Commercial sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors is a form of child abuse that can have long-term physical, emotional, and legal consequences. The following resources provide information on those who engage in the trafficking or sexual exploitation of children and youth.
Familial Sex Trafficking of Minors: Trafficking Conditions, Clinical Presentation, and System Involvement
Sprang & Cole (2018)
Journal of Family Violence, 33(4)
Examines the issue of child sex trafficking perpetrated by family members and describes victim and trafficker characteristics. Findings showed that family members trafficked children for illicit drugs and that there was a high severity of abuse in these cases.
Identifying Sex Trafficking Victims and Perpetrators
Awaken
Describes the issue of sex trafficking and how difficult it can be to identify victims and traffickers. The article includes a discussion of the characteristics of victims and traffickers.
Recruiters/Traffickers
The NO Project
Offers a discussion on human traffickers, who they are, how they recruit or lure their victims, how they utilize psychological entrapment, and more.
Sex Trafficking and Exploitation
Safe Voices
Profiles sex trafficking and exploitation and includes a discussion of who is affected, who traffickers may be, methods of recruitment, and more.
The Traffickers
National Human Trafficking Hotline
Lists characteristics and qualities of traffickers and discusses the wide range of criminals involved. The article also discusses businesses or services that traffickers commonly exploit.
A Typology of Offenders Engaging in the Sex Trafficking of Juvenile (STJ): Implications for Risk Assessment (PDF - 456 KB)
Hargreaves-Cormany, Patterson, Muirhead, & Federal Bureau of Investigation (2016)
Aggression and Violent Behavior, 30
Investigates the criminal histories, offending behaviors, and characteristics of people who engage in the sex trafficking of minors in order to develop a typology of these types of criminals. Two classes of offenders emerged: primarily aggressive/antisocial offenders and charismatic/manipulative offenders, both of which have varying subtypes.
Understanding Human Trafficking
Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center
Provides a definition of human trafficking along with a description of who is a victim and who is a trafficker.