Shattered Hearts the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls in Minnesota

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Shattered Hearts the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls in Minnesota Shattered Hearts The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of American Indian Women And Girls In Minnesota Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center Prepared by Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce, Ph.D. for the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, Minneapolis MN © 2009 Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center Table of contents Dedication ............................................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................... iii Background ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 Organization of the report ...................................................................................................................................... 3 I. The context ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 II. Methods and definitions ................................................................................................................................ 16 III. Prevalence..................................................................................................................................................... 28 Involvement in prostitution ............................................................................................................................... 28 Involvement in the Internet sex trade................................................................................................................ 35 IV. Patterns in entering the sex trade .................................................................................................................. 36 Age of entry ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 Modes of entry ................................................................................................................................................. 39 V. Factors that facilitate entry ............................................................................................................................ 53 Generational trauma ........................................................................................................................................ 53 Runaway, thrown away, and/or homeless ........................................................................................................ 54 Repeated exposure to abuse, exploitation, and violence .................................................................................... 60 Normalization of sexual exploitation and violence............................................................................................. 68 Addiction.......................................................................................................................................................... 72 Risk due to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders ..................................................................................................... 77 Involvement with child protection systems ........................................................................................................ 79 Failure to finish high school .............................................................................................................................. 80 Mental and emotional vulnerability .................................................................................................................. 82 VI. Barriers to exiting the sex trade ..................................................................................................................... 87 Inadequate support to ensure safety ................................................................................................................ 87 Limited resources for support and healing ........................................................................................................ 91 Dependency, denial, and distrust of advocates .................................................................................................. 94 Fear, shame, and the “don’t talk” rule .............................................................................................................. 95 Absence of a common, evidence-based approach ............................................................................................. 97 VII. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 98 The social ecology of vulnerability .................................................................................................................... 98 VIII. Recommendations for action ....................................................................................................................... 113 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................................ 119 Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center i Shattered Hearts Full Report, November 2009 Figures 1. Percent of MIWRC clients reporting involvement in prostitution and pornography at intake ........................ 30 2. Percent of MIWRC clients trafficked into prostitution for the benefit of another person .............................. 30 3. Arrests for prostitution (of MIWRC clients reporting prostitution involvement) ............................................ 31 4. Arrests for prostitution-related offenses in Minneapolis, American Indian females 2004 - 2008 ................... 32 5. Aboriginal representation in Canadian studies with prostituted women ...................................................... 34 6. Age at which MIWRC clients entered prostitution or pornography ............................................................... 37 7. Girls reporting “illegal gang activity is a problem at my school,” statewide ................................................... 48 8. Girls reporting that they have been threatened at school during the past 12 months, statewide ................. 48 9. MIWRC clients’ recruitment into prostitution ............................................................................................... 51 10. Girls that ran away in the past 12 months, statewide ................................................................................... 56 11. Poverty-related reasons Native girls and women left stable housing ............................................................. 59 12. Percent living in poverty by race and Hispanic ethnicity, nationwide 2008 .................................................... 59 13. Percent of Hennepin County families in poverty by race and Hispanic ethnicity ............................................ 60 14. Child maltreatment by race, statewide 2008 ................................................................................................ 62 15. Girls’ reports of physical abuse at home, statewide ...................................................................................... 63 16. Girls’ reports of sexual abuse at home, statewide ......................................................................................... 64 17. Homeless Native females’ history of abuse or neglect .................................................................................. 64 18. Lifetime rates of women’s physical and sexual victimization, by race ............................................................ 66 19. Homeless women’s experiences with violent victimization ........................................................................... 67 20. Girls reporting sexual assault by a date, statewide........................................................................................ 67 21. Girls reporting physical assault by a date, statewide ..................................................................................... 67 22. MIWRC clients that knew someone in prostitution ....................................................................................... 69 23. MIWRC clients that knew someone who traffics others ............................................................................... 69 24. Girls reporting that a family member physically assaulted another family member, statewide ..................... 70 25. Girls reporting that they hit or beat up another person in the past 12 months, statewide ............................. 70 26. Girls reporting that a family member’s alcohol use caused problems, statewide ........................................... 73 27. Girls reporting that a family member’s drug use caused problems, statewide ............................................... 73 28. Girls reporting first use of alcohol at age 12 or younger, statewide ............................................................... 75 29. 9th grade girls reporting problematic substance abuse, statewide ................................................................. 76 30. 12th grade girls reporting problematic substance abuse, statewide ............................................................... 76 31. High school graduation rates, Minnesota public schools 2006-2007 ............................................................
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