“To the Public, Nothing Was Wrong with Me” Life Experiences of Minors and Youth in Texas at Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
“To the Public, Nothing was Wrong with Me” Life Experiences of Minors and Youth in Texas At Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation Final Report MARCH · 2019 This project was funded by the Child Sex Trafficking Team in the Office of the Texas Governor. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Office of the Texas Governor. Reprint permission with this citation: Kellison, B., Torres, M. I. M., Kammer-Kerwick, M., Hairston, D., Talley, M., & Busch-Armendariz, N. (2019). “To the public, nothing was wrong with me”: Life experiences of minors and youth in Texas at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. Austin, TX: Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, The University of Texas at Austin. I still want to go to school to be an adolescent psychiatrist and work with kids like my son. Like I still have all these [goals]. Everyone's like, “you've been through a lot,” and I'm like, “yeah, but I survived it.” I don't want it to control my life. People think I'm crazy, but I don't want to be that person. I want my kids and to live a semi-normal life. –Age 26, CH Female, Lubbock Kellison, B., Torres, M. I. M., Kammer-Kerwick, M., Hairston, D., Talley, M., & Busch-Armendariz, N. (2019). “To the public, nothing was wrong with me”: Life experiences of minors and youth in Texas at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. Austin, TX: Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, The University of Texas at Austin. © 2019 IDVSA. All rights reserved. Life Experiences of Minors and Youth in Texas At Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation ii Contributors Research Team and Authors Bruce Kellison, PhD, Principal Investigator Director, Bureau of Business Research, IC2 Institute Co-Director, Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin Melissa I. M. Torres, PhD, MSW, Co-Principal Investigator Director, Human Trafficking Research Portfolio Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin Matt Kammer-Kerwick, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator Research Scientist, Bureau of Business Research, IC2 Institute The University of Texas at Austin Dixie Hairston, LMSW, Research Project Manager Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin McKenna Talley, LMSW, Research Associate Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin Noël Busch-Armendariz, PhD, LMSW, MPA, Co-Principal Investigator University Presidential Professor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work Director, Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault The University of Texas at Austin Kellison, B., Torres, M. I. M., Kammer-Kerwick, M., Hairston, D., Talley, M., & Busch-Armendariz, N. (2019). “To the public, nothing was wrong with me”: Life experiences of minors and youth in Texas at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. Austin, TX: Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, The University of Texas at Austin. © 2019 IDVSA. All rights reserved. Life Experiences of Minors and Youth in Texas At Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation iii Table of Contents Contributors iii Findings At-A-Glance 8 STUDY BACKGROUND and Overview 8 How prevalent is youth sex trafficking in Texas? 8 What does youth sex trafficking look like in Texas? 9 Concept Map: Life Cycle of Exploitation 11 Concept Map: Entrance and Experience Defined 14 Concept Map: Exit and Future Goals Defined 16 Recommendations At-A-Glance 17 Study Background 18 Study Overview 19 Definitions 20 Guiding Principles of the Research 22 Methods Overview 23 Research Questions 24 Measures 24 Participants 26 Regions and Geography 29 Community Partners/Resource Organizations 30 Site Partners 31 Research Activities 32 Data Analysis Overview 34 Findings 35 Rates and Extent of Victimization 35 Concept Map: Life Cycle of Exploitation 55 In-Depth Review of the Data 67 Service Provider Discussions 93 Kellison, B., Torres, M. I. M., Kammer-Kerwick, M., Hairston, D., Talley, M., & Busch-Armendariz, N. (2019). “To the public, nothing was wrong with me”: Life experiences of minors and youth in Texas at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. Austin, TX: Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, The University of Texas at Austin. © 2019 IDVSA. All rights reserved. Life Experiences of Minors and Youth in Texas At Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation iv Challenges/Limitations 96 Discussion 97 Missed Opportunity: Lack of Healthy, Trusted Relationships 99 Missed Opportunity: Understanding Variability of Survivor Experiences and Needs 99 Missed Opportunity: Lack of Cultural Competence and Appropriate Models of Care for Different Regions 100 Recommendations 101 Prevention: Healthy Relationship Education and Training 102 Early Intervention: Inclusion of Family in Service Provision 102 Intervention: Cultural Competence and Service Gaps 102 Overall: Mandated Training on Exploitation and Trafficking for Community-Based Service Professionals 103 Implications for Future Research 103 References 106 APPENDIX A: Rates and Extent of Victimization Survey (REVS) Instrument 110 APPENDIX B: Life Experiences Survey (LES) 115 APPENDIX C: Service Provider Discussion Protocol 127 APPENDIX D: Study Methodology 129 APPENDIX E: Human Subjects Research and Confidentiality 131 APPENDIX F: Challenges and Limitations 133 APPENDIX G: Qualitative Analysis Code Book 135 APPENDIX H: Extent of Victimization Details 137 Kellison, B., Torres, M. I. M., Kammer-Kerwick, M., Hairston, D., Talley, M., & Busch-Armendariz, N. (2019). “To the public, nothing was wrong with me”: Life experiences of minors and youth in Texas at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. Austin, TX: Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, The University of Texas at Austin. © 2019 IDVSA. All rights reserved. Life Experiences of Minors and Youth in Texas At Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation v Acknowledgements A study like this one, which is focused on giving voice to experiences that too often are ignored, misunderstood, or silenced, could not have been conducted without the help of hundreds of brave young people. Their honesty and resilience repeatedly humbled the research team; study participants sat through online screening tools and face-to-face interviews and willingly shared painful, traumatic periods of their lives as well as their goals for the future. It is our hope that the report’s findings and recommendations honestly reflect and do justice to these lived experiences by reducing future victimizations and increasing awareness among service providers, healthcare workers, and child welfare advocates in Texas. The research team recognizes the service providers, advocates, and policy leaders who are focused day and night on work to end human trafficking and to protect minors and young adults across Texas from exploitation. We are grateful for the guidance, vision, and deep connections in the anti-trafficking field of the Child Sex Trafficking Team, Office of the Texas Governor. Todd Latiolais and Andrea Sparks, especially, were always quick to help when needed. Camille Cain, Executive Director, and Karen Kennedy, former Deputy General Counsel, of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department recognized the value of screening adolescents in their department’s care for potential trafficking experiences. Not only did they help us navigate the juvenile justice system, but they opened and then wedged stoppers under doors that we could never have opened ourselves. Our site partners and their staff deserve special thanks for taking time away from their service work to advocate for our study among their clients and help us recruit participants. They provided quiet spaces in which to conduct screenings and interviews, and lent their credibility to our research. In an effort to protect the anonymity of our study participants, we will not thank these staff by name, but you know who you are, and we recognize the incredible contribution you make to the lives of the most vulnerable individuals across the state of Texas. Many thanks to Vanessa Flores, LCSW-S, CDWF, owner of Colors of Austin Counseling, for providing her expertise in trauma-informed care, EMDR, shame resilience, anxiety, and depression in mental health service provision with marginalized youth. She volunteered her time to review our surveys and protocols. Her support helped us ensure that the research team mitigated any risk of further traumatizing youth, particularly those involved in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Texas at Austin deserves our thanks for its clarifying and insightful questions. IRB staff, especially Kristen Crabtree and William Grant, skillfully and patiently helped us navigate the proposal review and compliance process. Dr. Leila Wood, Research Assistant Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and a researcher at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, played a key advisory role and commented on early drafts of the report. We are indebted to her for sharing her sharply honed methodological skills and wisdom with our team. Dr. Carol Lewis, Director of the Office of the Associate Dean for Research at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, tapped her huge well of patience and years of experience in helping us manage the study budget. Lara O’Toole, LMSW skillfully edited