Running Away and Homelessness are Powerful Risk Factors for Sex Trafficking

A new article from Youth Today discusses the risk factors contributing to the sex trafficking of youth under the age of 18. Reviewing the growing body of research on this issue, the authors find that experiencing homelessness or running away are significant risk factors. Others include age, ethnicity, and sexuality, with LGBTQ youth at much greater risk than heterosexual youth of being trafficked. In one survey of adults participating in sex work, respondents who said they ran away as youth (63%) were more likely to have been trafficked than those who did not run away (27%). Overall, the research indicates that risk factors such as whether or not a person has been a runaway or homeless are more predictive of future involvement in trafficking than demographic factors.

Read the article here.