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Male victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking have been neglected in research literature, and little is known about the experiences of male victims of sex trafficking and sex trading. This research study aims to explore the experiences of male sex trafficking and sex trading in a large urban southwestern city to identify incidences, available resources, and needed services for male sex traders. Research was conducted at a drop-in center for homeless youth ages 18-24 in a large urban city in the southwest. A total of 13 males between the ages of 18 and 24 were interviewed. The results of this study revealed that male sex trafficking does exist among the homeless youth population, that childhood sexual victimization appears to be a precursor to sex trading later in life, that there are limited resources for males that participate in sex trading, and that more research needs to be done within this population.
ContributorsVan Kleeck, Cynthia (Author) / Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique (Thesis advisor) / Risley-Curtiss, Christina (Committee member) / Sheade, Ryan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study uses the ontological lenses of discourse theory to conduct a critical mixed-methods analysis of state statutes related to prostitution and sex trafficking. The primary research question of the study was, "How do state laws communicate and reinforce discourses related to sex trafficking and prostitution and how do these discourses reinforce hegemony and define the role of the state?" A mixed methods approach was used to analyze prostitution and sex trafficking related annotated and Shepardized statutes from all fifty states. The analysis found that not all prostitution related discourses found in the literature were present in state statutes. Instead, statutes could be organized around five different themes: child abuse, exploitation, criminalization, place, and licensing and regulation. A deeper analysis of discourses present across and within each of these themes illustrated an inconsistent understanding of prostitution as a social problem and an inconsistent understanding of the legitimate role of the state in regulating or criminalizing prostitution. The inconsistencies in the law suggest concerns for equal protection under the law based upon a person's perceived deservingness, which often hinges on his or her race, class, gender identity, sexuality, age, ability, and nationality. Implications for the field include insights into a substantive policy area rarely studied by policy and administration scholars, a unique approach to mixed methods research, and the use of a new technique for analyzing vast quantities of unstructured data.
ContributorsMayo, Andrea, Ph.D (Author) / Herbst, Chris M. (Thesis advisor) / Lucio, Joanna (Thesis advisor) / Segal, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
An asset-based approach to vulnerability, as presented in Voices of the Poor: Can Anyone Hear Us? and World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty, provides a possible theoretical framework for understanding vulnerability to human trafficking. Case studies, field studies and narratives of human trafficking provide evidence that the assets of victims of trafficking play a significant role in human trafficking. This appears to be true both with regard to how traffickers exploit victim assets and with regard to how successful human trafficking prevention efforts are implemented. By exploring and further establishing this connection, I hope to provide evidence that a model of human trafficking acquisition incorporating elements of victim assets and the assets of communities deserves field-testing. Such field-testing will hopefully confirm the deep connection between assets and human trafficking activity and establish the necessary connections anti-trafficking activists will need to create a predictive version of the model with regard to individual vulnerability to human trafficking. Lastly, I argue that, provided the connection between human trafficking vulnerability and victim asset levels holds, an asset-based approach provides a rhetorical framework to resist policies that compromise asset levels of particularly vulnerable populations.
ContributorsFees, Kyle Elliot (Author) / Stancliff, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Behl, Natasha (Committee member) / Murphy Erfani, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Interviews of nine managers within the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division's Western Region were conducted by a researcher who also works as a Wage and Hour Investigator. The intention of this research was to survey the differences in trafficking-related training and experience throughout the region, to examine the role of the Wage and Hour Division in human trafficking casework, and to explore potential areas for growth. This thesis recommends that upper level agency management produces standards for training, interagency engagement, and procedures and also provides suggestions for best practices and effective enforcement.
ContributorsNorberg, Katherine Joanne (Author) / Stancliff, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Simmons, William (Committee member) / Téllez, Michelle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The crime of human trafficking has received increased national attention over the past decade. However, the subject of human trafficking is rarely mentioned in criminal justice and criminology curricula in colleges and universities. This study discusses findings from a review of listed courses in 100 criminology and criminal justice bachelor degree programs in colleges and universities in the United States. Implications for further research, including examining criminal justice education programs outside of academe, are discussed. The author advocates adding courses on human trafficking in criminology and criminal justice curricula and makes recommendations for undergraduate criminology and criminal justice education.
ContributorsZhilina, Tatyana (Author) / Stancliff, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Bernat, Francesc (Committee member) / Vaughan, Suzanne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In recent years, sex trafficking awareness and intervention have skyrocketed in the United States. The 2016 Polaris Hotline Statistics Sheet reports a drastic increase of reported sex trafficking cases over the span of four years, with only 3,409 cases of human trafficking in 2012 and 8,042 in 2016, 73% of which were specifically sex trafficking cases (Polaris Project, 2016). The incidence of sex trafficking has not increased, but rather, attention to sex trafficking and implementation of legislation has increased awareness and reporting (Farrell et al., 2012). While this rise in public awareness of sex trafficking has positively impacted victim identification, there has not been an increase in convicting sex traffickers (Polaris Project, 2016). According to the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report, 3,000 federal investigations that involved human trafficking, the majority of which specifically involved sex trafficking, were opened in 2015. Of these federal investigations, only 10% led to case prosecutions. Analyzing the relationship of law enforcement, specifically vice units, and victims of sex trafficking is just one of the many ways to address this complex issue. This study consisted of a qualitative analysis of the makeup, training, and policing methods of vice units nationwide. It further aimed to determine the vice officer perceptions regarding the elements that make sex trafficking cases convictable.
ContributorsPradhan, Krishnaa (Author) / Maienschein, Jane (Thesis director) / Kinzig, Ann (Committee member) / Kim, Grace (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Abstract. The term "sex trafficking" can mean many different things, depending on who uses it. To some, it may be synonymous with prostitution. To others, it may equate to slavery. And some may find that sex trafficking differs from both slavery and prostitution. But I find that the term "sex trafficking" is used improperly when referring to phenomena that may not entail the violation of rights of any individual involved. For this reason, various definitions of "sex trafficking" may inappropriately conflate sex trafficking with prostitution. In this essay, I argue against such a conflation through supporting a rights-based approach of defining "sex trafficking," in which every instance of true sex trafficking necessitates a violation of someone's rights. First, I begin by laying the foundation of my discussion with definitions and various government and non-government uses of the term "sex trafficking." Then, I argue for the rights-based approach. I proceed to explore how the rights-based approach relates to consent, force, coercion, deception, and competence. Then, I compile my findings, synthesize a definition, and elaborate on a few questions regarding my definition. Using the term "sex trafficking" correctly, as I argue, means that we necessarily use the term in a context of a violation of rights.
ContributorsMiller, Isaac Jonathan (Author) / de Marneffe, Peter (Thesis director) / McGregor, Joan (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Human trafficking is not only a social injustice, but also a major global health problem, that our communities cannot ignore. Despite the common misconception that trafficking is only seen in foreign countries or is only related to immigrants, the U.S. is known to be a major trafficking market and destination, with trafficking reported in all 50 states (Bladwin et al., 2011; Shandro et al., 2016; Dovydaitis, 2010). Although trafficking victims are unlikely to have appropriate access to health care, as much as 80% of sex trafficking victims have reported that they encountered a medical professional while under their traffickers' control and went unidentified at the time (Baldwin et al., 2011; Shandro et al., 2016). This exemplifies a serious missed opportunity for intervention. Health care providers should be prepared to identify and care for victims of trafficking as part of their routine clinical practice. This thesis aims to describe trafficking victims' encounters in U.S. health care settings, to assess health care professionals' and students' awareness, knowledge, and beliefs on trafficking, to examine the impact of an educational intervention on this populations' knowledge/belief changes, and to ultimately spread education about this issue to a wide array of communities.
ContributorsFelix, Kaitlyn Nicole (Author) / Larkey, Linda (Thesis director) / Calvin, Samantha (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Human trafficking is not a new problem, but has gained recognition in the last decade as one of the world's most serious and large-scale violations of human rights. Though the figures vary wildly due to insufficient data, the U.S. State Department estimates that there are as many as 20 million victims of trafficking around the world. As more attention is shifted towards the problem, even the most developed nations of the world are recognizing the gravity of human trafficking and slavery within their borders. Stories of trafficking have many similarities across borders and cultures, but all countries have unique methods of addressing this issue in their own backyard. In response to the rising interest in this issue both academically and politically, this honors thesis is intended to contribute to the literature on human trafficking in the Peruvian case. Specifically, this document examines how U.S. Embassies can influence anti trafficking efforts abroad through effective collaboration with host county governments and NGOs. The argument of this paper is that, through collaboration with these two partners, U.S. Embassies can improve the existing anti-trafficking efforts, or aid in the creation of new ones. In order to explore this argument, I examine how the U.S. Embassy in Lima works with the Peruvian government and Peruvian non-governmental organizations (NGO) on combating trafficking.
ContributorsLawson, Shelby Marie (Author) / Hinojosa, Magda (Thesis director) / Lake, Milli (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The purpose of this study is to determine how Costa Rica supports human trafficking survivors, with a focus on the implementation of trauma-informed care within their efforts. This exploratory study examines services provided by one non-profit to human trafficking victims in Costa Rica and how their services reflect trauma-informed care practices. Research has shown that implementing a trauma-informed approach improves the quality of and receptiveness to care for individuals who have experienced trauma, including victims of human trafficking. For this thesis, qualitative-based field research was conducted in San Jose, Costa Rica. During the research process, interviews with service providers, legal professionals, and experts in the field were conducted. These interviews served to gather information on human trafficking in the country, victimization, services available for human trafficking survivors, trauma-informed care practices, and social/cultural, economic, legal, and Covid-19 related barriers that may prevent victims from seeking services or services from being provided in Costa Rica. A pre-determined set of interview questions was asked to each interviewee and this thesis is an analysis of the interview findings. This study was approved by the Arizona State University Institutional Review Board (see Appendix A). The findings indicate that Costa Rica is actively implementing trauma-informed care among the services provided to human trafficking survivors but can improve some of the practices in certain components of trauma-informed care to better enhance its implementation and thus benefit to clients and service providers.
ContributorsSchwan, Kallee (Author) / Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique (Thesis director) / Dominguez, Ezequiel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05