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Recently, a study made national headlines for its shocking results showing that a high percentage of homeless youths had been involved in sex trafficking. The study, conducted by The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania, Covenant House, and Loyola University found that 20% of the interviewed youths were victims of human trafficking with 17% having been trafficked for sex. This month’s E-News Exclusive dives deep into the numbers and the risk factors around this disturbing issue and what social workers can do to help.
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— Marianne Mallon, editor |
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Homeless Youths at High Risk for Sex Trafficking
By Lindsey Getz
In an effort to better understand the prevalence of human trafficking among homeless youths, The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania recently joined forces with Covenant House, an agency dedicated to helping homeless youths, and Loyola University’s Modern Slavery Research Project to conduct a first-of-its-kind study. Between February 2014 and March 2017, researchers from the three organizations interviewed nearly 1,000 homeless youths across 13 cities. The findings have been staggering but have also helped shed some light on the issue—including which children are most at risk.
The findings from this largest-ever combined sample of homeless youths in the United States and Canada revealed that nearly one-fifth are victims of human trafficking, including those exploited for sex, labor, or both. In the overall study, researchers found that 20% of the interviewed youths were victims of human trafficking with 17% having been trafficked for sex, which entails all commercial sex acts that involved force, fraud, or coercion, or if a victim is under the age of 18. The researchers also found that while lesbian, gay, bisexual, and pansexual youth only accounted for 20% of the respondents, they accounted for 38% of the sex-trafficking victims. Transgender youth were particularly vulnerable.
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Each year, Social Work Today magazine salutes dedicated and deserving social workers from various career paths with our Dedicated & Deserving Social Worker feature. Once again we will select and honor 10 professionals nominated by their colleagues and/or coworkers who are our readers.
Nomination Criteria:
- A social worker who has gone above and beyond his or her job description to make an extraordinary difference for his or her clients, community, or employer.
- A social worker who, over time, has achieved a exceptional standard of excellence in the field.
- A social worker who has overcome significant challenges in his or her career, risen to new heights of success, and had an outstanding positive impact on others.
- Nominees must have at minimum a bachelor's or master's degree in social work.
- Nomination essays must not exceed 1000 characters.
Nominations must be submitted by Monday, October 2, 2017.
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Yoga for Addiction — Tapping the Body’s Wisdom
Experts suggest that less talk and more action may help people with substance use disorders. Read more »
Public Self-Disclosure in Social Work — Risks and Rewards
Why, when, and how should social workers share pieces of their lives with the public? Read more » |
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Treating Depression With Software: Technology From Mount Sinai Steps Into the Digital Health Care Universe
A treatment for depression using Emotional Faces Memory Task (EFMT), a technology originally developed by two Mount Sinai researchers, resulted in a significantly greater reduction of major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms compared with a control group, according to initial clinical results presented at the Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Scientific Convention on May 19 in San Diego. EFMT is a cognitive-emotional treatment that is delivered via an app on the Click Neurobehavioral Intervention (CNI) platform, a clinically validated patient engagement platform developed by Click Therapeutics.
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