Peeling the onion: domestically trafficked minors and other sex work involved youth

Supporting youth involved in domestic minor sex trafficking: Divergent perspectives on youth agency

“…However, this multi-disciplinary collaboration can be particularly challenging as professionals from diverse backgrounds may disagree about how to effectively respond to the needs of this population, particularly how to foster a safe environment while providing youth with the space for their own decision-making. The legal definition of American youth who are involved in DMST as crime victims may lead some adults to assume that domestically trafficked youth lack agency and decision-making capability as minors, in keeping with a dominant American belief that victimization and agency are mutually exclusive (Bay-Cheng & Fava, 2014;Horning, 2012). Bay-Cheng and Fava (2014) note that American culture has a tendency to portray young women as either "at-risk" victims or assertive, "can-do" autonomous agents; as a result, this binary fails to recognize the many ways that victimization, vulnerability, and agency can co-exist (Bay-Cheng & Fava, 2014).…”

“…These researchers note that a narrative of victimized young people who are controlled by violent traffickers both fails to correspond to the accounts of youth themselves and obscures the more complicated reality of youth who become involved in DMST (Horning, 2012;Marcus et al, 2011;Mitchell et al, 2010). Studies of commercially sexually exploited youth in both New York City (Curtis et al, 2008) and Atlantic City, NJ (Marcus et al, 2011) found few examples of youth being controlled by predatory traffickers.…”

“…Unfortunately, no reliable estimates exist on the prevalence of DMST in the United States, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 3 million youth affected (Curtis, Terry, Dank, Dombrowski, & Khan, 2008;IOM & NRC, 2013). The definition and scope of DMST is ambiguous and contested within the United States (Horning, 2012). The terminology of "trafficking" implies that an adult third-party exploiter controls youth involved in DMST, although recent research suggests that this is not always the case with underage youth (Horning, 2012; This project was supported by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.…”

“…The definition and scope of DMST is ambiguous and contested within the United States (Horning, 2012). The terminology of "trafficking" implies that an adult third-party exploiter controls youth involved in DMST, although recent research suggests that this is not always the case with underage youth (Horning, 2012; This project was supported by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Department of Children and Families.…”

“…2010). For example, transactional sex between similar-age youth may sometimes be facilitated in collaboration with peers and other times under deceitful and exploitative circumstances (Horning, 2012). Additionally, homeless youth are more likely to engage in survival sex, or the process of exchanging sex for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter (Colby, 2011).…”