The financial implications with expunging the criminal record of survivors of childhood sex trafficking involves the judicial system and the state government. Funding for Public Sector Organizations and the Public Defender’s Office is needed to provide these services. Part of the fines implemented by the judicial system in accordance to Justice for Victims of Trafficking Acts (JVTA) of 2015 that imposes an additional $5,000 fine on top of restitution, to the Domestic Trafficking Victims Fund can help fund the expungement.
Financial Benefits:
A survivor of childhood sex trafficking who has been arrested and has a criminal record can find it hard to secure an income capable of providing a sustainable livelihood. If the records were completely expunged from the survivors record they can obtain finical aide for secondary education, obtain higher paying jobs, and require less assistance from the government. In 2014 an undergraduate public policy senior practicum from Stanford University looked at the cost-benefit analysis of criminal record expungement in Santa Clara County. The report found that the net benefit to the person obtaining expungement outweighed the cost by $5,760 per in one year. They pointed out that this is an underestimate of net benefits due to the inability to include identified benefits that could not be quantified. The report stated that the government expungment cost were zero in the first year, but the increased gain for the government was $34,308 for a three year period. The increase was qualified by the increased taxes and reduction in government assistance.
Sustainability
The Public and Private Sectors will need to continue to work together to advocate for this extremely vulnerable population. In order to keep the policy change to expunge survivors criminal records from finger print clearance cards, all groups must work together for the betterment of the survivors’ lives. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Acts (JVTA) of 2015 will continue to fund at the federal level and passing more funding through fines at a state level could help with the sustainability. The people who advocate for this group of individuals will continue to do so and spread education until there will hopefully be an end to the horrific crimes of childhood sex trafficking, thus no more need for sustainability.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services put out an
update titles: Arizona:
Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking.
In this article it names Online Ads as the top sex trafficking
venue.
Technology and labor trafficking in a Network Society
discusses the role technology plays in trafficking: its role in facilitating
the trafficking, the potential for technology to provide tools to prevent, expose,
and monitor trafficking, and the ability for trafficking victims, survivors and
at risk groups to use technology to educate, assist, and inform.
Technology advancement are also a blessing because we are
more capable of intervening via law enforcement who’s sole job it is to find
children being sex trafficked online. The Arizona Human Trafficking Council February
meeting minutes discuss the Phoenix Police Department and the HEAT (Human
Exploitation and Trafficking) unit successes in the month of January. During the month they recovered six juveniles
and arrested 7 adults (3 for child sex trafficking). The task force has rescued 130 juveniles to
date. Education is being distributed by
the counsel through PowerPoint presentations.
Public Service Announcements are being used through our day
and age’s technology. Here is a large
campaign via MTV:
These are other technologies that law enforcement are using:
This is a service free to law enforcement that uses archived
data of millions of escort ads and forums.
It allows law enforcement to search or filter escort ads based on phone
numbers, email, key words, age, location, time frame and much more. The system can generate leads through an algorithm
that recognizes suspicious ads. The
software uses image matching, profile generations, and ability to set alerts to
further combat childhood sex trafficking.
Microsofts program that identifies images of children who are sexual exploited online.
Television is being used to educate and bring this horrific crime to light. See below:
As discussed in the previous post, the world of sex trafficking largely lives on the world wide web, social media, and dating apps. With the shut down of Backpage and other internet based sources, there is an influx of children being trafficked on the streets. Congress and President Trump signed into law, Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, to stop websites to hide behind the First Amendment and Privacy Laws.
The new advancement of technology is forcing this crime out to the streets. How many times have you driven down the road in a “sketchy” part of town. You may see teenagers or young adult women/men who look to be under the influence of drugs and or alcohol, we as a culture automatically look away in sadness or disgust. In fact those children/young adults need help, don’t turn your head.
The Private Sector is working tirelessly to make
strides in ending sex trafficking. Our
very own university, Arizona State University (ASU) is part of the solution.
STIR
was developed at ASU in 2013 to provide research to guide practice and policies
of educators, healthcare providers, educators, law enforcement, and any other
profession who can come into contact with sex traffickers or their
victims. The organization works with to
gain research to help make changes in policy in Arizona. The website houses Sex Trafficking Help, which links to Always (Arizona Legal Women and Youth
Services). Always has a Justice for Survivors
initiative. The program helps survivors
reclaim their autonomy and lives through legal services.
I am Jane Doe
If you have not watched this movie on Netflix, it is a must watch. This movie describes how children are lured into sex trafficking, but furthermore it depicts in detail how big cooperate technology website, Backpage is being shielded from prosecution under the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. The owners of Backpage call Arizona their home. This should be concerning to all of us. The owners dis not respond to a subpoena by a Congressional Special Interest Committee to investigate children being sold on Backpage. To date, Backpage has been shut down, and the owners have been involved with legal repercussions.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of sex trafficking. Since its recognition under federal law in 2000, human trafficking has been identified as the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. The International Labour Organization released its Global Estimate on Modern Slavery and concluded that forty million people in the world are victims of modern slavery, including sexual slavery, and that women and girls comprise 99% of victims of forced sexual exploitation, with 25% of those victims being children. This growth, which has similar trends in the United States, is largely attributed to the use of the Internet to facilitate the sale of human beings, including children, for rape and sexual abuse. While exact numbers are difficult to ascertain, it is beyond dispute that the use of online advertising to facilitate sex trafficking is a significant factor in the increase of this form of victimization. Yet, when survivors or state prosecutors attempt to hold liable the very service providers who permit the advertising of sex-trafficking victims—including children—for sale in the largest market to buy human beings in the world, § 230 ties their hands. Defendant websites use § 230 as a sword and argue that it affords such sites immunity from liability, even if accused of participating in child sex trafficking. Despite consensus that § 230 was never designed to create such absolute immunity, courts have struggled to reconcile precedent from an earlier Internet era with the reality of slavery in the current Internet age. The result has been an inability of sex-trafficking victims and state prosecutors to proceed with cases against such businesses that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking. Since the emergence of this unintended reality, many have called on Congress to update § 230 and address this problem. More recently, sex-trafficking survivors,9 all fifty state attorneys general, and a growing number of courts have called on Congress to amend § 230 to restore it to its original purpose of providing limited, not nearly absolute, protections for inter- active computer services. Congress has failed to act thusfar. Nevertheless, in 2017, two bills (one in each chamber) have been proposed to address this reality.”
Polaris is a
non-profit in Washington DC founded in 2002, named after the North Star to
become the North Star for victims of trafficking to navigate towards
freedom.
“By its very definition, the crime of human trafficking
involves people participating in some activity against their will. Often those activities are illegal –
prostitution, selling drugs, shoplifting
– and trafficking victims are arrested and charged with a crime. This
tragically ironic scenario is extremely common – a survey found that 91% of
survivor respondents had a criminal record as a result of being trafficked. A
criminal record, even an arrest without a conviction, often leads to doors
being slammed shut. It’s harder to find
a job, rent an apartment, and otherwise rebuild a life after breaking free from
a trafficking situation.”
Arizona has a grade of an F
Arizona also is first listed in the HALL OF SHAME by the report being cited as:
“Arizona has a particularly troubling
additional restriction to criminal record relief because the law does not apply to any conviction
imposed after July 24, 2014. This was due to Arizona passing legislation in
2014 that allowed victims of sex trafficking to assert an affirmative defense
to prosecution for the crime of prostitution. In Arizona, survivors may use this defense when they are charged with
prostitution; however, they are then prevented from any recourse to clear their
criminal record in the future if they fail to do so. This puts all the
pressure on the victim at the time of their arrest and conviction. There are
many reasons why a survivor who is legally eligible to assert an affirmative
defense may not do so. In fact, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where a
victim will actually assert the defense in the course of their own prosecution.Trafficking survivors will
likely need time to recognize that the situation they were in was indeed trafficking
and that they were themselves a victim. They may be scared of their trafficker,
who may have told them throughout the whole of their victimization that if they
asked for help they would be locked up by law enforcement. They may be
uncomfortable testifying in open court about their victimization. It is
therefore problematic to eliminate the possibility of criminal record relief
just because trafficking survivors have the option to assert an affirmative
defense. Arizona should recognize that the current statute penalizes trafficking
survivors who fail to speak out at the time of their arrest. This limitation
prevents them from clearing their criminal record which will continue to
negatively impact their lives.
Arizona has made it clear that, in the state’s eyes, having the ability to use an affirmative defense eliminates the need for criminal record relief. Several other states have not been as explicit, but they are also using affirmative defenses as a way to discount or punish survivors who do not use it at the time of their arrest or conviction.”
References:
Arizona State University. (2019). Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention and Research. Retrieved from: https://socialwork.asu.edu/stir
The public sector institutions play a large role in childhood sex trafficking. The societal pressure that comes with the outrageous crimes of sex trafficking is enormous. For several decades this was a topic that was taboo, not talked about, and preferred to be thought of not to exist. In the 1980’s there was a push socially to discuss crimes against women and children.
There are National and state level institutions who
advocate, lobby, push for legislation, educate the public, treat, and provide
services to the most vulnerable…..children of commercial sex trafficking.
In the state of Arizona several of the institutions include:
Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network:The organization is a state wide source that provides support, services, and collaborative opportunities to agencies, non- profits, faith based coalitions, advocacy projects, individuals, and groups who are serving the anti-trafficking community.
Mission: To eliminate human trafficking in Arizona by raising
awareness, reducing demand and fostering prevention efforts with youth.
Vision: An Arizona where no one is bought sold or exploited.
The organization
has several different programs:
Cease Arizona: “Working to
eradicate sex trafficking in the state of Arizona by focusing on the demand for
paid sex. By disrupting the business of human trafficking through targeted
campaigns aimed directly at sex buyers, we can have a measurable impact in the
overall size of the market.”
CSI (Community School Initiative): “focused
on providing mentoring for youth to develop leadership skills, self-esteem, and
empowerment. This innovative and robust after school program is primarily aimed
at the most vulnerable youth in our communities.”
Just.Men.Arizona: “Experts in the
anti-trafficking movement recognize the unique voice and influence of men to
help create just communities in which the vulnerable can thrive. The goal is to
mobilize no fewer than 300 male allies in two years by training them in both
demand disruption and demand prevention tactics. Men create the demand that
drives sex trafficking. Better men can help end that demand and
Just.Men.Arizona is how we’re going to get it done.”
TRUST(Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking): “Raises
public awareness on sex trafficking to community members and organizations
through speakers, trainings and centralization of anti-trafficking related
materials. Coordinate efforts in Arizona and build relationships with
stakeholders and assist current service providers.” An anonymous member of
TRUST reports that training is provided to the public, law enforcement, first
responders, and medical staff. The focus of the training to provide basic
information of human trafficking and the signs to look for human trafficking.
A program is funded through the state of Arizona and houses the Arizona Human Trafficking Council. The program educates the public, provides resources, and houses a resource for all Arizona and national laws and statutes. A person can go to the website and obtain prevention and awareness training and request this training.
“The Phoenix Dream Center, a volunteer driven nonprofit
organization, which exists to serve the homeless, low-income, at risk youth and
struggling individuals and families by providing resources, opportunities and
supportive services to help them realize their dream of living a
self-sufficient life. The Housing Programs at the Phoenix Dream Center include
a Christian-based Life Recovery Program, A Program for Young Women out of Sex
Trafficking including Crisis Pregnancy, An Affordable Housing Program and A
Foster Care Age-Out Program.”
StreetLightUSA provides crisis intervention, stabilization
and housing, through a variety of programs and services tailored to meet the
needs of young girls at risk for and victims of child sex trafficking.
The
organization is a project of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona. Their mission is: “Yavapai Family Advocacy
Center’s mission is to reduce trauma to victims of abuse by providing a safe
and supportive environment and facilitating a team approach to advocacy,
investigation, and prosecution.
The volunteer with TRUST states “We need awareness about the TOUGH subjects to spread like wildfire. We would like the public to know that it happens here too (Arizona) It is happening under our noses on the internet. A drug you can only sell once; a human can be sold multiple times. With the rise in demand, the need; needs to be filled. So if we can combat the demand side, teach prevention, this can drastically curb the victims. If there was no demand for this, there would be no need for us. Yeah backpage got shut down, but now they are running on dating sites like Snapchat, Grinder, Plenty of Fish, and Squirt.org.”
ABC15 reports on 2/25/2019 with a headline: Snapchat
relationship leads to sex with minor arrest in North Phoenix
The public sector institutions are forcing people to be aware sex trafficking and forcing it to come to the forefront where it needs to be dealt with. This in turn is pushing for policies and statutes to be put into law. The Public Sector could possibly be the best advocate for the sex crimes against children.
Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network. (2019). About Us.
Retrieved from:http://aatnaz.org
Sexual exploitation of children and sexual slavery has been
around long before written history. Commercial
sex trafficking has been called the world’s oldest profession. A person without status or protection was
left vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
This is no different today. The
term sex trafficking is a relatively modern term. In the 1980’s it was created during the
second women’s movement. There was a
surge to stop women and childhood prostitution.
There are many contemporary institutions and actors in
childhood sex trafficking. The internet
and technology has increased the stretch that traffickers and controllers are
able to reach.
In the United States alone, 150,000 new escort ads are
posted on the internet every day. The
smartphone has increased the instantaneous access to the horrible world of the dark
web. Predators are capable of having
access to children 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Buyers drive the child sexual exploitation, which makes this
a profitable industry for traffickers and controllers. This is a demand-driven industry fueled by
the buyers, often times men, who buy sex from women and children. On average one trafficker can make $150,000
off one child in a year of sex trafficking.
Starting in 1883 the first win for anti-sex trafficking occurred
by repealing the Contagious Disease Act in England by Josephine Butler and the
International Abolitionist Federation. The
Contagious Disease Act required that women in prostitution be regularly
examined for sexually transmitted infections and be registered. If a woman was found to have an infection,
she could be held until she was “clean.”
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was passed in
2000 was the first far-reaching federal law to tackle sex trafficking in
persons. The law included prevention,
protection, and prosecution. This became
the anti-slavery law and defined what this meant: force, fraud or coercion to
compel forced labor or commercial sex acts.
Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of
2014 was enacted to reduce the prevalence of sex trafficking among the youth
involved in the foster care system. The
act requires that the foster care system report sex trafficking and improve
their response to sex trafficking by screening youth who may be at risk,
provide appropriate care and services to victim of sex trafficking, report
missing children to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, and
develop procedures for locating missing or runaway children.
On May 29th, 2015 President Obama signed the Justice
for Victims of Trafficking Acts (JVTA) of 2015.
The act provides restitution and justice for victims of sex trafficking
and child pornography. The Act will
impose fines and penalties against offenders who are found guilty. The Fine will be $5,000 on top of any
restitution ordered by the court. The
fines will be placed in the Domestic Trafficking Victims Fun for grants to
programs who assist trafficking victims.
In Arizona, House Bill 2454 toughened state law by
increasing penalties of those found guilty of human trafficking and improving
the protection of the victims.
“Creates a separate and higher sentencing structure for
traffickers that increases the presumptive sentence:
From 10.5 years to 13.5 years for a first offense;
From 15.75 years to 25 years for a trafficker with a prior felony conviction; and
From 28 years to 31 years for a trafficker with two or more prior felonies.
Adds the language “or should have known” to the section of
statute regarding a john who engages in prostitution with a minor who is
fifteen, sixteen or seventeen and, therefore, limits the defense that the john
did not know he was engaging in prostitution with a minor.
Allows any prior felony conviction to qualify for increased
sentencing for traffickers, and for johns who knowingly engaged in prostitution
with a minor who is fifteen, sixteen or seventeen, or “should have
known.”
Adds an aggravating offense if a trafficker obtained a
victim from a shelter for runaway youth, foster care, homeless persons or
victims of human trafficking, domestic violence or sexual assault.
Adds an affirmative defense for victims of sex trafficking for
the crime of prostitution and specifies that a victim’s identifying and
locating information is considered private when testifying in a court
proceeding or when it is obtained by a prosecution or law enforcement agency.
Adds child prostitution, sex trafficking and labor
trafficking to the list of acts that constitute racketeering.
Requires licensed escorts, escort businesses, massage
therapists, and massage therapy businesses to include their license number in
any advertisement for services, as well as to keep on file proof of the age of
anyone depicted in an advertisement for services.
Establishes advertising a minor for prostitution as a class
2 felony, or as a dangerous crime against children if the minor is under 15
years of ages.” – Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family
Education and awareness campaigns are being spread to bring
light to the subject. This can only be stopped trough awareness. January is Human Trafficking Awareness
Month. Driving through In-And-Out you
can even be reminded of this…..
Sarah is forced to continue providing “Paul” with a steady income from nightly visits from different men. She is beaten on a regular basis. She is fed a daily ration of a fast food meal, if she meets her nightly quota, set in place by “Paul.” Sarah often times only eats one meal a day.
“Paul” introduces Sarah to the world of drugs and alcohol. “Paul” encourages Sarah to use both drugs and alcohol, and she begins to willingly take part to numb the pain, fear, and embarrassment of what has become her nightmare of a life. Sarah pretends to be someone else when she is forced into repeated sexual encounters, and the drugs and alcohol provide that outlet.
“Paul” has kidnapped and forced Sarah into sex trafficking now for the last year. She is addicted to drugs and alcohol and is now faced with an array for sexually transmitted diseases and a super infection on her left arm from her IV drug use. “Paul” has no other option but to seek medical attention for Sarah.
Sarah is taken to a local hospital in Downtown Phoenix. “Paul” remind Sarah that he will kill her and her family if she says anything to the hospital staff. He tells her they won’t believe a drug addict. Sarah is ashamed and afraid of “Paul.”
Megan the day shift nurse is
assigned to Sarah’s room in the emergency room.
She has been trained to spot possible victim of sex trafficking. She is alerted to the red flags in the
hospital bay.
Sarah looks to “Paul” before answering any questions directed to her.
She avoids eye contact with Megan
She has bruises on her body, and stated she fell down the stairs
She is dirty and looks as though she has not showered in several days
She is unable to identify an address of where she is staying
She has IV track marks up and down her arms [1]
Megan second guesses herself and talks herself out of reporting to her superiors or social work her concerns about Sarah and “Paul.” Sarah is treated with antibiotics and discharged from the emergency department. This will not be the last time Sarah comes into contact with a healthcare provider. She is seen two more times in different emergency rooms for an infection related to an unsafe abortion and broken ribs.
Healthcare providers often come into contact with persons who are victims of sex trafficking to receive care for sexually transmitted disease, infections, broken bones, burns, heat exposure, dehydration, substance abuse overdoses, complications of unsafe abortions, and untreated conditions [2].
Six months after her initial treatment for a super
infection, Sarah is picked up by the Phoenix Police Department for prostitution
and drug possession. Sarah is two months
away from her 18th birthday.
She is scared, beaten, exhausted, and addicted to drugs. She is taken to Madison and booked on several
charges to include: prostitution, drug possession, and drug paraphernalia
possession.
Sarah has been rescued from her year and a half hell at the hands of “Paul.” This is not the end of her nightmare, this is the beginning of a new nightmare…..
The definition of ethics by Webster is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation [3]
Ethics is at the basis of healthcare policy and policy decision making related to sex trafficking. There is no argument of what is good or bad when discussing childhood sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is bad and there is a moral duty and obligation to end it.
The state statue discussed in “Sarah and the Gorilla Pimp” is a step in the right direction. Vacating a criminal charged committed while a child is a victim of sex trafficking is the moral and ethical thing to do. The area needing to be corrected is the exception to fingerprint clearance. Is it ethical to force a victim to be re-victimized by disclosing to a potential employer crimes committed while under duress? Is it ethical and moral to prevent a person from following their dreams and pursuing a career in which they need a finger print clearance due to crimes committed while a victim of sex trafficking?
[2] Baldwin, S., Eisenman, D., Sayles, J., Ryan, G., Chuang,
K. (2011). Identification of human trafficking victims in health care settings.
Health Hum Rights. 13(1):e36-e49
Macias-Konstantopoulos, W. (2017). Caring for the Trafficked
Patient: Ethical Challenges and Recommendations for Health Care Professionals. AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(1):80-90. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.19.1.msoc2-1701.
Sex trafficking through the story of 16 year Sarah
Sarah is an excelling sophomore at a local high school in Phoenix, Arizona. She recently was faced with the threat of becoming homeless due to the recent loss of her father to pancreatic cancer. Sarah is the oldest of six children and has started to take on the caregiver role to her five younger siblings, while her mother works long hours at two full-time jobs to support the family.
Sarah is given the rare opportunity to be a “normal” teenager and heads to Scottsdale Fashion Square with a few of her close friends on a Saturday night. While walking around and window shopping, Sarah and her friends are approached by “Paul,” a handsome older gentleman who introduces himself to Sarah and her friends. He tells them he is in town for the week and is looking for some fun things to do and wondered if they had any suggestions. Sarah is quiet and stand to the back of the group looking down at the ground as he talks. “Paul” notices Sarah and asks if he can have her phone number.
Sarah reluctantly gives her phone number to “Paul” though she felt she should not have done so. “Paul” texts Sarah over the next few days and gains her trust through several hundred text messages over the week. “Paul” suggests that they meet at a local restaurant near the hotel he is staying at. Sarah agrees and meets him for dinner.
“Paul” treats Sarah to a nice dinner where they laugh and talk for hours. Sarah forgets all the stress of her home life and feels like a princess when she is with “Paul.” He suggests they head back to his hotel so they can spend more time together. Sarah agrees and heads back to the hotel with “Paul.”
Sarah walks into the hotel room and notices there are other men in the room when they walk in. She tries to go back out the door, as she senses danger, but the door is blocked by “Paul” who has now changed and become very angry. He asks her, “Just where do you think you are going Sarah?” Sarah begins to panic and cry, begging him to let her leave. “Paul” begins hitting Sarah and telling her to take her clothes off.
Sarah is raped by three different men that night, hit several times in the face and body, and told she will die if she does not cooperate. This will be the first night of many that Sarah will be exploited into sex trafficking by her pimp “Paul.”
The average age of a child lured or forced into sex trafficking is 14 in the state of Arizona. Children most vulnerable to becoming targets of sex trafficking include: runaway youth, homeless youth, and unaccompanied minors. Boys and girls are both targeted by traffickers. Children are often rescued out of sex trafficking by run ins with law enforcement. Children are often convicted of crimes related to sex trafficking including prostitution, loitering, and drug possession.
Victims of sex trafficking who have been convicted or arrested for crimes related to sex trafficking can vacate their convictions per State Statute ARS 13-907.01 found under resources at the website of Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family.
State Statute ARS 13-907.01
13-907.01. Vacating the conviction of a sex trafficking victim; requirements:
A. A person who was convicted of a violation of section 13-3214 or a city or town ordinance that has the same or substantially similar elements as section 13-3214 committed before July 24, 2014 may apply to the court that pronounced sentence to vacate the person’s conviction. The court shall grant the application and vacate the conviction if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person’s participation in the offense was a direct result of being a victim of sex trafficking pursuant to section 13-1307.
B. If the prosecutor does not oppose the application, the court may grant the application and vacate the conviction without a hearing.
C. If the prosecutor opposes the application, the court shall hold a hearing on the application.
D. On vacating the conviction, the court shall:
1. Release the applicant from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the conviction.
2. Enter an order that a notation be made in the court file and in law enforcement and prosecution records that the conviction has been vacated and the person was the victim of a crime.
3. Transmit the order vacating the conviction to the arresting agency, the prosecutor and the department of public safety.
E. A conviction vacated pursuant to this section does not qualify as a historical prior felony conviction and cannot be alleged for any purpose pursuant to section 13-703 or 13-707.
F. Except on an application for employment that requires a fingerprint clearance card pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1, a person whose conviction is vacated under this section may in all instances state that the person has never been arrested for, charged with or convicted of the crime that is the subject of the conviction, including in response to questions on employment, housing, financial aid or loan applications.
Children who are victims of sex trafficking do have to disclose prior convictions when applying for employment that require fingerprint clearance cards. A few fingerprint clearance cards include: educators, nurses, doctors, social workers, nursing assistants, police officers, and firefighters. Survivors of sex trafficking can be re-victimized by being forced to disclose for employment.
Fortunately, Sarah is a fictional character, but she could easily be your daughter, sister, cousin, friend, or neighbor. The average life expectancy of a child, once involved in the sex trafficking world, is seven years. January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month. It is imperative to discuss and share the ways to recognize victims of sex trafficking. Healthcare providers can be the tip off for authorities to become involved and save children’s lives.
Hampton, M., & Lieggi, M. (2017) Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth in the United States: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. doi: 10.1177/1524838017742168
Panililio, C., Miyamoto, S., Font, S., Schreier, H. (2018) Assessing Risk of Commercial Sexual Exploitation Among Children Involved in the Child Welfare System. Child Abuse and Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.07.021
Childhood Sex Trafficking 