Polyvictimization: Comparing Human Trafficking Survivors and Sex Workers

• In Event: Preventing and Responding to Sex Trafficking

Abstract

The current study explores the poly-victimization of participants involved in the sex trade. The analysis consists of three groups of people who self-identified victims of human trafficking, sex workers and people who by definition are victims of human trafficking however, they do not identify as victims of human trafficking. The study aims to deconstruct the stereotypical misconceptions of the formation of human trafficking victims and sex workers. The criminalization of sex workers has created a disconcerting health disparity and access to unbiased support. The misconceptions of victimhood contribute to the stigma surrounding sex workers and the culpability/moral judgment of the person based on their identity as trafficked or sex worker. The nuances between the two populations are not as different as anti-trafficking organizations lead the general public to believe. The current study used the secondary data set “Prostitution, Human Trafficking, and Victim Identification: Establishing an Evidence-Based Foundation for a Specialized Criminal Justice Response, New York City, 2015-2016” available from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). The results found no statistical differences between the populations. The implications of the study is the need to re-explore how access to support and services are provided to the different populations.

Authors

• Natalie Snow, Humber College

• Dana L. Radatz, Niagara University

• Robert Lytle, University of Arkansas at Little Rock