Education & Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Findings from “Sex Trafficking Vulnerabilities in Context: An analysis of 1,264 case files of adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation”
Education plays a crucial role in shaping individuals' lives, providing them with opportunities for personal and professional growth. However, for many survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, low educational achievement can serve as a significant barrier, limiting their access to legitimate employment and increasing vulnerability to exploitation.
According to the United States Census Bureau, 8.9% of the general public have less than a high school diploma or equivalent.1 In stark contrast, Cronley et al. found that 26.9% of adult female survivors of prostitution had less than a high school diploma.2 More alarmingly, this recent study reported that 38.1% of 1,264 female survivors of commercial sexual exploitation had less than a high school diploma or GED.
Low educational achievement serves as a barrier to obtaining legitimate, skilled employment, which can push individuals towards commercial sexual exploitation. Several studies have highlighted how limited education restricts access to employment opportunities, thereby increasing the risk of exploitation.2-5 Additionally, restricted access to education may limit survivors' knowledge of the risks associated with commercial sexual exploitation, creating barriers to services and intervention opportunities.
The study's results indicate several predictive relationships between educational achievement and commercial sexual exploitation experiences. Higher educational achievement (B = .993, p < .001) is associated with older ages of entry into commercial sexual exploitation (R² = .083, p < .001). Conversely, lower educational achievement (B = .673, p < .001) predicts longer experiences of commercial sexual exploitation (R² = .362, p < .001) and higher numbers of arrests (B = -.818, p = .002; R² = .112, p < .001).
A key takeaway from the study is that educational achievement may serve as an important protective factor for survivors. Higher education is linked to older ages of entry into commercial sexual exploitation, shorter lengths of exploitation, lower arrest rates, and fewer children. While education alone cannot prevent exploitation, it may reduce its severity by delaying entry and shortening the duration of exploitation.
The study highlights the importance of understanding the push and pull factors within a multisystem framework that affect a survivor's ability to exit exploitation.6 More information on these factors, as well as others, would be helpful in identifying how they relate to one another and the various systems in which individuals are embedded. For example, understanding the level of influence of educational achievement can assist in identifying preventative measures, such as addressing individual attributes versus systemic issues within school systems. Moreover, educational achievement may not be a protective factor in isolation but could serve as a proxy for other protective factors, such as housing stability and parental support. Future research should aim to isolate education from these factors to determine its direct relationship with relevant outcome variables.
References
Furlong, C., & Hinnant, B. (2024). Sex trafficking vulnerabilities in context: An analysis of 1,264 case files of adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. PLOS ONE, 19(11), e0311131. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311131
United States Census Bureau. (2022). Census bureau releases new educational attainment data. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/educational-attainment.html#:~:text=In%202021%2C%2029.4%25%20of%20men,women%20and%2046.9%25%20were%20men.
Cronley, C., Cimino, A. N., Hohn, K., Davis, J., & Madden, E. (2016). Entering prostitution in adolescence: History of youth homelessness predicts earlier entry. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 25(9), 893-908. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2016.1223246
Farley, M., & Kelly, V. (2000). Prostitution: A critical review of the medical and social sciences literature. Women & Criminal Justice, 11(4), 29–64. https://doi.org/10.1300/ J012v11n04_04
Norton-Hawk, M. A. (2001). The counterproductivity of incarcerating female street prostitutes. Deviant Behavior, 22, 403–417. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620152472804
Silbert, M. H., & Pines, A. M. (1981). Sexual child abuse as an antecedent to prostitution. Child Abuse & Neglect, 5(4), 407-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(81)90050-8
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments in nature and design. Harvard University Press.
