The Psychosocial Treatment Needs of Street-Walking Prostitutes

The Illusions and Juxtapositions of Commercial Sexual Exploitation among Youth: Identifying Effective Street-Outreach Strategies

“…The sexual exploitation experiences and service needs of boys and young men may be quite different, as might the experiences of those who are exploited but are not homeless, or those from other regions. At the same time, the similarities between the perspectives and experiences reported by these young women and slightly older women in Vancouver (Kennedy et al, 2007) and in Florida (Arnold et al, 2000) suggests these results may be relevant to street outreach work among sexually exploited young women, at least, in other regions of North America. More specific and targeted outreach (both street and internet) should be conducted in order to locate and build trust with the males involved in sexual exploitation.…”

“…Street-outreach is one method to find and connect homeless, sexually exploited youth to local providers, but there is even less information about strategies to provide effective outreach and supportive services for sexually exploited youth. None of the existing research to date appears to have asked sexually exploited adolescents what they want from street outreach workers and supportive services to help meet their needs, but only one study of adult women in North Carolina (Arnold, Stewart, & McNeece, 2000). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the sexual exploitation experiences and service needs of sexually exploited homeless youth in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in order to understand current pathways into exploitation and how outreach workers can best support exploited teens.…”

Psychometric Utility of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire with Female Street-Based Sex Workers

“…Trauma assessment; childhood trauma; child abuse; female sex workers; prostitution Previous research has reported a substantial history of early trauma among female street-based sex workers, in particular childhood sexual abuse (CSA; Arnold, Stewart, & McNeece, 2000;Dalla, 2000Dalla, , 2001Farley & Barkan, 1998;James & Meyerding, 1977;Miller & Paone, 1998;Silbert & Pines, 1983;Simons & Whitbeck, 1991). Prior studies have employed simple quantitative methods to establish rates of CSA among large numbers of sex workers (e.g., Yes/ No questions; El-Bassel, Witte, Wada, Gilbert, & Wallace, 2001;Potterat, Rothenberg, Muth, Darrow, & Phillips-Plummer, 1998;Young, Boyd, & Hubbell, 2000), or have utilized in-depth qualitative inquiry to explore abuse issues within smaller samples of women (Maher, 1997;Miller, 1986; Romero-Daza, Weeks, & Singer, 1998).…”

Legal Service Needs and Utilization of Women Who Trade Sex

“…They may also be resigned to the reality that violence is part of their job and lives (Arnold et al 2000;Nixon et al 2002), and so focus on other needs. In one study, only two of 585 street level women sex workers perceived their most urgent need to be for legal assistance (Kurtz et al 2005).…”

“…Such alternative sentencing options are less costly for society than incarceration, and more effective at reducing crime and drug addiction (Turner et al 2002). Despite the high number of arrests and incarcerations of women for prostitution and drug-related offenses, there remains a paucity of treatment oriented alternative sentencing options available for women involved in the sex trade (Arnold et al 2000).…”