Abstract

The current study administered a self-report survey with behaviorally specific questions to a stratified sample of non-college educated women, aged 18 to 29, in the general population (N = 996). Notably, the women were classified as being trafficked as adults only (3.8%), minors only (9.6%), or as both adults and minors (9.3%) using the federal legal definition. More than 1 in 5 (22.7%) women in the sample met the criteria for sex trafficking victimization at some point in their lives. However, only 39.6% of the respondents who experienced trafficking as an adult reported these events to police—further contributing to the “hidden figure” of crime. Guided by victimological theories, vulnerabilities, individual characteristics, and lifestyle factors increased the odds of being trafficked but varied depending on the type of exploitation. The implications of these findings are reviewed, including the utility of studying trafficking using behaviorally worded self-report surveys.

摘要

目前的研究对普通人群（N = 996）中年龄在 18 至 29 岁的未受过大学教育的女性的分层样本进行了一项针对行为特定问题的自我报告调查。值得注意的是，根据联邦法律定义，这些妇女被分为仅作为成年人 (3.8%)、仅未成年人 (9.6%) 或作为成年人和未成年人 (9.3%) 被贩运。样本中超过五分之一（22.7%）的女性在其生命的某个阶段达到了性交易受害的标准。然而，只有 39.6% 的成年经历过人口贩运的受访者向警方报告了这些事件——这进一步助长了犯罪的“隐藏人物”。在受害者理论的指导下，脆弱性、个人特征和生活方式因素增加了被贩运的几率，但因剥削类型而异。