This virtual TA session will include an overview of the role health professionals play in responding to trafficking victims. We will examine the need for Forensic Examiners to create a critical and coordinated response to sex trafficked victims in Indian Country. Identifying victim safety and their needs are vital decisions when coordinating efforts and removing barriers. Understanding the importance of cross training in Indian Country by using a coordinated effort will improve a safe transition for the victim and successful prosecution.

1. Participants will have a better understanding of the importance of a culturally appropriate, coordinated effort when responding to victims of sex trafficking in Indian Country.
2. By using victim experiences, participants will be able to identify critical components to incorporate into protocol to ensure safety for the victim.
3. Participants will gain an understanding of barriers sex trafficked victims face when seeking medical services in Indian Country.

Rebecca Balog, Human Trafficking National TA, Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition
Rebecca Balog has a deep-rooted identity as a Survivor Advocate. Rebecca brings over 20-years of healthy relationships and anti-violence work through local shelter services, hotline management, national & grassroots activism, and youth engagement. Firmly committed to raising cultural awareness, she believes cross-cultural bridges and unified voices across communities are the foundation for social change and ending violence. Rebecca has been a facilitator of TA/TR in various capacities: domestic violence, sexual assault, racial justice, sex trafficking, homelessness intervention, reproductive justice, economic equity/justice, intergenerational trauma, Disabilities, leadership building, mentor projects, anti-oppression, and works in specialized capacities with indigenous youth and youth-led community programming.  Rebecca invests in the restoration of sovereignty for Native people to ensure safety for future generations by working with youth as leaders of the next generation. She also focuses on the premium importance allyship to collectively challenge both visible and invisible privilege that impedes upon safety and security of all people of color and marginalized identities. She is the Program Coordinator of Training and Technical Assistance on Sex Trafficking in Indian Country at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition.

Cinnamon Bankey, Tribal Sexual Assault Service Programs National TA, Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition
Cinnamon is a member of Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community and a proud mother of two sons and four grandbabies. She joined the national technical assistance team at MIWSAC in the fall of 2018. Cinnamon is one of the founding Circle Keepers (board member) and served as such for 9 years. She has provided leadership and collaboration working with Tribes and tribal specific sexual assault (SA) programs. Cinnamon has devoted 20 years working for systems change for victim/survivors of sexual violence. She coordinated the first National Tribal Conference on Sex Trafficking in Indian Country; Co-authored the Tribal section of the OVC SART Toolkit; and has worked as Tribal Technical Assistance (TTA) since 2008. As a SA advocate, Cinnamon worked diligently assisting survivors with navigating through the judicial system. Since then, she developed curriculum, Tribal SA Response Team Training, Tribal SA Forensic Examiner Training, SA Forensic Examiner Clinical Skills Lab, Tribal SA Advocacy Curricula, and American Indian Women’s Educational Support Group curriculum. As a pilot project, in rural and reservation area, Cinnamon coordinated the development SA multidisciplinary response team protocol and created Native Women’s Crisis Line Training Resource Manuscript. She provided site visits to assist Tribal programs with a wide range of tasks that included a variety of community outreach tools and policy. She has served as an urban Program Director for AI victims/survivors. Cinnamon twice assisted in drafting Violence Against Women Act resolutions for the National Congress of American Indians.

Jessica Desmond Solomon, Knowledge Carrier, Advocate, Survivor