Join us on Thursday, November 4, 2021, from 2 PM – 3 PM, as we continue to learn about the complex topic of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and its impact, especially in rural communities, featuring Dr. Abigail Judge. Register for this free event here.

Abigail Judge Ph.D. is a clinical and forensic psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and in private practice, and she is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Judge’s hospital-based clinical work, scholarship, and teaching focus on improving the clinical response to women impacted by the continuum of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. Dr. Judge has worked with this population as a therapist, educator, court-appointed evaluator, and expert witness since 2009. At MGH, Dr. Judge leads MGH Connect: A Project for Outreach and Recovery, that provides low threshold – that is more easily accessible and acceptable – psychological and peer support for women at the intersection of substance use and commercial sexual exploitation/sex trafficking, and is based at the MGH Bridge Clinic. In 2021, this project received a grant from the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General to expand access for BIPOC women through survivor mentoring and engaging women detained at the Suffolk County House of Correction.

This session builds upon the work of the Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation (HTSE) Workgroup, formed by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region in 2019. Meeting regularly, the HTSE Workgroup continues to find opportunities to share information and provide training opportunities for community members to learn more about how human trafficking and sexual exploitation can occur in our rural region and what can be done about it.