Abstract
Over four million youth and young adults (13–25 years) including about 700,000 unaccompanied youth ages 13–17 in the United States experience homelessness in a single year. Youth homelessness is a pathway to another growing public health concern — human trafficking. While the profile of trafficking victims spans all demographics, there are certain vulnerabilities and circumstances that lead to higher risk for victimization. Youth who have been pushed out of their home (i.e., runaway and homeless youth or RHY) in particular are at an increased risk of becoming targets for traffickers. Youth experiencing homelessness lack basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing that places them in survival mode. Traffickers exploit the unmet needs of homeless youth to lure them into forced labor or sex trafficking. This chapter explores the intersections between youth homelessness and human trafficking and the importance of addressing homelessness in the fight against trafficking by providing background information and a case study.
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Osian, N., Miller, E. (2020). Homelessness, Unstable Housing, and the Adolescent Patient. In: Titchen, K., Miller, E. (eds) Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43367-3_12
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