Evaluating Services for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) Victims

• In Event: Roundtable: Trafficking

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the awareness of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). As a result, a number of social service programs have started to provide specialized services to DMST victims. To gain an understanding of the types of services being provided to DMST victims, Gibbs et al. (2015) recently conducted a process evaluation of three different programs. Although this study was useful for identifying the service needs of DMST victims and the types of services being provided by these programs, additional research is needed to evaluate the impact that these services are having on victims. Therefore, in order to fill this gap in the literature, I utilize data collected from a DMST service provider located in the southeast United States to examine the impact that these specialized services have on DMST victims. The results of this evaluation are discussed in this paper.

Author

• Jennifer McMahon-Howard, Kennesaw State University