Domestic sex trafficking is a major health and human rights concern associated with profound social, physical and psychological harms, including complex trauma. People who are being/have been sex trafficked often present to emergency departments (EDs) with unmet health needs and in contexts shaped by coercion, control and fear of authority. ED encounters represent an important setting for identifying sex trafficking, building trust, making referrals to specialised resources and facilitating an exit out of sex trafficking. This scoping review will explore the care experiences and processes for sex trafficked persons in EDs by synthesising existing evidence on the barriers and facilitators to providing high quality, equitable and effective emergency care. This review represents the first phase of a multi-stage study to develop quality indicators (QIs) for ED clinicians providing care for people experiencing domestic sex trafficking in Canada.

This scoping review will follow Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, as updated by Levac and colleagues, which consists of: (1) identifying a research question(s); (2) identifying relevant literature; (3) selecting studies; (4) charting/extracting data; (5) collating, summarising and reporting results; and (6) consulting with community partners. Five databases will be systematically searched to find scholarly, empirical studies describing emergency care experiences and processes for people being sex trafficked. Data will be extracted using a standardised charting tool developed by the lead author and research team.

Research Ethics Board (REB) approval is not required for this study as it involves an analysis of published literature only. Findings will be synthesised into a set of candidate QIs to be disseminated.

To examine the impact of the extent of education and/or training on sex trafficking among healthcare, social and community service providers and the impact of education and/or training on their capacity to respond to sex trafficked persons.

Cross-sectional survey.

An anonymous, online survey assessing perceptions of, and capacity to respond to, sex trafficking was distributed between February and August 2023 via social media platforms and with professional healthcare, social service and community associations and organisations across Canada to share with their members.

553 healthcare, social and community service providers.

Seven 6-point Likert scale items were used, as part of a larger survey, to measure capacity to respond to sex trafficking. Specifically, respondents were asked to rate their awareness of red flags and capacity to identify, talk to, interview, enhance the safety of, provide appropriate resources or referrals for and collaborate with other professionals to support sex trafficked persons.

Although most respondents (86.8%) reported having received some education and/or training on sex trafficking, the vast majority (94.8%) believed that they would benefit from additional education and/or training. Compared with those with no previous sex trafficking education and/or training, those who received less than 5 hours of education and/or training (b=3.56, p

As the number of hours of education and/or training on sex trafficking increased, so did respondents’ capacity to respond to sex trafficked persons. These results highlight a need for more education and training to help build capacity among healthcare, social and community service providers in identifying sex trafficked persons and providing appropriate care. Appropriately trained service providers can better support sex trafficked persons’ complex needs and potentially mitigate adverse outcomes.