Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to explore how trafficker’s means of control, types of sexual services, nature of recruiter relationships and female age groups influence sexual exploitation among victims of human trafficking. The data analysed in this study were obtained from 2002 to 2019 anonymized public data of the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC), which is a global data hub on human trafficking, collecting data from counter-trafficking organizations around the world. Using a binary logistic regression approach, we found that traffickers gain control of their victims by debt bondage, taking earnings, use of threats, sexual abuse, false promise, use of psychoactive substances, use of children, threat of law enforcement and withholding of necessities supporting the Biderman’s Theory of Coercion. Victims were also found to experience prostitution, pornography, private sexual services and were recruited by their intimate partner and friends. In addition, young women aged 30yrs and above were less likely to be sexual exploited compared to younger women and girls.