Week 4: HT and Oppression Continued

Price 16-18

Does Price’s mother count as a benevolent adult?

I went from being held captive to captivity again

  • Black women/girls dispraportionately jailed for prostitution while being sex trafficked

  • Interviews w/ 13 survivors

  • 34 states have safe harbor legislation, but only 18 states have protections for kids who commit crimes while being trafficked

  • BJS: 40% of sex trafficking victims were black (2008-2010)

    • 62% of sx traffickers are Black males

  • Black girls make up 53% of arrests for juvenile prostitution

  • Exploiters choose black women knowing they will have fewer consequences

  • Prosecutors are wary about using sex trafficking laws based on judge/juror reactions

  • 12% of black survivors of CSA were also sx traffickd as a minor

  • Lower disclosure of abuse

  • No great connection btwn “pimp culture” and ST

  • Asked for subjects w/ a history of prostitution, used snow ball sampling

  • All cisgender women

    • Mean age =34, (20-61)

    • 8 worked at anti-trafficking nonprofits

    • Average of onset of ST: 15

    • Average of exit from ST: 25

    • Youngest: 6, oldest: 60s (exit)

    • 9 trafficked after TVPA

    • 18 traffickers among the n= 13

    • Most common trafficker: aquatance

      • 2nd: romantic partner/husband

      • 3rd: parental figure

    • Trauma as a risk factor

    • Only 8 said traffickers were incarcerated

    • 9 incarcerated

      • 6 prostitution related

  • Findings

    • Narrators experienced misogynoir and denial of victimhood

      • 11 in court for trafficking related offenses

      • Most got plea deals or short sentences

      • Race and gender most defining identities

      • 1 killed her trafficker in self defense

        • She ended up being trafficked after serving her sentence, eventually left w/ help of nonprofit

      • Focus in court on not looking like a victim

      • Against prosecutors more than cops because they sent them to jail

      • Functioning as a bottom bitch made it harder for them to get justice, viewed as culpable

    • Interactions w/ CL system continued exploitation

      • Probation keeps victims trapped in the place they were charged

      • Sometimes narrators found resources in prisons

    • Justice occurs outside a court room

      • Racial reckoning and history of chattel enslavement

      • Anti-trafficking movement likes to be race-neutral, doesn’t like confronting the history of slavery

      • Two root causes: fetishization of Black women and abuse by Black men

      • Buyers were largely white/latino

      • Suggestion: don’t have police interview victims

Q: What does justice look like for victims of harm by “bottom bitches” or people who are both victims/offenders?

In-Class 4/21

  • A lot of sensationalism in anti-trafficking media

    • Portrayed as young white girls

  • Documentary rec: Very Young Girls

  • The perfect survivor

    • Consistently follows treatment plans and referrals

    • Sober, no relapses

    • Takes medication as prescribed

    • Greatful

    • Doesn’t return to the life

    • Reconnects w/ family and has a strong support network

    • Clear goals for the future, resilient

    • Willing to share their experiences

  • Disempowering practices

    • Volunteerism: survivors are asked to do anti-trafficking work for free

    • Tokenism: Agencies tokenize survivors, get the clout of anti-trafficking/survivor-focused, but don’t do the actual work

    • Favoritism: Focus on the perfect survivor, shopping for the perfect survivor, only working with 1 victim

    • Saviorism

  • Allyship is a continuum

  • Volunteer or give funds to organizations that support survivors, do your due diligence

Who gets the victim designation

  • Cisgender gay boys/men experience discrimination, making trafficking seem consensual

    • Assume queerness is deviant

  • Gender and Trafficking

    • Women/girls

      • Majority of all victims, except for child soldires

      • More rep in confirmed sex trafficking

    • Men/boys

      • Not majority for most manifestations

      • More rep in labor

      • Make them more vulnerable because they are seen as invisible

        • Rooted in the origin of anti-trafficking

      • Still more focus on women’s forced labor

      • Complications of sexuality, race, and ability

      • Labor trafficking of US citizens is the most undercounted

  • 17-20% of all victims detected are boys

  • Adult men: 4%, boys: 11%

  • Compose 60-70% of victims trafficked for non-sexual labor

  • More shelters/services geared towards women

    • 25% of beds in shelters designated for men/boys

    • No number for transgender men/boys

    • Usually taken to homeless shelters or nights in a local jail

  • Industries where boys/men are trafficking

    • Labor: fishing/lobster catching, mining, agriculture, farming, construction, disaster clean-up, boys and the disabled: forced begging, drug smuggling

    • Sex: street work (majority), escorting, sex tourist destinations, sanky-banky boys (Caribbean beaches), cam shows, CSAM production

  • Hegemony and gender

    • Masculine: strong, violent, leadership, strong sexuality, domination over feminine

    • Feminine: weak, submissive, follower, sexuality as a duty, dominated by masculine

    • Gay: assumed feminine, hypersexual, associatd w/ vices, rejection of strength, enjoy domination

    • Transgender/agender: theft of masculine/feminine, sexually aggressive, associated w/ deviance, both a threat and weak, should be dominated for correction

  • Myths

    • Adult man trafficked to women: assumed to enjoy sex, can’t be raped

    • Boy/teenager trafficked by women: Could be considered predatory, assumption of hormones, considered victims, but not traumatizing

    • Any age trafficked to men: Risk accusations of being gay, fear that trauma could turn them gay, considered violent, if drugs are involved, could be seen as sex work

    • Adult transman trafficked to women: assumed to enjoy the sex, corrective attitudes, can be seen as a lesbian dispute

    • Transboy/gay teenager trafficked to women: Could be predatory or corrective, preying on a confused individual, may get more empathy

    • Gay adult mn trafficked by men: assumed to like sex, considered predators and lying to get access to services, least access to services

In-Class Assignmnt

I liked how Rhonelle discussed stereotypes in anti-trafficking services. I’m familiar with discussions on myths about trafficking victims, but I didn’t consider how that may affect anti-trafficking services. This will be helpful in determining which organizations to support. Her perspective on police interventions was also interesting. I’d love to learn more about what research says is most helpful in getting people out of trafficking and into a successful, safe life.

Thursday

How can we give more resources for investigating MMIW without eroding the sovereignty of indigenous nations?

4/23/26 In-Class

Trafficking and Oppression: Focus on African Americans and Sexual Exploitation

  • Racism creates vulnerability for violence

    • Controlling images/stereotypes

    • Adultification

    • Invisibility

    • Fetishization

    • Dehumanization

      • Assumed certain races are stronger and can take more in labor trafficking

      • May also be socially unimportant

    • Immigration

    • Prior contact with CPS or criminal-legal system

  • Traffickers know who to target and how to recruit them

    • Firstly, look for people close to them, have attachments

    • Age: younger generally better, but sex traffickers don’t like to traffick children due to difficulties with initiation, prefer teenagers

    • Where their market is

      • Ex: transgender

    • Vulnerabilities of their target

      • Prior trauma, drug use, tc

    • How society views their targets

    • Possible repercussions for trafficking certain types of victims

  • 2014 Urban Institute report: pimps preferred to traffick non-Black women, but end up trafficking Black women because they know there will be fewer penalties

  • Controlling Images

    • Archetypal stories shape how the actions of Black women and girls are perceived

    • “deeply entrenched”

    • Influence daily interactions

  • Black Women and Girls Research

    • 2014: 62% of minors arrested for prostition are Blck

    • FBI: 57% of all juvenile prostitution

    • Black girls re the second highest represented group incarcrated in the SA to prison pipeline

  • Adultification: Assigning adult characteristics to children

    • Ex: Black girls need less protection and nurturing, Black girls are more knowledgeable about sex than their white peers

    • Leads to Black girls being treated as criminals instead of victims

  • Black Girls and Victimization

    • Morris field work in two schools: detention center, high school

      • Black girls aware of sexualization of their bodies

      • Coercion and pressure to comply to this stereotype

      • Sex trafficking present in both schools, often by their boyfriends

      • School officals were sometimes aware, but largely didn’t act

      • Girls didn’t view their experience as trafficking, didn’t think that was something that could happen to them

      • Adults believed the girls were going to end up in sex work anyway, or that it was consensual

      • 92% of girls incarcerated for prostitution in LA were Black

    • Misogynoir: particular brand of hatred directed at Black women in visual and popular culture

      • Comes from chattel slavery

      • Black women tend to win Oscars for portraying slaves or hypersexual people, rather than their other quality work

  • Black Feminist Criminology

    • Oppression is delineaated through social structures

    • Black community and cutlure: how Black women understand their experiences through culture

  • Results

    • Narrators felt unloved, which made them vulnerable, adultification

      • Belief that traffickers may provide them love

    • Victim illegibility and Misogynoir

      • Status of being a Black women denies them victimhood

    • After Life- Unsupported

      • Little support available for survivors of sex trafficking

    • History of Chattel enslavement

  • The impact of gatekeeping victimhood

    • Trauma from racism in help-seeking

    • CLS reiterates messages of worthlessness from traffickers

    • Have difficulty identifying as a trafficking survivor

  • National survivor survey: 62% of survivors had been incarcerated/chrged for crimes related to exploitation

    • 40% still have criminal records

    • 91% have been arrested as children

  • Suggestion from narrators

    • Enggement w/ anti-racist trainings that don’t just focus on men/boys

    • Anti-racism on individual ctions

    • Community engagement is essential