Abstract
Interpersonal violence is central to the experience of sex trafficking but is often invisible to the public, to health and social services providers, policymakers, and, at times, even to the affected person. An understanding of the multiple individual, social, and contextual factors that interact in complex ways and contribute to exploitation is necessary to fully understand what affected people experience and how to support them. For several decades in the United States, responses to the crime of sex trafficking and exploitation were carried out exclusively by law enforcement and grassroots community efforts. After the US Congress passed the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act (TVPA) (2000), new funding expanded anti-trafficking efforts in both private and public sectors. Interest in sex trafficking and sexual exploitation increased in academic circles, and professional and peer-led services for those affected grew. This chapter describes the most recent knowledge generated by trafficking scholarship and from those who carry out anti-trafficking work. Topics covered will include an overview of human trafficking informed by current scholarship, followed by a focus on the divide between the unquestioned victim status of trafficked minors versus the questioned victim status of trafficked adults. This divide is partially generated by trafficking legislation, namely, TVPA, public perceptions about trafficking, and media coverage about trafficking. The chapter closed closes with a review of the consequence of trafficking and related treatment issues that take into account the discussed divides, which create barriers to services for trafficked people.
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Contreras, P.M. (2020). Identifying, Attending, and Protecting US Sex Trafficked Adults and Minors. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_222-2
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Identifying, Attending, and Protecting US Sex Trafficked Adults and Minors- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_222-2
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