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This paper examined the impacts of participatory video used in digital training on the empowerment of sex-trafficking survivors in the Philippines. For survivors of online sexual exploitation involved in this study, technology played a critical role in their abuse, making it necessary to understand how technology-supported communication can also play in their recovery and personal development. Drawing upon the thematic analysis of data collected from debriefing, interviews, and participants-generated videos, the findings have shown that the participatory video as a tool to support communication, as a mirror for reflexivity and voicing, and as a mediated space to connect and gain support, affords a communicative platform for survivors to participate, to interact, and to take control of the technology. We argue that the use of Information and Communication Technology for empowerment is subject to the personalized needs, autonomy and participation of the users .

This phenomenological study examines therapists' experiences working with foreign-national survivors of sex-trafficking in the United States. Data collection started before the COVID-19 pandemic and additional questions, regarding the impact of the pandemic, were added to the protocol at interview no. 6. Based on in-depth semistructured interviews with 11 therapists, the impact that this work had on clinicians followed a U-shaped curve through which 6 predominant themes were identified including (a) the clinical experience of working with sex-trafficking survivors;(b) vicarious experiences;(c) connection between spirituality/religiosity and counseling;(d) the role of sociocultural identities;(e) identification of needs;and (f) the pandemic's influence on counseling and clients' lives. Findings suggest both challenges, such as vicarious traumatization, and opportunities for growth, such as vicarious resilience, for therapists in their work with sex-trafficking survivors. Suggestions for therapists to improve professional longevity were generated directly from the interviews and include an emphasis on continuing education and self-care. Implications for future research and service organizations are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

This study adopts a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach to problematize the representation of victims in the online educational messaging on sex trafficking promoted in the US “end-demand” movement. The websites of 20 US anti-trafficking groups are analyzed. While these website-based messages are positioned to educate the public about sex trafficking, they are predominately framed toward problematizing sex work and essentializing women with racialized and marginalized identities in sex work, with no discursive recognition of intersectional structural inequalities (e.g., racism, sexism, poverty, homo/transphobia) that lead to trafficking. These ideologically charged messages, when presented as “facts,” further the anti-sex work sentiment among the public, powerfully (re)produce and sustain the public (mis)perception equating “anti-sex trafficking” with “anti-sex work,” and legitimize the carceral feminist anti-trafficking practice that primarily criminalizes, censors, and oppresses the agency, behaviors, and needs of structurally marginalized communities. This paper calls attention to how injustice may be (re)produced in the way trafficking is represented and how representational injustice may translate into material consequences, further subjecting already marginalized groups to criminalization and surveillance. Through incorporating representational justice into our conceptualization of racial and social justice, we may (re)build an anti-trafficking framework that is structurally competent, rights-inclusive, and centered on humanization.

Objectives Human trafficking is a public health issue that has substantial health consequences. However, research on the preparedness of health facilities to serve people who have experienced or are experiencing human trafficking is limited. We examined health facility preparedness related to human trafficking in Michigan. Methods We used a cross-sectional design to explore health facility preparedness related to human trafficking in Michigan. We sampled 10 prosperity regions according to health facility type (Federally Qualified Health Centers, health departments, and hospitals). An email invitation was sent to identified health facility personnel (eg, administrators, physicians, nurses) from May to June 2019 with a link to a 26-item survey with items about current policies, protocols, and areas for improvement related to human trafficking. Results Forty-two Federally Qualified Health Centers, health departments, and hospitals responded to the survey. Most health facilities had screening policies and response protocols related to child maltreatment (screening: 32/41 [78.0%]; response: 38/40 [95.0%]) and intimate partner violence (screening: 33/41 [80.5%]; response: 37/40 [92.5%]). However, fewer facilities had a screening policy (16/41 [39.0%]) and response protocol (25/40 [62.5%]) for human trafficking; more of these facilities focused on sex trafficking than on labor trafficking. The top needs related to human trafficking were (1) individual-level health care provider training, (2) health facility–level screening policies and response protocols, (3) community-level resources, and (4) societal-level awareness, funding allocation, and data. Conclusions Facility-level resources are needed to ensure that health care providers have adequate training and support to address human trafficking in the health care system.

We examine the impact of multinational oil companies’ (MOCs’) corporate social responsibility (CSR) on traditional practices recognized as violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Nigeria’s oil region. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that MOCs’ CSR play a significant role in empowering women and girls with information and education to protect their human rights. This implies that CSR offers an opportunity for MOCs to help address prevalence of child early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, sex trafficking, virginity testing, and taboos through a business case for stakeholders’ human right protection.

With knowledge about red flags, health professionals can better identify sex trafficking victims. This research seeks to confirm a match between items on one screening tool and trafficked youth’s actual experiences. Also considered are high levels of adverse childhood experiences, another red flag among trafficked youth. Both provide evidence that health care professionals should regularly screen for trafficking risk factors, including personal and family adversity, among youth in all health care settings. Existing clinically oriented tools can serve as a starting point for nurse leaders to integrate system-wide interventions to identify youth at risk for and currently being trafficked.

Sex trafficking is considered a public health emergency, although there is public confusion about the crime. Defendant gender has been demonstrated to affect juror decision-making within crimes of ...

Growing interest in preventing and addressing sex trafficking has led to an increase in the development and implementation of sex trafficking educational programing for youth. We conducted a nationwide scoping scan survey of U.S. programs focused on educating youth about sex trafficking to learn more about existing programs. Staff at 37 programs completed the survey and provided information on program development, content, structure, delivery, and evaluation. The majority of programs included youth and survivors in program development. Programs aimed to prevent and increase awareness of sex trafficking with trauma-informed content focused on trafficking dynamics, grooming, warning signs, and actions to take if trafficking is suspected. Slightly over half of the programs also addressed labor trafficking and other forms of violence. Programs targeted youth and teachers, but varied in terms of delivery setting, format, and duration. About two thirds of the programs had undergone some form of evaluation, most by program developers, implementers, or staff. Study findings highlight the current landscape of sex trafficking education programming in the U.S. Recommendations are provided for advancing practice and research, including determining the most efficacious program content and delivery. Empowering youth through education and prevention are key steps to creating safe and inclusive communities.

Whether and how social service providers use practice strategies that address racism is critically understudied, particularly with people who are at risk of sex trafficking. The purpose of this article is to understand (1) the perceptions of racial disparities in sex trafficking (as learned from sex trafficking education), and (2) the strategies used to address racism in practice (color-evasiveness, anti-oppressive practice [AOP]). We used a directed content analysis approach to analyze 24 semistructured, in-depth interviews of providers who knowingly encounter sex-trafficked young people in a majority white region of a Midwestern state (census indicates that minority populations include African American, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino people). Findings suggest that providers perceived sex trafficking education (e.g., trainings they attended) as predominantly focused on economic standing and family risks, rather than racial disparities and roles of structural racial oppression. They also experienced challenges in naming the racial identities of clients and addressing racism in practice. Implications for implementing critical consciousness and AOP strategies as well as future research directions are discussed.

Women involved in commercial sex rings are often isolated, with only each other as their primary social supports. Such relationships are marked by competition and distrust, promoting women’s belief...

Human trafficking is a pandemic human rights violation with an emerging paradigm shift that reframes an issue traditionally seen through a criminal justice lens to that of a public health crisis, particularly for children. Children and adolescents who are trafficked or are at risk for trafficking should receive evidence-based, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive care from trained health care providers (HCPs). The purpose of this article was to engage and equip pediatric HCPs to respond effectively to human trafficking in the clinical setting, improving health outcomes for affected and at-risk children. Pediatric HCPs are ideally positioned to intervene and advocate for children with health disparities and vulnerability to trafficking in a broad spectrum of care settings and to optimize equitable health outcomes.

Within the red-light area of Kamathipura in Mumbai, India, the majority of female sex workers (FSWs) arrive as victims of sex trafficking. Many of these FSWs are mothers who must care for their chi...

A trauma bond is an emotional attachment between an abuser and victim. Trauma bonds in sex trafficking compel victims to submit to continued exploitation and protect the trafficker. This scoping review examines trauma bonds in sex trafficking situations, its conceptualizations, and key characteristics. Ten databases were searched using sex trafficking AND trauma bonding–related terms; sex trafficking AND Stockholm syndrome, attachment, coercion, and manipulation. Articles were included if they featured trauma bonding, were published in English after 2013, or featured sex trafficking victims or traffickers in a Western country. Fifteen articles were included. The features of trauma bonding identified in these articles were (1) imbalance of power that favors trafficker, (2) traffickers’ deliberate use of positive and negative interactions, (3) victim’s gratitude for positive interactions and self-blame for the negative, and (4) victim’s internalization of perpetrator’s view. We also identified four aspects related to trauma bonding: (1) prior trauma made victims vulnerable, (2) victim’s feelings of love remained even after exiting trafficking, (3) love is why victims do not prosecute traffickers, and (4) traffickers’ intentional cultivation of the trauma bond. No article indicated how trauma bonds could be severed and replaced with healthy attachments. These findings reveal the need for practitioners and law enforcement and criminal justice professionals to address trauma bonding in both trafficking and posttrafficking situations. The findings also represent potential targets for urgently needed interventions that promote the replacement of trauma bonds with healthy attachments.

Sex trafficking involving children is a human rights issue of growing concern, with immediate and lasting impacts on victims. Although victimization is consistently associated with prior maltreatme...

Human Trafficking (HT) persists in the US, despite multi-level measures designed to mitigate its societal costs. HT instruction for healthcare providers is growing, but there is a dearth of resources and training presenting obstacles for victims accessing suitable healthcare services. Voices of survivors are also scant in the literature, despite the fact that their recommendations would appear essential when designing best practices. This study aimed to methodically gather recommendations from sex trafficking (ST) survivors who sought medical care during their victimization. An exploratory concurrent mixed-methods design was used, and semi-structured interviews (N = 22) were conducted between March 2016 and March 2017, in San Diego, CA, and Philadelphia, PA. Data were analyzed through a coding system to identify meaningful analytical themes. Study participants were recruited through survivor-centered organizations, and their identification was kept anonymous and confidential. Findings included three main themes: (A) Red Flags, (B) supportive healthcare practices, and (C) resources for ST-patient study participants&rsquo, recommendations aimed to improve healthcare practice in response to their medical needs in a compassionate and caring manner, with trust building, rapport, and an opportunity to instill hope among ST-patients. Implementing Compassionate Care approaches when caring for ST-patients could positively impact patient&ndash, provider interactions, while creating opportunities for intervention.

Modern slavery is gradually becoming one of the most widespread crimes in the world. A conscious understanding of the issue is an extremely important part of the process of tackling this problem. The aim of this work is to introduce the reader to the issue of human trafficking and its most common forms. The phenomenon splits in to the following main branches: sex trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced marriage, forced criminality and organ harvesting. Modern-day slavery happens all around us and at a surprisingly high rate.

Public opinion frequently assigns some degree of responsibility to victims of human trafficking for their “voluntary” engagement in the phenomenon, thus denying the existence of “innocent victims” ...

The majority of trafficked persons report seeing a healthcare provider at least once during their exploitation. Implementing training on human trafficking for healthcare providers could improve ide...

Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor citizen within the United States. Previous research suggests that traffickers use different tactics depending upon their established relationships with at-risk youth. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis, therefore, is to explore the circumstances and control tactics associated with DMST victimization within friend-type trafficking relationships. This analysis utilizes the archival case notes of 66 minors who were trafficked for sex by their friends in one state in the United States. Findings reveal that DMST victims trafficked by friends perceive that they have financial agency, that their traffickers use control tactics against them, and that other women are involved in their exploitation. Recommendations emanating from this study point social workers towards prevention and practice strategies that take into account victims’ specific experiences with trafficking entry and their barriers to exit.

The movement of human populations across the planet has characterized human societies throughout history. However, the increasing rate of such movements across National borders has been in such a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country, put trafficked persons at risk and has given birth to modern day slavery. This study was therefore designed to ascertain the perception of illegal migration and sex trafficking in Europe among young women in Oredo, Benin City, Nigeria. The study used a multi stage random sample of 90 women aged 18-40 years whom were interviewed using in-depth interviews (20) and Focus Group Discussions guides (7). The qualitative data generated were content analyzed and the results indicate that majority of the women perceive illegal migration and sex trafficking in Europe negatively. They however would not discourage anyone who wishes to engage in the act, partly due to the socio economic benefits derived therein. Given that illegal migration and sex trafficking in Europe is inimical to human and societal well-being, it therefore becomes necessary for social workers and ethical practitioners to advocate the formulation of policies and programmes focusing on ethical migration practice and women empowerment with aim to rehabilitate and reduce human sex exploitation.

Prior research has examined the high health care needs and vulnerabilities faced by survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), yet their perspectives are frequently absent. We sought to understand the narratives and views of individuals affected by CSE on their bodies, health, and motivations to seek health care treatment. Twenty-one girls and young women ages 15 to 19 years with self-identified histories of CSE participated in the study. All participants had current or prior involvement in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare systems. Data collection included brief questionnaires, followed by semi-structured individual interviews. The interviews took place between March and July 2017 and were analyzed using iterative and inductive techniques, using the shared decision-making model as a guide. “Fierce Autonomy” emerged as a core theme, depicting how past traumas and absence of control led the girls and young women to exercise agency and reclaim autonomy over decisions affecting their health.

Domestic sex trafficking has yet to appear on the policy agenda in Aotearoa New Zealand, and yet to be met with a law enforcement response. Accordingly, we have minimal knowledge about the contexts in which sex trafficking is perpetrated and what victims’ experiences involve. This article focuses specifically on the attainment and negotiation of social capital by victims whose access to traditional capital is at least partially restricted by their social and familial contexts. Sixteen victims of domestic sex trafficking participated in semistructured interviews. The data were analyzed using an adapted version of Clanindin and Connelly’s (2000) three-dimensional structure of narrative analysis. Three of the themes emerging from this are discussed here; namely abuse and mistreatment in early life, the negotiation of survival within the trafficking context, and sexuality as a bargaining tool. We argue that victims’ access to traditional mechanisms of social capital accrual may be precluded by the multiple sites of gendered disadvantage that collude to entrap victims in a subordinate and exploited position. However, to negotiate their continued survival despite the constraints to their agency, they appear to access both vicarious physical capital and feminized (and usually sexualised) capital by instrumentalizing their sexual appeal or prowess and the protection of the subjectively more powerful male “partner.”

In Canada, there are persistent allegations and some empirical evidence suggesting racialized police bias; certain (non-White) groups appear to face over-enforcement as criminal suspects and under-enforcement as victims. Yet, it is challenging to prove or disprove these claims. Unlike other countries, where governments routinely publish police-reported crime and criminal court data identifying the race/ethnicity of criminal suspects and victims, Canada maintains a ban on the publication of such data. In this article, using an intersectional and critical analysis, we examine 127 prosecuted (predominantly domestic sex) trafficking cases and explore related claims of racial and gender bias together with sensationalism in the enforcement of Canadian anti-trafficking in persons laws. Our findings align with other empirical research observing the racially selective identification and prosecution of sex trafficking cases through a heteronormative and gender binary lens. Whether real or perceived, racial—alongside gender, sexuality, economic, citizenship, and occupational—bias has significant adverse consequences for the equality, liberty, security, mobility, labour, and access to justice rights of the Indigenous, Black, Arab/Muslim and other racialized communities being policed. Our data reveal a clear and pressing need to publish race-disaggregated crime and criminal court data and to challenge deeply ingrained stereotypes using various means.

PurposeThe available research on specialized interventions for youth experiencing commercial sexual exploitation almost exclusively focuses on the impact and efficacy related to cisgender girls, despite the inclusion of youth who identify as transgender in these programs. This paper aims to present a case study on the experience of a transgender adolescent girl who experienced commercial sexual exploitation and provides a narrative of the multifarious challenges she faced while involved in institutional systems of care.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducted an in-depth case review of all records on “Jade,” a white adolescent transgender girl who experienced commercial sexual exploitation, from a specialty court program in the juvenile justice system between 2012 and 2016. Her experiences throughout childhood exemplify many of the unique challenges that transgender girls and young women with histories of exploitation or trafficking may encounter within service delivery and socioecological systems. This paper applied concepts adapted from the gender minority stress theoretical model to understand how minority gender identity can shape the experiences and outcomes of the youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation.FindingsJade’s narrative underscores the interplay of gender-based sexual violence, heteronormative structural barriers, transphobia and their intersectional impact on her experience while receiving specialized care. The intersectional hardships she experienced likely contributed to adverse biopsychosocial outcomes, including high rates of medical and behavioral health diagnoses and expectations of further rejection.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the extraordinary challenges and barriers faced by an often under-recognized and overlooked subset of the youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation, who may receive services that do not account for their unique needs related to gender expression and identity. This paper exemplifies how internalized stigma along with expectations of further rejection and victimization have implications for clinical and multidisciplinary intervention settings. Jade’s case underscores the need for improved access to supportive services for youth with minority gender identities, including peer community-building opportunities. Finally, this paper identifies a critical gap in US legislation and social policy. This gap contributes to the structural harms faced by transgender and gender-nonconforming youth receiving services during or following experiences of commercial sexual exploitation.

The “Poquianchi affair” shook 1960s’ Mexico with its subject of sex trafficking, woman-on-woman violence, and mass murder. It generated a visceral public response and a gamut of narratives on crime, punishment, and the social values of the modern age. The Mexican press, in particular the tabloids, conflated socially stigmatized behaviors and gender tensions embedded in the patriarchal order, labeling the Poquianchi brothel madams a direct public threat. This essay examines how the Poquianchi scandal became a focal point for discussing the Mexican national project. Felipe Cazals’ 1979 film Las Poquianchis and Jorge Ibarguengoitia’s 1970 novel Las muertas departed from the media hype to shed light on deeply rooted hypocrisies governing society as a whole, such as the symbiotic relation between the brothel madams, the authorities, and the community at large. Refraining from moralistic dichotomies, they ponder upon the evolving discourse of criminality in modern Mexican society, where the positivist rhetoric of progress, social justice, and integration only camouflaged the inequality pervading the nation’s social fabric.

El presente artículo aborda la relevancia de considerar las intersecciones de identidad de género, personas trans, migración, trabajo sexual y su relación con la trata de seres humanos, a través de la experiencia de trabajo de campo realizado entre 2015 y 2018 con el Sindicato chileno de trabajadoras sexuales Trans “Amanda Jofré Cerda”. Se pretende visibilizar este fenómeno poco abordado, a partir de los hallazgos evidenciados en el trabajo de campo. Su desarrollo teórico expone las dicotomías del marco normativo chileno, la ausencia del enfoque de derechos humanos, la crítica Constitución, que no representa la protección de los mismos, y la necesidad de las personas trans de asociarse en espacios comunes desde la perspectiva de la asociatividad, vinculada al fenómeno de la trata de seres humanos. El artículo también examina la invisibilización de las víctimas transexuales, destacando la interseccionalidad como un enfoque aplicado al abordaje de problemáticas sociales vinculadas con los derechos humanos, y visibilizando a las víctimas de trata trans, cuyo delito se oculta al tratarse de personas que, históricamente, no han sido reconocidas como una identidad de género dentro de las culturas y países patriarcales de América del Sur. El escrito finaliza con una serie de conclusiones contemporáneas que subrayan las necesidades de las víctimas de trata trans, las cuales exhiben una fuerte relación entre la interseccionalidad, las relaciones de poder y la vulneración de derechos a la que se encuentran expuestas.

There is growing interest in educating youth about sex trafficking, coupled with a recognition that both traditional and alternative schools are promising venues for addressing sex trafficking and ...

Sex trafficking is a form of slavery, and it is a human right issue that keeps going despite being illegal. Since it persists, there is a need to look into it to understand the impact of the same on the female survivors. The present study aims to explore survivors’ experiences before and during sex trafficking and to comprehend the emotional experiences of survivors post-rescue from sex trafficking. The participants were ten sex trafficking survivors, ages 18 to 24 years old. A phenomenological approach was used. The researcher utilized thematic analysis to identify themes within the data collected. Findings revealed that the main factors that contributed to the entrance of the participants in sex trafficking were poverty and broken family. The experience of life during sex trafficking was marked by rape and torture. Participants described life as unhappy, hard and as hell. The emotional experiences are mainly psychological distress such as feeling angry and sad because of the past. Survivors have feelings of guilt and fear. Lack of understanding is predominating in all participants. Survivors’ experiences are not all negative. With rescue, they have got a better life. The positive emotions are happiness, faith in God, hope, new identity and value. They experience happiness because the new life is good. They have faith in God and have hope for a better future.

Regardless of their practice setting or subspecialty, pediatricians are likely to encounter children who have experienced sex or labor trafficking or who are at risk for exploitation. Only 24.1% of health professionals in one study reported receiving previous training on human trafficking; after a brief presentation on the topic, 39.6% indicated that they knew or suspected they had cared for a trafficked person in the past 3 months. Trafficked and exploited children can present with myriad physical or mental health conditions; most have experienced repeated, significant trauma; and few are likely to spontaneously disclose their exploitative situation. As a result, clinicians face challenges in recognizing and appropriately responding to potential human trafficking. Knowledge of common risk factors and potential indicators of exploitation can assist the pediatrician in recognizing affected and at-risk youth. However, health professionals report that existing training tends to focus on general information about trafficking, with relatively little time spent discussing the specifics of the trauma-informed approach to patient interactions. Given the critical importance of building patient trust, empowering patients to share their concerns, and engaging them in their own care and safety planning, this article focuses on the practical aspects of working with trafficked and exploited children. A brief overview of human trafficking is followed by an extensive discussion of rights-based, culturally sensitive, trauma-informed strategies for interacting with vulnerable patients.

Chika Unigwe is renowned for her writings that centre on migrant issues, sex trafficking, trauma, and rape. She employs the novel and mostly the short story genre to emphasise these subjects as they affect women, hence lending her voice to the third-generation women writers. Unigwe in this new collection of short stories tries to represent the migrant stories by exploring different aspects of immigration. She also emphasises two main subjects that are often difficult to express in literary works by women—rape and trauma. With the rather paradoxical title, Better Never Than Late, 10 different short stories, some of which are interlinked to a migrant couple, Agu and Prosperous, and their friends who visit them every weekend, portray the mirage of the dream of finding greener pastures overseas.

Most of the literature on modern-day slavery focuses on women and children as victims of the sex industry. This disproportionate emphasis on sexual exploitation has resulted in conflation of the term trafficking with prostitution, which has led to an understanding of human trafficking issues as separate from other workplace abuses that amount to slavery. By exploring modern-day slavery in the Southeast Asian fishing industry, this paper may fill a research gap within the study of human trafficking as well as sharpen our awareness of slavery practices, not only in the sex industry, but also in workplaces like fishing vessels and seafood processing factories. This paper will argue that the proximity of modern slavery to sexual exploitation and the lack of differentiation between smuggling and trafficking crime has led to the ignorance of contemporary slavery practices in other sectors.

When looking at the recent social-political history of America it is difficult to avoid references to QAnon, a widespread, conservative-leaning conspiracy that amalgamates numerous conspiracies into a single movement. Central to the movement’s growth has been a moral panic around child sex trafficking that has served as a gateway for new adherents to become exposed to broader QAnon rhetoric. QAnon’s co-optation of the #SaveTheChildren (#STC) movement exemplifies this networked moral panic and has played a major role in facilitating the spread of misinformation under a banner of moral authority. This paper explores the proponents of #SaveTheChildren on social media platform Instagram—paying particular attention to their motivations, tactics and desired outcomes—in order to explore how networked social movements build knowledge and organize in spaces that are vulnerable to the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Research is drawn from an inductive thematic analysis of 1,400 Instagram posts related to the #SaveTheChildren movement across 2020. Analysis illuminates how the #SaveTheChildren movement is defined more as an identity based, social-political movement rooted in moral panic— rather than one focused on truly supporting human rights. Our analysis illuminates how networked moral panics— facilitated by the affordances and tactics of social media —can bring together disparate communities to spread misinformation under the guise of activism.

Public controversies are an analytical opportunity to study the emergence of issues, the creation and alliance of actors, as well as the articulation of public arenas (politics, society, activism, academia, etc.). This paper analyzes how two actors in Spanish academia emerged, and how they became an expression of the polarized conflict on prostitution, sex work, and sex trafficking. Through a case study, this work traces the emergence and consolidation in the public space of the #universidadsincensura initiative and the International Academic Network for the Study of Prostitution and Pornography (Red Académica Internacional de Estudios sobre Prostitución y Pornografía, Raiepp). Methodologically, the technique of controversy mapping is applied through an analysis of the first phase of the controversy on Twitter with the hashtags #universidadsincensura and #universidadsinprostitucion and the monitoring of the platform’s activities based on active participation in the #universidadsincensura initiative. The analysis shows that both actors emerge in line with the logics of the mediatized public space linked to a presence in media and networks. Endowed with different degrees of institutionalization, Raiepp and #universidadsincensura form the same public, that of those directly or indirectly affected by the public problem surrounding the status of prostitution, for which they seek a solution through a process of enquiry and experimentation that defines democratic participation. Resumen Las controversias públicas son una oportunidad analítica para estudiar la emergencia de asuntos, creación y alianza de actores, así como la articulación de arenas públicas (política, sociedad, activismo, academia, etc.). A través de un estudio de caso este artículo rastrea la aparición y consolidación en la Academia de dos actores que visibilizan el conflicto polarizado sobre prostitución, trabajo sexual y trata con fines de explotación sexual, y que se materializan en #universidadsincensura y la Red Académica Internacional de Estudios sobre Prostitución y Pornografía (Raiepp). Metodológicamente se aplica la técnica de mapeo de controversias, a través de un análisis de la primera fase de la polémica en Twitter –con los hashtags #universidadsincensura y #universidadsinprostitucion– y el seguimiento de las actividades de las plataformas, desde la participación activa en la iniciativa #universidadsincensura. El análisis muestra que ambos actores emergen en consonancia con las lógicas del espacio público mediatizado, vinculados a la presencia en medios y redes. Dotados de grados de institucionalización distintos, Raiepp y #universidadsincensura conforman un mismo público, el de los afectados directa o indirectamente por el problema público en torno al estatuto de la prostitución, al que buscan solución a través de un proceso de indagación y experimentación que define la participación democrática.

Across the globe, human trafficking survivors have reported facing stigma and discrimination after reintegrating into communities. What makes stigma particularly dangerous is that it threatens what is “most at stake” in our lives, our close personal relationships and our personal life values. This paper explores longitudinal data from the Chab Dai Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project to document and describe forms of stigma and discrimination faced by survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking living in Cambodian communities. Our research suggests stigmas associated with sex trafficking are a “fundamental determinant” of social inequality for many female survivors following reintegration. In this study, 56 women survivors discussed their encounters with stigma and discrimination interspersed with coping strategies and resilience attributes used to navigate life experiences. The majority (70%) spoke about contending with cultural stigma together with stigma from human trafficking experiences. Four main stigma causes dominated survivor narratives: gender, sex work, socioeconomic status, and marriageability. We use these causes, in combination with the voices of survivors, to develop a conceptual model of cohort experiences with stigma in Cambodia. Many survivors are conscious of negative stereotypes in their home communities before trafficking and discuss their struggles with self-stigmatizing thoughts and labels as they reintegrate back into their communities. Survivor discussions regarding stigmas associated with sex work show intense and persistent stigma layered over existing cultural stigmas and connected with a wide variety of societal discrimination and negative outcomes. This assessment identifies multiple disadvantaged outcomes for survivors in education, relationships, marital rights, and gender-based violence. We argue that these outcomes impact survivors' access/barriers to resources and life conditions related to job skills, employment opportunities, improving their socioeconomic status, mental and physical health, and other perceptions of family harmony, societal honor, and personal well-being.

This research from the Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project focused on understanding the experiences and perceptions of justice and the justice system for 93 Cambodia participants (including 88 survivors of sex trafficking) as they navigated the legal system. Thirty-two of these survivors had experiences in court and provided details into their courtroom experiences, predominantly within Cambodia but also in the United States. The survivors’ experiences were diverse; however, the prevailing themes were: fear throughout their legal journeys; a low level of awareness and understanding of their legal experiences; and that NGO support was essential for these survivors to engage in the often complicated, lengthy and emotionally challenging legal processes. The recommendations generated from the results at the individual survivor level included: encouraging active participation to make informed decisions on their legal journey; survivors need compassionate support from all stakeholders throughout their legal journey; questioning needs to be appropriate, sensitive and age appropriate; and survivor safety needs to be central both in the courtroom and in the community, as perpetrators and their associates may be threatening. At a wider, societal level, the legal system should be accessible and encourage victim participation. Further, the outcomes of court should be adequate for survivors, in that they provide justice, restitution and deter future crimes; trust in the legal system needs to be developed; information and education about the legal system and legal rights should be promoted; and protection for survivors must be enhanced.

Individuals who have been sex trafficked are continuously being targeted for prostitution and other related offenses instead of being recognized for their victimization. This may occur due to a fundamental lack of understanding of the sex-trafficked experience, allowing for misperceptions to form unhindered. Individuals with these misperceptions then go on to form laws and services intended to aid victims, but instead leave them vulnerable and criminalized. This study assessed whether an educational intervention on the experience of a sex-trafficked individual could influence public perceptions of free will doubt and criminal culpability. This study used a non-equivalent groups posttest-only design to administer an article on the sex trafficking experience, including the trauma and coercion a victim faces, or a neutral article on optical illusions, to then assess sex trafficking knowledge, free will doubt, and culpability beliefs. Participants (N = 445) were recruited from the general public through Amazon Mechanical Turk and were reimbursed for their involvement. Results suggest that even when individuals display a basic understanding of the sex trafficking experience, they do not fully comprehend the complexities of how free will can be compromised by trauma and coercion, ultimately affecting perceptions of personal culpability for criminal activity.

Background Human trafficking is a critical public health issue particularly pervasive in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP), which share a border with Nepal. Many NGOs are participating in prevention, protection, prosecution, and capacity building initiatives. The aim of this study was to identify factors hindering and enhancing the efficacy of anti-trafficking programs in the region. Methods A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. Results Thematic analysis revealed that the barriers hindering the anti-trafficking movement include police corruption, insufficient enforcement of national law, discrimination toward trafficking victims, inadequate funding, and lack of government involvement. Recommendations for overcoming these barriers were through empowering survivors and increasing cooperation, coordination, and communications between NGOs and the government. Conclusions In mitigating these barriers and increasing survivor autonomy, anti-trafficking interventions have the opportunity to create individualized environments for those with an experience of trafficking to thrive. Ultimately, elevating community accountability, honoring individual autonomy, and recognizing the value of the persons with a lived experience of trafficking are critical as we continue to use a public health lens in the fight against human trafficking and for human rights.

Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing and profitable types of transnational crime. This form of modern-day slavery encompasses diverse practices of human exploitation such as sex trafficking, forced labor, marriage, begging, child soldiers, and illegal organ transplantation. The consequences of human trafficking affect all countries, are devastating for victims and society while impacting social, economic, and health costs. The project led by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) is assisting Central American countries to identify the missing and address human trafficking by developing model legislation and policy, effective DNA forensic science capabilities and creating database systems. The focus for human identification is on at-risk individuals who are the most vulnerable part of society. This program engages the public and government to establish legislative models for DNA identification of missing persons that protect the privacy of individuals. The State of Texas recently provided support for UNTCHI to develop programs that address the human trafficking problem in Texas. The program will concentrate on training law enforcement agencies, healthcare professionals, students, and the public to recognize the signs of human trafficking and provide avenues of interdiction for victims. Additionally, as part of this effort a standalone humanitarian DNA database, which is established and managed by UNTCHI, has been implemented to enhance identification of missing persons, especially those who have crossed the border or may have been trafficked and died during their journey. As a standalone database, the system is not connected to the State DNA Index System (SDIS) or the National DNA Index System (NDIS) and thus not accessible by law enforcement. With this database, reference DNA profiles can be obtained from Central American countries and Mexico to identify human remains found in Texas while maintaining confidentiality and human rights. This work is an example of an effective means of transferring forensics, technology, and database practices, establishing policy and legislation, engaging the public, and developing strategies for sustainability for high incident countries. Ultimately the approach can promote a multinational exchange of DNA data to identify the missing.

Empowerment-Focused Dance/Movement Therapy is a multifaceted approach for healing the emotional and physical impacts of trauma. Dance/movement therapy experiences are introduced for guiding body-based self-discovery and transformative creative expression. The primary goal is to build new psychophysical capacities through expanding expressive freedom, strengthening self-esteem and developing new emotional resources. Based on the theories and methods of dance/movement therapy pioneer, Blanche Evan, this novel evolution of Evan’s methods emphasizes sensitivity to cultural context for healing trauma in the global community. The approach prioritizes emotional safety and the cautious titration of trauma recovery experiences. First developed for sex trafficking survivors and marginalized populations in Kolkata, India, Empowerment-Focused Dance/Movement Therapy is a broadly effective approach for healing trauma.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the dark side of the relationship between gender, mobility, migration and tourism. Specifically, the paper looks at one form of human trafficking, the global sex industry and the relationship between sex trafficking and sex tourism. More particularly, the paper examines the global sex industry (Goh, 2009; Sasse, 2000, 2001) and the impact of migration and human rights aspects (Voronova and Radjenovic, 2016) of sex trafficking and sex tourism, as well as the emotional dimensions of trauma, violence and vulnerability (Heaslip, 2016). Design/methodology/approach The paper is an interdisciplinary discussion paper combining socio-economic perspectives (Goh, 2009; Brooks and Devasayaham, 2011), human rights perspectives (Cheah, 2006), migration perspectives (Voronova and Radjenovic, 2016), tourism perspectives (Carolin et al., 2015) and health perspectives (Cary et al., 2016; Matos et al., 2013; Reid and Jones, 2011). The contribution of these intersecting perspectives to an understanding of sex trafficking and sex tourism is explored. Findings The paper highlights the moral and ethical responsibility of the tourist industry to counteract sex trafficking and sex tourism, an issue which tourism studies have failed to fully engage with. In presenting the human costs of trafficking from a gender perspective, the paper considers the ways in which the tourism industries, in some countries, are attempting to respond. Research limitations/implications The originality of the research is the focus on the dark side of the relationship between gender, mobility and tourism through sex trafficking and sex tourism drawing on an interdisciplinary perspective. Social implications The paper looks at the individual and social implications of sex trafficking and sex tourism for different countries and states and for the individuals concerned. In addition, it looks at the ways in which the tourism industry is responding to sex trafficking and sex tourism and the social impact of this. Originality/value In theorising the relationship between gender, migration, sex trafficking and tourism from an interdisciplinary perspective, exploring the societal and individual impact, this paper provides a framework for further empirical research or policy changes with regard to the intersection of sex trafficking and tourism.

The sexually violated woman has become a salient symbol in feminist discourse, government policies, the media and transnational activism at this historical juncture. In this article, I seek to understand the conviction of anti-prostitution activists that all women in prostitution are victims (despite evidence to the contrary), and their simultaneous dismissal or condemnation of those women who identify as sex workers. The analysis identifies the centrality of victimhood to the affective logic of women activist leaders in the anti-prostitution movement, and its embeddedness in discourses of suffering and redemption in Korean nationalist historiography. Sexual victimhood thus acquires the power to incite moral outrage, compel consensus and inhibit dissent. Sex workers further come to bear the historical and political burden of righting all that is wrong with the nation, making their elimination essential for the nation’s rescue. Critiques of capitalism and the state become footnotes and silences in this process. In effect, the victimhood of ‘prostituted women’ allows women activists to circulate effectively in the affective economy of the nation as well as in the global anti-trafficking campaign. The passionate activism of anti-prostitution women activists may say less about the state of prostitution than about the activists’ subjectivity as historical and global subjects, and the symbolic world that they locate themselves in.

This paper looks at organizations working on issues of sex work/sex trafficking in Chicago as a strategic action field (SAF): a space where actors engage in collective action with a shared understanding of the field’s purposes, rules, and norms. Through analysis of SAFs, scholars focus on how actors intersect, manifesting in a context that simultaneously allows for reproducing the status quo, as well as producing social change. Using qualitative interviews with members of this particular SAF in Chicago, I demonstrate how actors in the field use the SAF concept of social skill to control the policy field. The challenger organization in particular uses social skill to exploit exogenous shocks to their advantage, pursuing legitimacy through their alignment with human service nonprofits. This paper concludes with a consideration of the use of SAF theory to dynamic fields such as sex work/sex trafficking, conceptualizing how field-level social change may occur.

Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor American citizen or permanent resident within the United States. It is a human rights abuse and carries significant consequences for victims’ psychological, physical, and social health. To interrupt DMST victimization patterns, it is important for researchers and advocates to fully understand how victims’ vulnerabilities are exploited by different people in their lives, but investigations of DMST victim–trafficker relationships are largely unexplored in the literature. The purpose of this cross-sectional path analysis of archival data, therefore, is to explore the influence of victims’ unmet basic needs on their victimization within specific types of DMST relationships. The results of this study suggest that unmet basic needs may play less of a role in influencing victim–trafficker relationship type than might be hypothesized based upon broader understandings of human trafficking vulnerability.

When the history of American abolitionist legislation is assessed—if it gets any consideration at all—the 1910 White Slave Act is often regarded as a flawed overreaction to a largely imagined, or at least exaggerated, problem. However, the law, usually known as the Mann Act, has arguably influenced US trafficking policy more than any other single law since the 13th Amendment. This article examines the career, ambitions and misfortunes of one of the leading figures behind the Act, the immigration investigator Marcus Braun, to show how the concept of slavery was manipulated. It also shows how the problem of trafficking evolved over the opening years of the twentieth century and how the legacy of the Mann Act has continued to affect American attitudes toward sex and morality and their ties to slavery ever since.

This research examines the securitization process and the effectiveness of multilateral cooperation against sex trafficking of women and children in the Mekong sub-region. It has been inspired by an open question of why the situation with sex trafficking has not improved despite the availability of a significant number of multilateral anti-trafficking mechanisms. The research analyses and evaluates anti-trafficking mechanisms of the ASEAN and COMMIT up to the mid of 2018 in the light of securitization theory and human security concept. The research concludes that anti-trafficking mechanisms within ASEAN and COMMIT have not yet adequately mitigated sex trafficking of women and children. Even though they have addressed trafficking in many different ways, some evidence shows that the ways in which they have proceeded with their anti-trafficking mechanisms have criminalized trafficked victims more than protected them. This practice is as a result of the state-centric policies instead of human-centric ones. Hence, regional mechanisms should prioritize human security and human rights when being employed to resolve security issues.

Despite new mandates to identify and respond to labor trafficking crimes, US law enforcement struggles to integrate labor trafficking enforcement with traditional policing routines and roles. As a result, human trafficking enforcement has primarily focused on sex trafficking and few labor trafficking cases have been identified and prosecuted. This study utilizes data from 86 qualitative interviews with municipal, state, county and federal law enforcement, victim service providers and labor trafficking victims in four US communities to inform our understanding of police responses to labor trafficking in local communities. Through the coding of these interviews across a series of themes, we identify three major challenges that impact police identification and response to labor trafficking crimes. These include lack of clarity about the definition of labor trafficking, lack of institutional readiness to address labor trafficking, and routines of police work that undermine police responsiveness to labor trafficking in local communities. Considering these challenges, we explore strategies law enforcement can take to improve identification, including developing non-traditional partnerships with labor inspection and local regulatory agencies. Additionally, interview data suggest a role for the police in ensuring labor trafficking victims are safe and their needs are met, regardless of the outcomes of the criminal justice process. This is the first study to examine police responses to labor trafficking from the perspective of police, service providers and victims.