The Psychological Experience of Child and Adolescent Sex Trafficking in the United States: Trauma and Resilience in Survivors

To date, little empirical data exists examining the psychological experience of survivors of child sex trafficking in the form of prostitution, nor does current scientific data suggest how American women and children are recruited into the sex trade and sold for sex within the United States. This qualitative research study analyzed the narratives of interviews with 6 survivors of child and adolescent sex trafficking to assess factors that influenced their ability to survive, leave the sex trade, and reintegrate back into the community. Data were analyzed with an ecological systems model and a number of patterns emerged within participants' microsystems, mesosystems, and macrosystems. In the survivor microsystem, participants' insecure attachments led to their vulnerability to recruitment; within the mesosystem unsafe relationships contributed to increased emotional insecurities; in the macrosystem, participants were raised in environments that desensitized them to prostitution. In regard to escape and resilience, in the survivor microsystem participants left the sex trade because of pregnancy or mental health symptoms; in this mesosystem, participants needed safe relationships and increased self-worth; at the level of the macrosystem, once participants left the industry they began processing their traumatic experiences through the mental health system. These data provide unprecedented insights into the psychological effects that the sex trade has on the individuals involved, shedding light on an unexplored issue that has a profound, yet furtive presence in the United States.