Abstract
Human trafficking in children is often part of a larger constellation of childhood adversity. Many trafficked youth have been exposed to multiple layers of traumatic stress, including physical, sexual, and/or verbal abuse; witnessing violence; emotional neglect; and family dysfunction. This paper is a qualitative analysis of the charts of 32 youth who were sex trafficked as minors, including both foreign national and domestic youth. It explores their history of early adversity and polyvictimization and reviews common coercive strategies used by the traffickers, including manipulation of these children’s unmet physical and emotional needs. It identifies developmental trauma adaptations in these youth, including affect dysregulation and impulsivity; alterations in attention and consciousness; issues in interpersonal relationships; and impairments in self-perception and attributions. It concludes with recommendations based on these findings, including the development of developmentally and culturally appropriate trauma-informed services for sex trafficked children and youth.
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Although the current study was not directly grant-supported, it reviewed files of direct services that were supported by several OVC grants, including Grant #s 2008-40485-MA-VT, 2003-VT-BX-4004, 2011-VT-BX-K020, and 2012-VT-BX-K008. There are no conflicts of interest to report.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Elizabeth Hopper, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist with a specialization in traumatic stress. She is the Director of Project REACH, a program that serves foreign national and domestic survivors of human trafficking throughout the U.S. and is a clinician and supervisor at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, one of the nation’s leading agencies in the study and treatment of the psychological impact of trauma.
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Hopper, E.K. Polyvictimization and Developmental Trauma Adaptations in Sex Trafficked Youth. Journ Child Adol Trauma 10, 161–173 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0114-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0114-z