Dr. Deanna Thompson still thinks about the human trafficking victims she is sure she didn鈥檛 identify while working as an emergency room nurse.
Did they ever find help? Did they escape? What could she have done to help them?
Thompson is the lead author of a newly published research paper on human trafficking among Indigenous women that she hopes lays a foundation to prevent more victims from hiding in plain sight.
The work grew from years spent caring for patients in emergency rooms, teaching future nurses and asking difficult questions about people who often go unseen.
“I know that they were there. I know it,” said Thompson, who continues to work occasional nursing shifts at Benefis Health System.
Thompson鈥檚 paper, Human Trafficking Among North American Indigenous Women: A Scoping Review, was published this summer in the peer-reviewed journal Nursing Reports. The study examined existing research on trafficking of adult Indigenous women in the United States and Canada and identified risk factors, health impacts and opportunities for intervention.
The paper found trafficking is often driven by a combination of historical trauma, systemic inequities, poverty, housing instability, violence, substance use and gaps in support services. The review also highlighted a significant shortage of research focused specifically on Indigenous women.
“There isn’t a lot of information out there,” Thompson said.
After an extensive review of available literature, researchers found just 15 studies and reports that met the criteria for inclusion.
Originally, Thompson hoped her doctoral work would focus on the lived experiences of Indigenous women who had survived trafficking. As she explored the topic, she discovered both how little research existed and how important it was to build trust and community partnerships before conducting that work.
“It was a huge lesson,” Thompson said. ”聽I learned the importance of making sure you truly build relationships, what community-based participatory research is and making sure the community members you are working with are truly partners guiding the research. Cultural humility is vital.”
Although her dissertation ultimately shifted in a different direction, it laid the foundation for the work in the scoping review published this summer and offers one of the most comprehensive overviews to date of what researchers know, and do not know, about trafficking among Indigenous women in North America.
The findings reinforced Thompson’s belief that addressing trafficking requires collaboration among health care professionals, social service organizations, educators, law enforcement and community partners.
For Thompson, the topic became personal through years of working with patients.
“Human trafficking wasn’t something that we talked about a lot (at the beginning of her career),” Thompson said. “But I know that they were there.鈥�
That blend of curiosity, service and a desire to improve care has shaped Thompson’s career. A Great Falls native and C.M. Russell High School graduate, she earned her nursing degree from Montana State University and spent years working in emergency medicine before discovering a passion for education through infection prevention and staff training.
That interest eventually led her to At 黑料网911, where she joined the nursing faculty in 2015 while earning a master’s degree in nursing while teaching.
Thompson also earned a master鈥檚 degree in Business Administration, taught in a variety of health care and academic settings, including Carroll College and Montana State University on their Great Falls campus, and ultimately pursued doctoral studies through the University of Arizona.
Her research interests were shaped by both her clinical experiences and a desire to better understand issues affecting Montana communities.
“When I thought, what is a great topic that impacts the community that I could truly make a difference in?” Thompson said. “And so that’s why I chose it.”
Thompson returned to At 黑料网911 this summer to lead the college’s nursing program.
“I’m glad to be working here,” Thompson said. “It’s been good to be back.”
She credits mentors throughout her career for helping her grow as both an educator and researcher and looks forward to helping shape the future of nursing education in northcentral Montana.
The publication marks an important milestone in Thompson’s research career, but she sees it less as a conclusion than a beginning. The review identified significant gaps in knowledge about trafficking among Indigenous women and highlighted the need for additional research, stronger community partnerships and better-informed systems of support.
For a researcher who began the project hoping to better understand an issue affecting her own community, the questions that remain may be as important as the answers the study uncovered.
Rather than closing a chapter, Thompson hopes the research opens the door to more work, including future studies that could elevate the voices and experiences of survivors themselves.
“I’m kind of excited again now that I’m in a different spot to maybe start doing some more research,鈥� she said.
Why Nurses Matter
One of the key findings of Thompson’s research is that nurses may be uniquely positioned to identify victims of human trafficking.
“Nurses spend way more time with patients than providers do,” Thompson said. “And so if somebody’s gonna recognize it, it’s truly gonna be probably the nurse.”
Because trafficking victims often seek care for routine medical needs, emergency treatment, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy concerns or chronic health issues, nurses may have opportunities to recognize warning signs and connect people with resources.
At the same time, Thompson’s work found that many health care providers receive little training on identifying trafficking and often lack access to local resources when concerns arise.
The paper argues that improving education, awareness and collaboration among health care providers, social service agencies, law enforcement and community organizations could help increase identification of victims and strengthen support systems for survivors.
That insight aligns closely with Thompson’s new role at At 黑料网911, where she is helping prepare the next generation of nurses to care for patients whose stories may not always be obvious.
In fact, trafficking is rarely as straight forward as the abuser hovering in the room controlling what the woman says, Thompson said.
Instead, traffickers increasingly use less visible forms of control.
“They’re controlling them, but they’re smart, they鈥檙e outsmarting us,” Thompson said. “鈥橭h, if me being in the room is gonna alert them to call the police or whatever, then we’ll find other ways to control.鈥�”
Thompson said traffickers may use threats, addiction, housing, money or family relationships to maintain control over victims, making trafficking far more difficult to recognize than the stereotypes often portrayed in popular culture.
“You have somebody that their home is not a great home,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou know, it’s a broken home. Maybe there’s abuse at home. Maybe it’s the family that, you know, is sending them out because they need money for drugs, housing, whatever it is…”
Traffickers are often so sophisticated “people don’t know that they’re being trafficked,” Thompson said. “It just slowly becomes something and then you’re immersed in it.”
She said family members are frequently involved in trafficking victims, while others are groomed online or targeted because of housing instability, addiction or other challenges.
“They’re groomed online, and, you know, they really prey on the vulnerabilities,” Thompson explained.
Thompson said more understanding is necessary so nurses, dietitians, and others who see patients in care facilities can spot the signs and know how to help the victims.
While no single profession or organization can solve the problem alone, she believes greater awareness, education and collaboration can make a difference.
“It’s got to be all hands on deck,” she said.