My commitment to human rights issues has driven much of my work over the last twenty-plus years on human trafficking. Those trafficked are stripped of the right to life and liberty, personal agency, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and physical and mental health. I firmly believe these rights, without discrimination, should be available for all. Therefore, I feel an obligation to continue to raise awareness of how the discipline of psychology can effectively impact human rights and social justice issues.
When I became aware of human trafficking in the early 2000’s I truly believed, it was something from the past and not a modern-day problem. Unfortunately, that was far from the truth, as contemporary slavery (human trafficking) is more prevalent today than at any other time in history. I have had the opportunity to engage APA in addressing human trafficking by starting a Task Force in Div52, International Psychology. Then an APA Task Force was recommended by APA’s Committee on Women, which I was chairing at that time. Council approved our Report of the Task Force on Trafficking of Women and Girls in 2014 (link: https://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/trafficking).
I am also involved as a Board Member on two non-for-profit organization, Project Satori and Reclaim 13, that focus on working with female survivors of sex and labor trafficking; both are devoted to serving those trafficked and ending the exploitation of women and girls.
Most recently, it was my honor to receive the 2021 Denmark/Reuder Award for Outstanding International Contributions to the Psychology of Women and Gender, acknowledging my human rights work.
PUBLICATIONS on Human Rights Issues (abbreviated, please see CV for complete listing)
Sidun, N. M. (in publication). Foreward. L. Dryjanska, E. Hopper, & H. Stoklosa (Eds.) Psychology of Human Trafficking [Foreward], American Psychological Association Publications.
Sidun, N.M. & Soares, S. (invited chapter – in publication). “Psychological perspectives on financial empowerment of BIPOC/non-WEIRD women”, invited chapter in Mayer, C-H, Vanderheiden, E., Braun-Lewensohn, O., Chen, G., Sueda, K., Mantholoti, B., Safdar, S., & Kim, S. (Eds.), Women empowerment for a sustainable future world. Springer.
Sidun, N.M. & Flores, Y.G. (2020). “Human Trafficking of Women and Girls: Inequality and Increased Risks”, invited chapter in Rubin, N.S. & Flores, R.L. (co-ed), The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Human Rights, Cambridge.
Sidun, N.M. “Traffickers: Who are they?” (2018). In Walker, L.E.A., Gavivia, G., & Gopal, K. (co-ed.). Sex trafficking: Feminist and transnational perspectives. New York: Springer
Sidun, N.M. & Hume, D.L. (Guest Co-Editors) (2016). Special Issue on Human trafficking of women and girls for Women and Therapy for 2015 (Ellyn Kaschak, editor)
Sidun, N.M. & Hume, D.L. Co-Chairs (2014). American Psychological Association Task Force on Trafficking of Women and Girls. Report of APA Task Force on Trafficking of Women and Girls. American Psychological Association Publication; Author.
PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS on Human Rights Issues (abbreviated, please see CV for complete listing):
Sidun, N. M. (2022, Aug). Psychologist’s Role in Addressing Climate Crisis influence on Human Trafficking. In Clinton, A. (chair), Bloom, J. B., & Sidun, N. M. Intersection of Climate Change and Human Systems: Challenges and Solutions from Psychology. American Psychological Association 130th Annual Convention, Minneapolis, MN.
Gibbons, J. & Best, D. (Chairs), Gibbons, J., MacLauchlan, S., Parmar, P., Stiles, D., Green, J. Y., Fu, M., Sidun, N. M. (discussant). (2022, Feb.) Coping with COVID. Society for Cross-Cultural Research, San Diego, CA
Sidun, N. M. (2021, Mar). How has COVID-19 impacted human trafficking and to what extent does a social disruptor, such as a pandemic, put more women and youth at risk for trafficking. In Sigal, J., Sidun, N. M., Ward, M. R., Madukwe, A. U., Gaba, A., & Flores, R. Dual Pandemics:Psychological approaches to gender-based violence during Covid-19, United Nation’s NGO Commission on the Status of Women 65 Forum, Virtual Conference
Sidun, N.M. (2020, Aug.) Who traffics people? In Cameron, E. C. (Chair), Sidun, N.M., & Rhoades, G. F. Global sex trafficking: Trafficker profiles, prevention, and intervention. American PsychologicalAssociation 127th Annual Convention, Washington DC (virtual conference)
Sidun, N. M. (2020, Jul*). Global climate change and human trafficking. In Sidun, N. M. (Chair), Barron, I., Villalba, K., Rajan, I. & Kirwan, N. (discussant) Human trafficking: Untold stories. The 32nd International Congress of Psychology, Prague, Czech Republic (*proposed due to Covid-19; rescheduled for 2021)
Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Barron, I., Vallialba, K., & Bloom, J. J. (2020, Feb.). Global climate change and mental health well being: Weathered-out. The 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Cross Cultural Research, Seattle, WA
Sidun, N.M. (2019, Aug.) Sex Trafficking: Challenges and vulnerabilities of women and girls. In Garcia-Shelton, L. (Chair), Sidun, N.M., Kourhy, B., Muir, Y., & Bloom, J.J. (discussant). The challenges and barriers that confront women across cultures. American Psychological Association 127th Annual Convention, Washington DC
Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Barron, I., & Rajan, I. (2019, April). Human trafficking on a global scale. 16th Hawaii International Summit: On preventing, assessing and treating trauma across the life span, Honolulu, HI
Sidun, N.M. (2019, Feb.). The impact of climate change on modern day slavery. In Sidun, N.M. (Chair),Flores, Y.G., Barron, I., Gibbons, J. L., & Bloom, J.J. (discussant). Human trafficking: Rarely acknowledged or recognized. The 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Cross Cultural Research, Jacksonville, FL
Sidun, N. M. (2018, Aug.) What is human trafficking?: Who, what, why, and how. In Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Barron, I., Filmore, J., & Bryant-Davis, T. Human Trafficking: Unrecognized vulnerabilities and victims – race, culture, and being male. American Psychological Association 126th Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA
Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Malebranche, D., Hopper, E., Rajan, I., Barron, I., & Filmore, J. (2018, June). Recognizing and treatment of survivors of human trafficking, 76th Annual Conference International Council of Psychologists, Montreal, CA
Sidun, N.M. (2018, April). Who are traffickers and how does one get trafficked? In Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Barron, I., & Filmore, J. symposium entitled The unseen and unheard voices of human trafficking, Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma International Summit, Honolulu, HI
Sidun, N.M. & Feist, S. G. (2017, Sept.). Demand, profit, and vulnerability: Addressing the drivers of Modern Day Slavery through prevention and response, Pacific Regional Behavioral Health Summit, Honolulu, H
Sidun, N.M. (2017, August). Introduction: Overview of Human Trafficking. Sex Trafficking. In Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Silverstein, L.B., Filmore, J., & Barron, I. symposium entitled Human rights violations on a global scale, American Psychological Association 125th Annual Convention, Washington, DC
Sidun, N.M. & Silverstein, L.B. (Co-Chairs), Barron, I., Porcopio, S., Filmore, J. (2016, Oct.). Men and Trafficking: Consumers, Traffickers, and Survivors, SAFE, Washington, DC
Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Barron, I.A., & Mc Dermott (discussant). (2016, August). Human trafficking: Men and boys, the unseen victims. American Psychological Association 124th Annual Convention, Denver, CO
Sidun, N.M. (2016, July). Human trafficking: What’s our community response. In Garcia-Shelton, L. (Chair), Sidun, N.M., Roysiercar-Sodowky, G., & Bloom , J.B. symposium entitled Community approaches to cultural diversity, crime, and response to national disaster, International Congress of Psychology, Yokohama, Japan
Sidun, N.M. (2015, August). Invited Presentation. Modern day slavery: Human trafficking. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Psicologia, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Bloom, J.B. & Sidun, N.M. (2015, March). From gender violence to gender equality: Social justice across Cultures. Association for Women in Psychology 40th Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA
Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Contreras, P.M., Hume, D.L., Alegano Steele, A.J., Burke, M.C., & Liss, M. (2014, August). What psychologists need to know about human trafficking: Identification, tools and resources. Continuing Education Workshop. American Psychological Association 122th Annual Convention, Washington D.C.
Sidun, N.M. (2013, July). Human rights epidemic: Sexual enslavement. In Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Rubin, N. S., & Bloom, J.B. symposium entitled Crime against humanity: Gender violence and human rights. American Psychological Association 121th Annual Convention, Honolulu, HI
Sidun, N.M. (2013, July). Sex trafficking: Contemporary sex slavery. In Bloom, J.B., (Chair), Baillie, J., & Sidun, N.M. symposium entitled Gender violence and the violation of human rights. XXXIV Interamerican Congress of Psychology, Brasilia, Brazil
Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Williams, J., McCloskey, K., & Munoz, V. (2013, Jan.). Paradigm shifts in disabilities, sexualities, and trans-Activism. National Multicultural Conference and Summit, Houston, TX
Sidun, N.M. (2012, July). Human trafficking: An overview. In Sidun, N.M. (Chair), Bloom, J.B., Durvasula, R., & Chrisler, J. (discussant) symposium entitled The facets and facts of human trafficking: The psychological and public health crisis of the 21st Century. International Congress of Psychology, Cape Town, South Africa
MEDIA on Human Rights Issues (abbreviated, please see CV for complete listings)
Sidun, N.M., Flores, Y., Barron, I., & Bloom, J. J. (2019, Aug 19). Diverse voices: Who’s being trafficked? By whom? PsiChi International Honor Society in Psychology, Psycheverywhere. https://www.psichi.org/general/custom.asp?page=PodcastSeason1#.YF_qPi2ZOso
O’Hara, D. (2017, Jul 11). Nancy Sidun wants psychology to help prevent human trafficking. American Psychological Association, member showcase. https://www.apa.org/members/content/sidun-prevent-human-trafficking
Sidun, N.M. (2017, Apr 17). Human trafficking. Steve Katz’s Shrink Rap: Think, Tech, Hawaii Show [Radio]. Honolulu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45aY113HrZM