A collaboration between the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania, Covenant House and Loyola University’s Modern Slavery Research Project has identified risk factors that make homeless youth vulnerable to human trafficking, including exploitation for sex, labor or both. Over a three-year period, researchers from the three organizations interviewed nearly 1,000 homeless youth across 13 cities, the largest-ever combined sample of homeless youth in the US and Canada. They found that nearly one-fifth of homeless youth are victims of human trafficking.

The study revealed that 19% of interviewees were victims of human trafficking, with 15% having been trafficked for sex. They also found that while LGBTQ youth made up only 19% of respondents, they accounted for 34% of the sex-trafficking victims.

Debra Schilling Wolfe, executive director of the Field Center, and Johanna Greeson, an assistant professor in Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice, were co-principal investigators and interviewed nearly 300 homeless youth in Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Phoenix, Arizona.

“In addition to examining the prevalence of trafficking among homeless youth, this groundbreaking, academically rigorous study specifically focuses on the child-welfare-to-child trafficking pipeline,” Ms. Wolfe said.

The Field Center also conducted a child-welfare-focused second supplemental survey among respondents who acknowledged being victims of sex trafficking or engaging in the sex trade to survive. This supplemental survey specifically asked questions about child-welfare-related variables, such as child-abuse history, the number of foster homes in which a respondent was placed and resilience factors.

“The goal is to identify the factors that can predict who is most at risk for sex trafficking,” Ms. Wolfe said. “This work can shape national policy and create effective interventions, thereby stemming the pipeline to predators and ultimately reducing the number of victims.”

According to preliminary findings from the supplemental survey, 95% of youth who were sex trafficked reported a history of child maltreatment and 49% of those indicated a history of childhood sexual abuse. Of those youth who were sex trafficked, 39% identified as LGBTQ, and transgender youth had the highest incidence. The researchers also found that youth who reported the presence of a supportive adult in their lives and those who completed high school were less likely to be trafficked.

“With a better understanding of what places young people at risk for sex trafficking and what resilience factors lower that risk, new policy and practice initiatives can prevent further victimization,” Ms. Wolfe said.