In an effort to decrease the paucity of information and awareness of survivor’s experiences, the authors’ project analyzed the narratives of six survivors of child sex trafficking to assess factors that influenced their ability to survive, leave the sex trade, and reintegrate back into the community. The participants began to desire more meaningful, safe interpersonal relationships outside of the sex trade, and once participants left the industry, they stabilized and began the process of processing their traumatic experiences through new social and emotional supports. There is still much knowledge and awareness to be gained from working with survivors of sex trafficking, and child sex trafficking specifically, there is significant hope that simply the act of gathering information about their experiences will help survivors being the journey of processing their trauma. According to Clarke, Amnesty International voted to recommend a policy calling for the decriminalization of all aspects of adult, consensual sex work, including buying sex and operating a brothel. The group claims the new policy on sex work was based on two years of research from the World Health Organization. Groups that fight sex trafficking decried the decision, saying decriminalization would …show more content…
Professionals who worked with at-risk youth and/or crime victims were recruited from all counties in a southern, rural state in the U.S. to complete telephone surveys which were closed and open-ended questions. This research is an important first step in identifying the ways that children and youth are trafficked in metropolitan, micropolitan and rural communities, along with professionals’ awareness of the problem, and existing programs and policies for identifying and responding to sex