Project title:

About this project:

Conducting research on sex trafficking is inherently challenging. Victims rarely self-identify and are often hesitant to come forward due to stigma, safety concerns, and fear of criminalization. Research on domestic minor sex trafficking presents additional challenges because researchers have a duty to report the behaviour to child welfare services. Youth involved in the child welfare system are particularly at risk for sex trafficking, yet little research has explored how their experiences and characteristics differ from those of youth not involved in child welfare. To address this gap, our team collaborated with the York Regional Police and two child welfare agencies to conduct a chart review of women known to be victims of sex trafficking. This unique approach allowed us to gain access to this high-risk population without encountering obligatory reporting issues, enabling the inclusion of underage victims in our study. Our study compared the characteristics and trafficking experiences of women and girls with and without prior involvement in child welfare, to illustrate the complex histories of youth involved with sex trafficking.

Data collection:

Data was obtained from 223 cases; 52 cases were involved with child welfare and 102 cases were not involved with child welfare. The average age for recruitment into sex trafficking was 16.7.

Publications and Presentations:

Baird, K., Connolly, J. & McDonald, K. P. (2019). Sex trafficking of women and girls in a southern Ontario region: Police file review exploring victim characteristics, trafficking experiences and the intersection with child welfare. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science.