Identifying Trafficking Experience and Health Needs among African American Male Survival Sex Workers

ABSTRACT

This project used a Community-Based Participatory Research Model (CBPR) to determine trafficking rates and health needs among a vulnerable population of African American male survival sex workers in the U.S. Out of almost 200 survey participants we found that at least a third had experienced sex trafficking based on the federal definition. We discuss the mental and physical health needs described by our respondents both in surveys and in focus groups. While it may be more difficult to define and locate trafficking among vulnerable adult men, it is necessary to adopt creative research approaches in order to understand a wide range of survivors and their needs. We demonstrate that gaps in our understanding of adult male survivors and their needs can be addressed by partnering with vulnerable communities. We make recommendations both for future research and policy and resource allocation based on what our findings suggest will be the most effective ways of reaching, understanding, and serving this particular population.

KEYWORDS:

• Male survivors
• sex trafficking
• African American
• methods
• mental
• health
• physical
• health

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our research partners who did not elect to be named contributors on this project for their valuable input. We also thank Sonya Ballentine and Lindsay Sheehan from the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Inspiring Change Project for their methodological training and technical support and to the nonprofit organization that sponsored the project but elected to remain anonymous. Additionally, we are indebted to the numerous community partners and participants who graciously allowed us to recruit and provided input for the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ We do want to acknowledge, however, that situations in which men are constantly and consistently controlled by sex traffickers certainly exist especially for young and foreign survivors. Additionally, we recognize that not all women are trafficked through highly structured or organized trafficking situations.

² Specifically if a professional had told them they had a diagnosis.

³ A RAND score of 1 (or 100%) represents the best possible score respondents could have based on their responses. RAND scores range from 0 to 1.

Additional information

Funding

The data collection for this project was funded through a grant from the Illinois Institute of Technology via the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award [1081-IIT]. It was further sponsored by a non-profit organization that wishes to go unnamed.