Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT) Yoga: programming with survivors of human trafficking in Uganda.

HUMAN trafficking; MINDFULNESS; PROFESSIONAL practice; YOGA; MENTAL health; HEALTH status indicators; MENTAL depression; WOUNDS & injuries; SOCIAL services; EMOTIONS; PSYCHOLOGICAL resilience; PSYCHOTHERAPY

Human trafficking violates fundamental rights and undermines lifelong well-being for survivors. There is an urgent need for evidence-based interventions for women and girls who have been trafficked, including those that can be implemented in low-resource settings. In this paper, we describe the purpose, structure, and preliminary results from a promising new approach, Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT) Yoga, developed and piloted in Kampala, Uganda. HaRT Yoga is a twelve-week psycho-social intervention for women and girls who have experienced human trafficking. It aims to create a nurturing environment where participants can strengthen their inner resilience, build a supportive community, and overcome the psychological effects of trauma. The group-based programme involves weekly sessions that integrate yoga poses alongside breathwork, visualizations, mindfulness practices, and theme-based discussions. Overall results from an initial pilot (2017) were promising; participants experienced reductions in depression symptoms and improvements in self-rated emotional and physical health. Further, we found the programme was acceptable and feasible to implement in a shelter-based setting. Findings underscore the potential promise of this low cost, somatic approach to social work practice with trauma survivors, suggesting that a more rigorous evaluation of impact is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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