Expecting Delayed Disclosure in Human Trafficking
Why Survivors’ Stories May “Change” Over Time
Content Warning: Human Trafficking, Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Torture, Suicide, Homicide, Combat Veterans, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Overview of Delayed Disclosure
Delayed disclosure is the act of sharing details or aspects of a traumatic event after the initial disclosure or significantly after the event itself, as opposed to delayed memory recall, which is the act of remembering details of traumatic events after the event occurred. Delayed disclosure can occur due to delayed memory recall, but it can also occur for a multitude of other reasons. Either phenomenon can occur over the course of hours, days, weeks, months, or years.
Delayed disclosure is common for many survivors of human trafficking, as well as other forms of complex trauma such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and torture. Studies show that delayed disclosure and delayed recall of traumatic events are common, with one study showing its prevalence among 32% of survivors, most commonly those who observed the death of a family member by suicide or homicide, sexual abuse survivors, and combat veterans.
Despite the frequency of delayed disclosure, a lack of education and understanding leads to victim blaming not only by family, friends, and loved ones but also by service providers, law enforcement, judges, criminal justice systems, media, and one’s community or society as a whole. This failure to understand delayed disclosure can impact a survivor’s access to justice, immigration, custody of their children, housing, appropriate health care and mental health care and more. Many survivors are not believed when they disclose information about the traumatic experience later than expected or when the details seem to change as the survivor recalls further details over time. However, delayed disclosure is not a sign that a survivor is lying or lacks credibility; in fact, it should be expected as the norm. It is rooted in the complexities of psychological coercion and the brain’s natural neurological response to trauma.
Chronological Confusion: Many survivors also experience “chronological confusion,” or the “inability to construct a chronological or consistent narrative, [including] difficulty with names, dates, times, places, etc.” (Okamoto, K., 2022, Lawyering from a Trauma-Informed Perspective). Survivors’ stories may seem to “change’’ over time as they begin to gradually recall aspects of the traumatic experience. In reality, their stories are not changing, but rather as they gain safety or as triggers remind the brain of aspects of the traumatic event/s, the survivor remembers details they could not initially recall, also known as delayed memory recall. For example, many survivors will remember a color of a piece of clothing or a sound but not any further information about the person who caused them harm. That information may come to them several weeks, months, or years later, or sometimes not at all.
DSM-5: The DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) includes this “inability to recall key features of the trauma” as one symptom of PTSD and goes on to include a “delayed specification” option for those who do not meet the full diagnostic criteria for PTSD until at least six months after the traumatic event (DSM-5 quoted in US Department of Veterans Affairs). Once again, although these aspects of delayed disclosure and issues with memory recall are well-documented and well-researched in the field of trauma and mental health, survivors often continue to be blamed for these common trauma responses.
*It is important to note that a survivor does not have to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in order to experience delayed disclosure. If an individual experienced a traumatic event, they can experience delayed disclosure.
Human Trafficking and Delayed Disclosure
With respect to human trafficking, there are multiple reasons that contribute to delayed disclosure for survivors, including but not limited to: dissociation and delayed memory recall, stigma and shame, victim blaming, cultural considerations, criminalization of survivors, and trust and safety, as described below.
Dissociation & Delayed Memory Recall: One common reason for delayed disclosure and delayed memory recall is a neurological response to trauma called dissociation. Dissociation is the disconnect of the victim from their sense of self, known as depersonalization, and/or their sense of reality, known as derealization. Dissociation is the brain’s way of coping with complex trauma by separating oneself from the traumatic experience. This often leads to lapses in memory and delayed recall of memories.
Many survivors of sex trafficking report being able to recall memories later in life, once they are in a safer environment and have access to social supports to be able to cope with the pain of the traumatic memory. As one survivor of sex trafficking stated in an individual interview, “When you’re being bought and sold for sex, you dissociate to cope, so you think it’s not so bad, but once you get help, then the nightmares come, once you’re safe, then you start to remember all the things your body and your brain blocked out. If you think prostitution is a victimless crime, you’re wrong” (Individual Interview, 2019).
Although many survivors experience delayed recall of traumatic events, some may never recall all of their traumatic memories. However, healing is possible regardless of the extent to which memories are recalled, if at all. For example, many child survivors of trauma do not remember the details of their traumatic experiences, despite their abuser confessing to multiple forms of violence and exploitation that the child does not remember. The child may recall those memories either through therapy, unexpected triggers, reaching development milestones, or a multitude of other ways- or the child may not recall those memories at all. Regardless, the child can still heal from their traumatic experience. The same is true regardless of the age of the survivor at the time of the traumatic event or at the time of healing.
Stigma and Shame: Many survivors do not disclose their sexual trauma or they disclose years after the incident(s) due to stigma and shame. Victims of sex trafficking are often blamed for past experiences of prostitution in the same ways that victims of rape are often blamed for their past sexual experiences. If a victim of human trafficking has a prior prostitution charge, this can deter them from disclosing human trafficking for fear of ongoing stigma, shame, and/or criminalization related to prostitution, regardless of consent. A victim of sexual violence is a victim regardless of their history. Sexual violation can occur under any circumstances, but when it occurs within prostitution, it is sex trafficking, regardless of the victim’s history. This issue of stigma is especially prevalent for many male-identifying survivors, who often are blamed for their own exploitation.
Cultural Considerations: Another reason for delayed disclosure is culturally specific stigma and shame around sexuality, sexual experiences, prostitution and sex trafficking. In eastern cultures, sex is often considered taboo and an individual’s sexual experiences are considered a reflection upon their family. In collectivistic Asian cultures, many survivors of sexual violence do not come forward for fear of negative ramifications for their family’s standing in the community and their own standing within their family.
This fear of disclosure is heightened for survivors of sex trafficking from Asian cultures due to the stigma against prostitution. In parts of China, for example, for years there were parades publicly shaming women arrested for prostitution, many of whom were likely survivors of sex trafficking. There is already a strong stigma against prostitution in America that deters victims of trafficking from coming forward, and when the additional stigma from one’s home country or culture is considered, victims are often even less likely to come forward. The Polaris Project’s report on Human Trafficking in Illicit Massage Businesses (or “IMBs”) states that “the level of shame experienced by IMB survivors is significantly higher than the shame seen in other types of sex trafficking”, particularly for “many Chinese and Korean survivors” (2018, p. 25). The Polaris Project goes on to state that victims of illicit massage business trafficking often experience self-blame. Due to this self-blame, victims rarely self-identify, disclose, or come forward as victims.
Fear of Deportation: If a victim is undocumented, there is often a fear of deportation as a result of reporting their victimization. This fear is cultivated by traffickers, who often use deportation as a threat to keep victims under their control. The human trafficking power and control wheel includes using privilege, including nationality, as a means of coercive control often utilized by traffickers. For many survivors, returning to their home country can mean great danger to them or their families- or even death. For some survivors, they may feel safer to disclose abuse and exploitation once they have the protection of documented immigration status. For other survivors, they may never feel safe to disclose.
It is important to note that if service providers are using an intersectional approach, recognizing the connections between systemic oppression and gender-based violence, they can and should support survivors regardless of self-disclosure or self-identification.
Trust: Due to the psychological trauma of human trafficking, many survivors take years to disclose the extent of their victimization. In trauma treatment, it is imperative to first build rapport with a client until they feel comfortable to disclose. Such disclosure usually occurs with a trusted advocate who has built a therapeutic relationship with the victim over an extended period of time, especially for those who have experienced dissociation. Oftentimes, the recruiting, grooming, coercing and exploitation process takes several years, during which time the concept of trust and safety were destroyed. Thus, it often takes several years before a sense of trust and safety can be developed in a therapeutic environment to a level in which a survivor feels safe and comfortable to disclose.
Safety: For many survivors, disclosing their experiences of human trafficking can lead to life threatening danger for the survivor and/or their loved ones. For some, they may not disclose out of fear of what the trafficker would do to the other survivors in their “stable”. For others, they may fear that the trafficker will victimize their younger siblings or other family members if they disclose. This failure to report in order to protect one’s siblings occurs in many forms of trafficking, but can be especially prevalent for survivors of familial trafficking. Regardless of the circumstances, these fears related to safety should always be taken seriously, and service providers should safety plan with survivors, recognizing that survivors are the experts on their own situations.
Criminalization of Survivors: Due to the criminalization of survivors of sex trafficking, survivors often experience prejudice and stigma by society and law enforcement, which adds to their social isolation and marginalization. Oftentimes, traffickers put hotel rooms, credit cards, and other traceable information under the survivor’s name. Then, if there is law enforcement involvement, the survivor is blamed. Survivors often do not disclose their experiences of human trafficking for fear of criminalization through prostitution charges.
Survivors’ fears are not baseless; studies indicate that in the U.S., there is a tendency to view people being bought and sold as criminals rather than victims. Victims who perceive themselves as offenders may be less likely to seek police protection or other professional assistance. Even if victims do approach law enforcement, they may experience revictimization “through discriminatory and victim-blaming responses.” (Wilson & Butler, 2014). This fear of criminalization is often heightened for survivors from marginalized communities with a history of discrimination in the criminal justice system.
It is also important to note that some survivors have experienced exploitation within the criminal justice or law enforcement system, such as having sex buyers from those fields, which further increases the survivor’s fear of disclosure and the power and connections of the trafficker to find the survivor and retaliate if they do report.
Victim Blame: Blaming the victim and minimizing the exploitation are common psychological coercion tactics that traffickers use to keep victims under their control. Victims of human trafficking are not only blamed by their traffickers, they are often blamed by society for their own victimization. Victim blaming in trafficking is tied to a larger narrative of victim blaming in all forms of gender-based violence.
Rape myths, which was a term coined in the 1980s, describes the blaming of victims of rape and the minimizing of the responsibility of the perpetrator. False beliefs about rape included that “any woman can resist a rapist if she really wants to” (Burt, 1980 quoted in Cunning & Cromer, 2016). Such beliefs extend to human trafficking, where society often suggests that those who are being sold for sex could say no to their trafficker or sex buyer if they wanted to. However, this line of thinking fails to acknowledge the deep power and control dynamics within human trafficking, including patriarchy, racism, xenophobia, and other forms of systemic oppression. Survivors from marginalized communities, such as LGBTQ+ folks, Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and immigrants, often do not report or disclose their experiences of abuse for fear of being blamed or criminalized.
“When victims doubt that they will be believed, they are less likely to disclose, and subsequently less likely to receive victim assistance and social support…Doubting victims and myth acceptance may also influence the outcome of judicial proceedings. For example, jury members who hold false beliefs about rape may be more inclined to find a defendant not guilty” (Cunningman & Cromer, 2016, p. 229). These negative consequences of victim blaming extend to prostitution and sex trafficking.
Common prostitution and sex trafficking-related myths include that one cannot be raped in prostitution, one cannot be harmed by rape in prostitution, and that one deserves rape in prostitution. These myths all contribute to victims’ fears of reporting and the subsequent delay in disclosure. “Prostitution myths justify the exploitation of women, increase violence against [those in prostitution], and reduce reporting” (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016, p. 230).
A 2016 study with a sample size of over 409 undergraduate students showed that men were more likely to blame victims of trafficking for their situation. The fear of not being believed- which can lead to delayed disclosure- is based in reality, as victims of gender-based violence have been silenced, blamed and criminalized for their own victimization, and not believed for centuries. For a survivor of trafficking to come forward at all is an act of bravery in and of itself.
Supporting Survivors Through Delayed Disclosure
In order to support a survivor who may be experiencing delayed disclosure, the first step is to develop a trusting, non-judgmental relationship. In light of self-blame and victim-blame from the trafficker, society, and oftentimes oneself, survivors need and deserve support systems who can validate, rather than minimize, their experiences. Many survivors report feeling “crazy” when they experience delayed recall of memories because the sudden or gradual remembering of things that the brain stored away in order to protect the victim can be a jarring and confusing experience. It is imperative that service providers normalize this experience, providing psychoeducation on dissociation and delayed disclosure.
Service providers must also be prepared for disclosure to happen over time- sometimes across decades- and be willing to listen without judgment as the survivor works through putting the pieces of the puzzle together. There is no timeline for disclosure nor is the information typically recalled in a chronological fashion. Sometimes it is a smell, a touch, or something else and oftentimes the memories come to a survivor out of order and in flashes, making it hard for the survivor and others to understand or believe. One essential thing service providers can do is believe survivors, even when they struggle to believe themselves.
Systems and service providers should also receive further training on delayed disclosure, so the responsibility for education does not fall on the survivor. If providers and systems better understand delayed disclosure, more survivors will receive the safety, support, education, housing, employment, immigration, health, and mental health care that they deserve.
Lastly, service providers must remember that each survivor’s healing journey is their own, and the helping professional’s role is to be present and supportive along the way. We may not be in a survivor’s life for the duration of their healing process, but we can provide the information and tools to empower that individual to lean on their own skills and support network to continue in their healing journey in their own way and on their own terms.
