Sex trafficking vulnerabilities in context: An analysis of 1,264 case files of adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.

Purpose: Commercial sexual exploitation occurs when anything of value is given in exchange for a sex act. Sex trafficking involves the commercial sexual exploitation of individuals by means of force, fraud, or coercion. Due to the illegal nature of commercial sexual exploitation, there is a profound dearth in the literature. To develop a deeper understanding of the experiences of adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, investigators analyzed 1,264 unique case files collected between 2011 and 2021.

Methods: Key predictors included mental health diagnoses, childhood sexual abuse, and educational achievement, while relevant outcomes included age of entry into sexual exploitation, length of exploitation, number of arrests, cycling into and out of commercial sexual exploitation, and program placement outcomes. Regression analyses (e.g., linear, binomial, or zero-inflated Poisson) were conducted.

Results: Results suggest that educational achievement is a potential protective factor against exploitation. Higher number of arrest and higher number of children had a bidirectional relationship with longer experiences of exploitation. Further, diagnoses of bipolar disorder and neurodevelopmental disorders were related to higher rates of cycling (i.e., repeated attempts to exit exploitation), and neurodevelopmental disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders were related to poorer placement outcomes.

Conclusions: The findings provide a more authentic portrait of contextual influences on commercial sexual exploitation across a lifespan, informing services, interventions, and policy and supporting survivors in their promising futures.