Onto the next generation: Exploring the impact of mother’s experiences of child abuse and commercial sex industry involvement on child custody outcomes

• In Event: Comparative Interdisciplinary Research and the Trafficking in Persons Lab at the University of South Florida

Abstract

In the United States, sex trafficking remains a considerable threat to women and children. While a number of outcomes have been linked to childhood abuse and sex trafficking, there exists a gap in understanding the impact of physical and sexual child abuse on child custody outcomes among adult trafficking victims. Drawing from data collected from 107 case files of adult women with a history of being exploited through sex trafficking, the current presentation addresses the link between child abuse history, sex trafficking, and child custody outcomes. Dysfunctional family dynamics, substance abuse, and economic and structural barriers endured by these women are explored further, and intergenerational continuity of such traumagenic precarities is considered as a prolonged implication of such issues. Through a trauma-informed perspective, implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Authors

• Klejdis Bilali, University of South Florida

• Kaci Crook, Cypress Wellness Center

• Sarah Gardy, University of Florida

• Joan Reid, University of South Florida