SSOCIAL OC WORK PRACTICE WITH W IIT TH T H
SURVIVORS OOFF SSEX TRAFFICKING AND AN A ND N D
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION Edited by
ANDREA J. NICHOLS, TON YA EDM O N D, and ER IN C. HE IL
PROLOGUE A N D R E A J . N I C H O L S , P h D, WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L OU I S E R I N C . H E I L , P h D, S OU T H E R N I L L I N O I S U N I V E R S I T Y, E DWA R D S V I L L E
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ex trafficking has increasingly become an area of public concern and activism. Despite this heightened attention, sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) are not well understood in the public and political spheres, even within the antitrafficking movement and among social workers. In particular, there is a gap in the collective knowledge related to social work practice with survivors of sex trafficking and CSE. For this reason, it becomes more important than ever to disseminate knowledge from survivors, practitioners, and researchers in order to advance such knowledge and practice techniques in this field. With heightened public and political attention, our understandings of sex trafficking have shifted, but our practice knowledge lags behind. Society’s changing perceptions of sex trafficking are rooted in a history of grassroots activism and the resulting legislative shifts (Boxill & Richardson, 2007; Kalergis, 2009; Nichols, 2016). While sex trafficking has always existed, albeit under different labels (such as “commercial sexual exploitation” or, in the justice system, “juvenile prostitution”), redefining sex trafficking through key legislation and activism created a shift in the justice system, in practice, and in academia. According to federal law, sex trafficking is “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” (22 U.S.C. § 7102). Simply put, under U.S. federal law, any commercial sex act involving a minor equates
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to sex trafficking; for adults, commercial sex under conditions of force, fraud, or coercion is considered sex trafficking. Yet researchers and practitioners report limitations to this definition, in that the service population involved in commercial sex extends beyond the legal criteria for sex trafficking. This population includes adults involved in commercial sex who do not experience force, fraud, or coercion (or are unable or unwilling to report it), who experience difficulty in accessing services, and who often face criminalization instead of assistance (Egyes, 2016; Gerassi, Nichols, & Michelson, 2017; Heil & Nichols, 2015; Oselin, 2014). Some researchers refer to CSE as commercial sex involvement as a constrained choice, or as a situation in which some vulnerability is being exploited, such as age (e.g., minors), intellectual disability, poverty, or homelessness (Nichols, 2016; Reid, 2011). Legally, CSE is inherently sex trafficking if a minor is involved (Lloyd, 2012). For adults, it is not sex trafficking unless force, fraud, or coercion is present. Other researchers refer to this “grey area” population as sex workers, some of whom are involved as a free choice but others are involved as a constrained choice (Egyes, 2016). This book focuses on sex trafficking but also on the wider service population involved in commercial sex. The authors of this book have different experiences and ideologies. Some prefer the legal language of “sex trafficking,” and others prefer “commercial sexual exploitation,” “sex work,” or some combination of terms. The editors believe that it is important that various knowledge bases “speak for themselves” and reflect the reality of the various ideologies present within the field at large. Service providers can analyze their own approaches to understand how their biases might impact their work with survivors. As will be seen in various parts of this book, mirroring the language that survivors use is extremely important, and it is also important to create a nonjudgmental environment respecting how they view and interpret their situations. People accessing various types of services may not identify with the terms sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and modern-day slavery, the language that is commonly used in the antitrafficking movement, or sex work (Nichols & Heil, 2015). Every individual’s experience in sex trafficking and sex trade more broadly is complex and nuanced, and social workers should recognize survivors’ diverse narratives. There are multiple types of sex trafficking, including but not limited to familial trafficking, pimp-controlled trafficking, and survival sex. These “categories” are fluid and not mutually exclusive. Categorization is useful as a teaching tool to those unfamiliar with the dynamics of trafficking/CSE, but these are not rigid categories. Familial trafficking (in legal terms) involves family members, such as a parent or other relative, who facilitate children’s involvement in commercial sex or involve adult family members through force, fraud, or coercion. Intergenerational dynamics of sex-trading are well documented as well (Oselin, 2014;
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Raphael & Myers-Powell, 2010). Survival sex describes situations in which individuals sell or trade sex to meet basic needs like food, shelter, water, and clothes. Survival sex is incredibly common among homeless youth, and multiple studies show this to be one of the most common forms of sex trafficking. Because of legal age designations, anyone who is a minor involved in survival sex legally meets the criteria for trafficking. Yet adults will not meet the criteria if force, fraud, and coercion are not present. The legal definitions and age designations are relatively arbitrary, but they can impact the work that social workers do when collaborating with or assisting survivors. For example, any legal benefits (see chapter 7) are bound by legal definitions, and social services may also be impacted by legal definitions. Importantly, adults involved in commercial sex who cannot or do not want to prove force, fraud, or coercion are criminalized in U.S. legal systems. This fact also impacts advocacy, macro practice, community collaboration, and service provision. Pimp-controlled trafficking can take many forms. Not all pimps are traffickers; those who involve minors or who engage adults through force, fraud, or coercion are legally labeled as traffickers (Marcus, Horning, Curtis, Sanson, & Thompson, 2014). Pimps can be male or female, and many of those who are female first sold sex themselves (Raphael & Myers-Powell, 2010). Raphael and Myers-Powell (2010) found in interviews with ex-pimps in Chicago that all of the women in their sample and half the men had sold sex themselves prior to becoming pimps. Some relationships with pimps are characterized by extreme violence, while others are not (Marcus et al., 2014; Raphael, Reichert, & Powers, 2010). Cases of trafficking involving abduction, kidnapping, and overt force are relatively rare, but they do occur (Polaris Project, 2014). Sometimes pimps are friends, same-age peers, family members, or people who work informally as a manager or facilitator (Curtis, Terry, Dank, Dombrowski, & Khan, 2008; Dank, Yahner, et al., 2015; Lutnick, 2016; Raphael & Myers-Powell, 2010). In other instances, pimps-as-traffickers are boyfriends, husbands, or partners who become romantically involved and then emotionally manipulate, force, or coerce their partners into commercial sex. While this dynamic, often referred to as the “boyfriend pimp,” is often discussed in the context of cisgender heterosexual girls, cisgender gay boys, transgender girls, and others, including adults, are also known to have experienced this type of trafficking or CSE (Dank, Yahner, et al., 2015; Egyes, 2016; Heil & Nichols, 2015). The work examining sex trafficking more broadly traditionally focused on cisgender heterosexual girls. Early work drawing from the criminal justice system and social service organizations found sex trafficking to almost exclusively involve women and girls. Anywhere between 90 and 100 percent of victims were found to be female (Banks & Kycklehahn, 2011; Polaris Project, 2014). This research was limited, however, because for individuals to access services and to be “counted” as trafficked, those in social services and in the justice system had
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to identify and acknowledge them as such. In contemporary times, it remains the case that boys and men, as well as transgender people, are often disregarded by law enforcement and criminalized instead (Dank, Yu, et al., 2015; Egyes, 2017; Lutnick, 2016). Thus, statistics coming from these data sources are not likely to provide an adequate depiction of sex and gender dynamics. This problem may be due to the fact that survival sex, without the presence of a third-party trafficker, is the more common form of trafficking experienced by men, boys, and transgender people and is consequently overlooked because survival sex is not often understood as a form of trafficking (Curtis et al., 2008; Dank, Yahner, et al., 2015). The emphasis on women and girls is also likely due to traditional ideas about gender, which lead people to view CSE-involved (white) cisgender women and girls as victims and cisgender men and boys, and transgender people, as free agents and criminals (Dank, Yu, et al., 2015; Lutnick, 2016). Research also finds that anti-LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender, queer) bias plays a role in the stigma and unequal treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the justice system (Dank, Yu, et al., 2015), as well as in related gaps in services (Heil & Nichols, 2015). This stigma is heightened for racially marginalized groups (Dank, Yu, et al., 2015; Egyes, 2017). As research began to examine the experiences of other populations in addition to cisgender women and girls, our knowledge base expanded. For example, studies on homeless or transient youth populations engaged in largely streetlevel sex work found nearly equal representation of male and female trafficked/ exploited youth and a higher representation of transgender youth (Curtis et al., 2008; Dank et al., 2014). LGBTQ+ identities have also been found to heighten risk. One study found that of 641 youth in 10 cities, 24 percent of LGBTQ+ youth were trafficked for sex, compared to 20 percent of non- LGBTQ+ female youth and 12 percent of non- LGBTQ+ male youth (Loyola University New Orleans’s Modern Slavery Research Project, 2017). The work examining sex trafficking among homeless or transient youth has limitations as well. Curtis et al. (2008) indicated that their study was limited in that cisgender young women and girls were more likely to have an exploiter and were less likely to be included in the sample given the research methodology used—a referral, in which the individual would meet in person for an interview. A survivor involved with an exploiter could perceive this situation as dangerous and consequently avoid it. This work also tends to be drawn from homeless youth populations involved in street-level sex work, or survival sex, and may not reflect populations working in other sectors of the commercial sex industry or through pimp/trafficker-controlled sex trade. Thus the editors recommend looking at these various data sources as pieces of a puzzle that provide knowledge and information about the nuances of sex trafficking and exploitation, including the roles of racism, transphobia, homophobia, and traditional sexism rather than establishing prevalence in sex trafficking regarding sex, gender, or sexual orientation.
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Until very recently, the bulk of the academic research and literature examining sex trafficking and CSE centered on ideological debates (Farley, 2004, 2005; Madden-Dempsey, 2010; Outshoorn, 2005; Weitzer, 2010). This dynamic is rooted in the history of “the sex wars” between various feminist and political groups, which continue into the present day. In sum, liberal feminists highlight choice in commercial sex involvement, viewing freedom of choice and body autonomy as supporting women’s rights, while radical feminists view commercial sex as reflecting sexual objectification and widespread oppression of women. Politically, neoliberals advocate freedom from the constraints of the state in regard to sex work (while criminalizing sex trafficking), whereas abolitionists view sexual commerce as regimented domination of women’s bodies and as a form of modern-day slavery that should be eradicated. Radical feminists tend to support abolitionist ideologies and polices, whereas liberal feminists tend to support neoliberal ideologies and policies. Such work overlaps with critiques and perspectives of justice system involvement, the role of law enforcement, the impact of criminalization, and prostitution policy (see Nichols, 2016, for an overview). These debates impact coalition work, funding agendas, and community collaboration, and they may also color individual practice (Gerassi et al., 2017). In direct practice, social workers must be careful to provide a nonjudgmental space and not let adherence to any particular perspective impact their work by delegitimizing the ways clients define their experiences. Academic research from 2000 to 2010 overwhelmingly emphasized these ideological debates while virtually ignoring social service practice with survivors of trafficking and exploitation. While more recently the body of work examining social work practice with survivors of sex trafficking and CSE has been growing, there remains a gap in the field (Busch-Armendariz, Nsonwu, & Cook Heffron, 2014; Macy & Graham, 2012; Macy & Johns, 2011; Valandra, 2007). This is problematic, as research shows that social workers are interacting with trafficked and exploited people and either may not know it or may work directly with this population but lack practice knowledge. Social service providers “encounter trafficking victims among clients of agencies that provide services related to child advocacy, child protection and welfare, criminal justice, domestic violence, health care, homelessness outreach and shelter, juvenile justice, and victim advocacy” (Macy & Graham, 2012, p. 60). Additionally, social service providers may encounter trafficked or exploited people in foster care, youth-serving agencies, and drop-in centers, or in collaboration with the criminal justice system (Curtis et al., 2008; Heil & Nichols, 2015; Reid, 2011). This edited volume intends to fill a gap in the literature by specifically emphasizing the practices of social service providers with identified survivors of sex trafficking/CSE or those otherwise involved in commercial sex in need of social services. Researchers, students, and practitioners will find that this volume
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illustrates key practice techniques with sex-trafficking/CSE survivors through vignettes and an accessible “how-to” format for social workers. Sex trafficking/ CSE is viewed as an emerging practice area; as such, this is a contribution that will likely have some level of demand from practitioners and schools of social work. The book is intended to be used as a handbook for practitioners, as a key teaching text in courses for students, or as a reference for training workshops or continuing education for practitioners. The editors developed this volume to meet a recognized need for it. They drew from their own expertise as well as the expertise of the contributors to provide a useful tool for practitioners and students of social work and related fields. Andrea J. Nichols, who holds a background in sex trafficking/CSE and related practices as a community-action researcher and professor, regularly teaches the course Sex Trafficking to graduate-level social work students. Coeditor Tonya Edmond brings distinct expertise to this volume, with her extensive background in social work as a practitioner, professor, and researcher working in the areas of interventions with women, evidence-based trauma treatments, and trauma-informed care. Coeditor Erin Heil offers expertise on various aspects of the criminal justice system and researches and teaches in the areas of human trafficking and human rights. However, it is the expertise of the contributors that is the cornerstone of this book. The authors were specifically selected and invited to contribute to this edited volume because of their recognized and distinct contributions to the field of sex trafficking and CSE. They offer various areas of expertise and diverse experiences. They are survivors, practitioners, researchers, professors, graduate students, and directors of nationally renowned programs serving trafficked and exploited people, including Girls Education and Mentoring Services (GEMS), My Life My Choice, and the Sex Workers Project. More detailed biographical statements can be found at the end of this book. The editors were thrilled with the authors’ generosity and willingness to contribute. The book is organized into four parts—Practice Techniques, Practice with Specific Populations, Programmatic Design, and Prevention and Outreach. Part I begins with a chapter that describes the importance of survivor-centered practice and highlights the diverse experiences of survivors. The next two chapters focus on identifying trafficked and exploited people and on safety planning. The following chapter describes the Stages of Change, or transtheoretical, model that is used by GEMS, and this is followed by a chapter examining evidence-based trauma treatments. The next chapter examines harm-reduction programming and the rights-based perspective of social work practice. The last chapter in this section discusses the legal framework for sex trafficking and exploitation in order to guide social workers’ practices in collaboration with legal services, and it also highlights barriers to accessing services due to the criminalization of adults who sell sex.
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Part II focuses on practice with distinct populations, beginning with a chapter examining practices with trafficked immigrant women, who often experience multiple forms of exploitation and trauma. This is followed by a chapter describing the disproportionate victimization of African American people in sex trafficking and exploitation, as well as Afrocentric perspectives and practices. Following this is a chapter describing the distinct risk factors experienced by LGBTQ+ individuals, related practices, and structural-level activism of social workers to counter such risk factors. The last chapter in this section examines the unique risks and needs experienced by sex-trafficked girls with intellectual disabilities. Part III investigates programmatic design, emphasizing the Sanctuary Model as a trauma-informed organizational model. Two chapters then examine problematic policies, including a chapter examining exclusionary policies within a broad array of organizations, and another detailing problematic policies in the Department of Children’s and Family Services; both chapters offer recommendations for shifts in programmatic design. The last chapter in Part III describes the single-point-of-contact social worker model and discusses the importance of this model to improving outcomes for people who have experienced trafficking/exploitation, as well as the relevant application of social work perspectives within practice. Part IV discusses prevention and outreach efforts, beginning with the My Life My Choice prevention curriculum; the next chapter presents a macro-structural analysis of risk factors and implications for prevention and outreach. The last chapter critically examines the imagery often used in antitrafficking efforts and offers recommendations for images and wording for outreach and prevention materials, as well as community education and awareness materials, to avoid mischaracterization and reexploitation and to include diverse populations.
References Banks, D., & Kyckelhahn, T. (2011). Characteristics of suspected human trafficking incidents2005-2008. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from www.bjs.gov Boxill, N. A., & Richardson, D. J. (2007). Ending sex trafficking of children in Atlanta. Affilia, 22(2), 138–149. doi:10.1177/0886109907299054 Busch-Armendariz, N., Nsonwu, M., & Cook Heffron, L. (2014). A kaleidoscope: The role of the social work practitioner and the strength of social work theories and practice in meeting the complex needs of people trafficked and the professionals that work with them. International Social Work, 57(1), 7–18. Curtis, R., Terry, K., Dank, M., Dombrowski, K., & Khan, B. (2008). Commercial sexual exploitation of children in New York City, volume one: The CSEC population in New York City: Size, characteristics, and needs. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from https:// www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/225083.pdf
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s awareness and identification of sex trafficking and exploitation have grown, so has the need for improved social work responses. In this volume, expert practitioners, survivors, and researchers model the best practices for working with this population, using case examples and illustrative guides. Chapters cover the common challenges of working with trafficked and exploited people and how to overcome them, including topics like runaway youth, trauma-bonds, system-level challenges, and resource scarcity. Intended as a teaching tool for students or a supplementary manual for organizations, this book emphasizes interventions and treatments, working with specific populations, programmatic design recommendations, preventative work, and outreach interventions.
“This comprehensive text successfully navigates the complex politics of sexual exploitation and gives voice to a diverse array of survivors. The inclusion of individual, program-level, and preventive interventions makes this an essential primer for social workers.” ANDREA CIMINO, Johns Hopkins University “This book makes an important and significant contribution to our knowledge of what services are needed and how they should be provided. The writing is clear, compelling, and easy to follow.” DEAN DUNCAN III, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill “An invaluable ‘how to’ guide on working with sex trafficking survivors that illuminates the shades of gray within the commercial sex industry. Filled with rich scholarship, this seminal work empowers social service providers to tackle the complexities of sexual exploitation at the practice, program, and policy level. Well done!” JULIE ORME, Howard University “This book is a much-needed resource for understanding sex trafficking in its widest meaning, including the various definitions, experiences, perspectives, and populations of sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and sex trade. It gives a voice to researchers, practitioners, activists, and survivors.” HASMIK CHAKARYAN, Webster University
ANDREA J. NICHOLS is professor of sociology at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and lecturer and anti-trafficking initiative coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the author of Sex Trafficking in the United States: Theory, Research, Policy, and Practice (Columbia, 2016), coauthor of Human Trafficking in the Midwest: A Case Study of St. Louis and the Bi-State Area (2015), and coeditor of Broadening the Scope of Human Trafficking Research: A Reader (2016).
TONYA EDMOND is associate professor of social work and associate dean for diversity, inclusion, and equity at the Brown School of Social Work and a faculty fellow in the Office of the Provost at Washington University in St. Louis.
ERIN C. HEIL is associate professor of criminal justice studies at Southeastern Illinois University Edwardsville. She is the author of Sex Slaves and Serfs: The Dynamics of Human Trafficking in a Small Florida Town (2012), coauthor of Human Trafficking in the Midwest: A Case Study of St. Louis and the Bi-State Area (2015), and coeditor of Broadening the Scope of Human Trafficking Research: A Reader (2016). COV E R D E S I G N : J O R DA N WA N N E M AC H E R
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