Vulnerability Factors and Pathways Leading to Underage Entry into Sex Work in two Mexican-US Border Cities
Date
2015
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The journal of applied research on children
Abstract
Experiences of childhood abuse and subsequent running away in adolescence have long been considered primary risks for underage entry into sex work in North America. However, outside of North America, less is known about the factors that create vulnerability to underage entry into sex work. Due to its geographical location, Mexico is a large transit, source, and destination country for trafficked persons. It has been documented that migrants traveling from Central America on their route to the U.S. have been victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation within the country, and more recently, numerous cases of young girls from Mexico being trafficked to the US for sexual exploitation have appeared in the media. Despite all of this documentation, very little empirical research on human trafficking exists in this region. Empirical data is needed to identify girls who are at-risk in order to develop effective trafficking prevention programs, especially for Latin America, a region that is believed to be one of the largest sources of persons moved across international borders for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. To begin to address this need, this qualitative study aimed to explore and understand the vulnerability factors and pathways leading to underage entry into sex work experienced by women currently engaging in sex work in two Mexican-United States border cities. (Author Text
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Keywords
child abuse, sexual abuse, risk factors, prostitution, CSEC, commercial sexual exploitation, immigrants, International Resources, Mexico, Latin America
Citation
Servin, A. E., Brouwer, K. C., Gordon, L., Rocha-Jimenez, T., Staines, H., Vera-Monroy, R. B., ... & Silverman, J. G. (2015). Vulnerability Factors and Pathways Leading to Underage Entry into Sex Work in two Mexican-US Border Cities. The journal of applied research on children, 6(1). 15 pp.