Vulnerability to Sex Trafficking: Adult Women’s Experiences While They Were Adolescents

Karla Lorena Andrade-Rubio, José Moral- de-la-Rubia and Simón Pedro Izcara-Palacios ()
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Karla Lorena Andrade-Rubio: Unidad Académica de Trabajo Social y Ciencias para el Desarrollo Humano, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Matamoros s/n. Zona Centro, Ciudad Victoria 87000, Mexico
José Moral- de-la-Rubia: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Carlos Canseco, 110, Esq. Aguirre Pequeño, Col. Mitras Centro, Monterrey 64460, Mexico
Simón Pedro Izcara-Palacios: Unidad Académica Multidisciplinaria de Ciencias, Educación y Humanidades, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Matamoros s/n. Zona Centro, Ciudad Victoria 87000, Mexico

Societies, 2024, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: The concept of vulnerability to sex trafficking has been the subject of intense academic debate. It is well documented in the literature that child sex trafficking is facilitated by the abuse of a position of vulnerability, though limited research has focused on children’s order of birth as an element of vulnerability to sex trafficking. The objective of this article, based on a sample of 112 Central American women smuggled to the United States for the sex trade before they had attained the age of eighteen years, is to examine whether the order of birth constitutes an element of vulnerability to sex trafficking. Trafficked minors had vulnerabilities linked to structural-level and individual-level factors. We conclude that sisters occupying the first place in the order of birth are the most susceptible to being recruited by an international network that smuggles women for prostitution. On the contrary, the youngest and middle sisters are less at risk due to the protection and guidance of the other sisters.

Keywords: sex trafficking of minors; deception; vulnerability; Central America; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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