar J, Shannon K.  (2015). International migration from non-endemic settings as a protective factor for HIV/STI risk among female sex workers in Vancouver, Canada. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 17(1): 21-28.