“When Her Visa Expired, the Family Refused to Renew It,” Intersections of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence: Qualitative Document Analysis of Case Examples from a Major Midwest City

Abstract

This study aimed to further understand typologies of trafficking that occur in the home, by an individual’s intimate partner (IP) or family members and this overlap with extant knowledge on perpetrator manipulation via the Power and Control Wheel. Inductive and deductive techniques were used to analyze secondary data from a federally funded anti-trafficking program in a Midwest metropolitan area recorded between 2008 and 2017. Cases were included if there was indication of sex or labor exploitation initiated by an IP, family member, or other in the domestic setting via elements of abuse; 59 cases of 213 met this criteria. Most cases included the IP as the trafficker, followed by family members, then others in the domestic setting. Abuse was more commonly used than the threat of abuse. From the Power and Control Wheel, the most frequent types of abuse were using privilege, physical abuse, economic abuse, isolation, and sexual abuse. Case typologies included: those with elements of sex trafficking, specifically forced commercial sex by an IP or family member; those with elements of labor trafficking such as domestic servitude (with or without childcare provision abuse), exploitation in a family business by an IP or family member, or work environments by family and non-family; those with elements of sex and labor trafficking included servile partnerships and forced marriage. Trafficking exploitation by an IP, family member, or in the domestic setting is not uncommon. Intimate relationships with a trafficker, psychological coercion, and threats may reduce reporting of abuse, subsequent provision of services, and result in misclassification as victims of IP violence. This study sheds light on various typologies of trafficking and exploitation in the domestic setting, further expanding the anti-trafficking movement’s evidence base for intervention and prevention and adding complexity and nuance to the pathways to trafficking exploitation.

Adolescent Experiences of Violence Victimizations Among Minors Who Exchange Sex/Experience Minor Sex Trafficking

“…This is the first study of which we are aware that links experiences of DMST to nonsexual interpersonal violence victimizations in adolescence using a large, population-based survey. These findings are consistent with other studies that have shown a connection between trafficking and other forms of violence, such as partner or domestic violence, and they reinforce the notion that DMST is not an isolated form of violence in the lives of minors (Koegler et al, 2020;Ortega-Senet & Tierney, 2020). This work also builds on prior Add Health analyses which found that DMST experiences were significantly linked to forced sex in adolescence, though it is unclear in these previous analyses whether respondents were considering their DMST experiences as forced sex or if the reported forced sex reflected one or more separate experiences from DMST (Edwards et al, 2006).…”

Exploitation, Labor and Sex Trafficking of Children and Adolescents: Health Care Needs of Patients

“…Traffickers may exert control through blackmail, fraud or deception, and/or violence. 42,45,92,95 By alternating acts of violence and cruelty with acts of kindness and "love," a trafficker may build strong bonds with children and adolescents, making it very difficult for youth to leave the situation. 22 Individuals experiencing labor or sex T/E may not recognize their situation as exploitative, instead feeling that they "owe" their traffickers obedience because of previous kind behaviors or because of an exorbitant debt.…”

A systematic review of family and social relationships: implications for sex trafficking recruitment and victimisation

“…In this vein, researchers have suggested the need to assess risk factors beyond individual and familial levels among runaway youth victims of commercial sexual exploitation, since older dating partners are uniquely associated with this victimisation (Fedina et al, 2019b). Other studies have identified intimate partners such as boyfriends, fiancés, husbands, or fathers of women's children as abusers and exploiters of sex trafficking victims through force or coercion, including isolation, physical abuse and sexual abuse (Koegler et al, 2020).…”

“…In addition, there may be similarities between the coercive and manipulative mechanisms exerted by traffickers towards victims recruited through intimate relationships and domestic violence dynamics (Raymond and Hughes, 2001). In these cases, sexual exploitation, IPV and domestic violence may overlap (Koegler et al, 2020).…”