LGBTQ Homeless Youth and Sex Trafficking

Background and Purpose: LGBTQ youth account for a disproportionate rate of the runaway and homeless youth population, and experience disproportionately high rates of victimization. In a four-year analysis, from 2014-2017, the Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research completed a study entitled the Youth Experiences Survey (YES): Exploring the Sex Trafficking Experiences of Homeless Young Adults in Arizona, which explores the sexual exploitation experiences of homeless youth and young adults, including LGBTQ youth. 

Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional research design and included a convenience sample of 187 homeless young adults aged 18 to 25 years old that completed a self-administered survey. The Youth Experiences Survey (YES) is a 65-item, paper and pencil survey which has been given each year for the past four years to a complex and difficult population to assess. In 2017, during a two-week period in August, homeless young adults from the greater Phoenix, Arizona area and Tucson, Arizona completed the Youth Experiences Survey. Respondents were drawn from four agencies including Tumbleweed a Service of UMOM, Our Family Services, One•n•ten, and Native American Connections.

Bivariate analyses were conducted to compare each of the outcome variables for the sex trafficked LGBTQ homeless youth versus the non-sex trafficked LGBTQ homeless youth. Chi-square tests were used to examine differences for categorical variables.

Results: In 2017, over half (n = 34, 60.7%) of the respondents who identified as having experienced sex trafficking victimization identified as LGBTQ. The findings from this study have demonstrated a consistent increase in LGBTQ identification over the past four years, with the research demonstrating LGBTQ individuals to be two times more likely than heterosexual individuals to report experiencing sex trafficking victimization. LGBTQ participants were increasingly likely over the four years to report being a sex trafficking victim from 38.4% in 2014 to 60.7% in 2017 of the sex trafficked group.

Implications: Future  studies  are  needed  to  understand  and  explore  the  time  order  of  LGBTQ homelessness  and  sex  trafficking  experiences.  Future  studies  can  include,  but  not  limited  to, examining  aspects  of  recruitment,  relationship(s)  to  their trafficker,  and  whether  they  self-identify  as  LGBTQ  before  or  after  their  sex  trafficking  experience.  Researchers  can  also  focus  on pathways  into  sex  trafficking  for  homeless  LGBTQ  young  adults.  New  programs  and  evaluation  of  innovative  treatments  for  LGBTQ  young  adults  who  have  been  sex  trafficked  are  necessary  to  meet  the  needs  of  this  specific  population.