UC Irvine

Youth sex trafficking is often an invisible crime, with victims hiding in plain sight, and identification wrought with challenges. Identification requires some understanding of what youth sex trafficking is, how trafficking victims might be encountered, what to look for when such encounters occur, and how to respond to assess risk and begin to intervene. Whether professionals and laypersons, both groups that may interact with victims, possess this understanding is largely unknown. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to provide much-needed knowledge relevant to identifying youth victims of sex trafficking. Study one evaluated frontline medical professionals’ (e.g., emergency and first-responders) ability to recognize situations highly suggestive of trafficking that they are likely to encounter in their jobs. Results suggest that general recognition of risk is high but recognition of trafficking specifically is low, and some professionals feel that their job only requires they address immediate medical concerns not broader needs of potential minor victims. The second study also focused on medical professionals, but did so from the perspective of survivors, who described how interactions with such professionals unfolded during their victimization. Findings highlighted varying levels of miscommunication and feelings of being judged by medical professionals among the survivors, who further reported that these feelings shaped their comfort with and willingness to disclose victimization to medical professionals at that time. Finally, the third study examined laypersons’ perceptions of trafficked minors, both in terms of whether laypersons recognized sexual exploitation and how much responsibility they placed on victims of different ages and genders. Recognition of crime occurrence was better with younger rather than older victims, regardless of gender, with older victims being more likely to be considered at least partly responsible. The studies, in combination, have significant potential to impact policy and practice, particularly in relation to improving outcomes for victimized and vulnerable youth.