Join us on Thursday, January 30, 2025, as Dr. Abigail Judge returns to Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region to discuss “Substance Use Disorder, Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking: Current Research and Trends”. Please register for this free event here.

Individuals struggling with substances often find themselves at a higher risk of being sexually exploited or trafficked. In rural communities, this complex issue can be invisible. This session provides an excellent overview of the factors that contribute to sexual exploitation and trafficking and how communities like ours can best respond.

Abigail M. Judge, Ph.D., is a clinical and forensic psychologist who specializes in supporting women at the intersection of opioid use disorder and sex trafficking. Dr. Judge has a private practice and is on the part-time faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Judge has worked with victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation as a therapist, educator, consultant, and expert witness since 2010. She founded Boston HEAT (Human Exploitation Advocacy TEAM), a collaboration between MGH and the Boston Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit dedicated to women experiencing addiction and sexual exploitation. HEAT’s drop-in space in the Boston neighborhood known as “Mass. and Cass” has been honored with awards from the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department as well as the FBI. In 2024, Dr. Judge received an Anti-Trafficking Leadership, Innovation, and Sustainability (ATLIS) Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) to expand the peer-led services of Boston HEAT.

Part of January Human Trafficking Prevention Month sponsored by the Franklin County and North Quabbin Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Workgroup, a project of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region and CONNECT, the region’s post-opioid overdose community outreach and follow-up effort.