ABSTRACT

Although human trafficking of minors is an increasing concern within the United States, very little information is known about how trafficking cases are processed within child advocacy centers (CACs). The current study addresses this gap in the literature by providing descriptive information about victims, service referrals, and prosecutorial outcomes for human trafficking cases presenting at CACs across a Midwestern state. The data originates from a state-wide study focused on understanding the scope of human trafficking cases. Specifically, the dataset includes 210 youth presenting at CACs over a three-year period of time. In this sample, the typical human trafficking case involved sex trafficking of a self-identified white female victim, with an offender known to the victim. Most child survivors passing through CACs were referred to medical and mental health services, although these service referrals did not greatly differ across at-risk versus substantiated trafficking cases. Overall, the findings suggest that CACs are uniquely positioned to encounter human trafficking cases and provide needed services to trafficking survivors. Finally, recommendations are provided for CACs regarding the intake and identification of trafficking cases more broadly.

摘要

尽管在美国，贩卖未成年人的问题日益受到关注，但关于如何在儿童权益保护中心 (CAC) 处理贩卖人口案件的信息知之甚少。当前的研究通过提供有关中西部各州 CAC 上出现的人口贩运案件的受害者、服务转介和起诉结果的描述性信息，弥补了文献中的这一空白。这些数据来自一项全州范围的研究，重点是了解人口贩运案件的范围。具体而言，该数据集包括 210 名在三年时间内在 CAC 上展示的青年。在这个样本中，典型的人口贩卖案件涉及对一名自称为白人女性受害者的性贩卖，受害者认识一名罪犯。大多数通过 CAC 的儿童幸存者都被转介到医疗和心理健康服务，尽管这些服务转介在有风险的贩运案件与经证实的贩运案件中没有很大差异。总体而言，调查结果表明，CAC 处于独特的地位，可以应对人口贩运案件并为贩运幸存者提供所需的服务。最后，为 CAC 提供了关于更广泛地接收和识别贩运案件的建议。