Risks for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Among Runaway Youth

Introduction: Runaway and homeless youth face some of the largest risk factors for domestic minor sex trafficking in the U.S. Despite the risk associated  association between running away and being trafficked, limited efforts are made to search for youth once they run away from home. The lack of response to runway youth increases the length of time youth spend on the street or in other high-risk environments. Longer periods of time away from home may also promote chronic episodes of running away.

Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed across five cities in the Midwest. Respondents[LF1]  were recruited through respondent driven sampling (RDS) methods. Data collectors were required to know at least two individuals currently involved in the commercial sex industry. Individuals over the age of 16 that reported involvement in the commercial sex industry in the past year were eligible to take either online or paper surveys. Initial seeds completing surveys were paid and subsequently provided with five coupons to provide to their peers involved in the industry. Peers who took the survey were then paid and received five coupons and so on to provide access to social networks. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and t-tests were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted.

Results: A total of 328 participants were recruited to the study. Among those reporting running away from home as a youth (n = 112 ), 5% reported running away five to nine times, 33% reported running away three to five times, 19.5% reported running ten or more times, 17% ran away two times, and 18% reported running only one time. Over half (53.8%) of the sample reported on the length of their runaway experience. When away from home, 20.5% were gone for a week or less, 8.7% were gone for one to two weeks, nearly ten percent (9.1%) were gone for two weeks to one month, and 15.5% were gone for one to six months.  Running away once (OR=7.40, 95% CI: 3.178-17.229) and running away more than once (OR=8.472, 95% CI=3.663-19.598) was significantly associated with being trafficked under the age of 18.

Conclusions: Practitioners should be cognizant of the risk for entrance into domestic minor sex trafficking among runaway youth. Local, state, and national efforts are needed to search for and locate runaway youth in order to reduce risk and prevent sex trafficking. Early intervention among runaway youth populations may also prevent future chronic runaway behaviors.