Education and Media

Myths vs. Facts About Sex Trafficking of Males

Tap or hover over a card to see the facts.

MYTH
Sex trafficking only affects girls and women.

FACT
Boys and young men are sex trafficked too. In fact, recent studies show that up to 50% of sex trafficked youth are male.

MYTH
Sex trafficking only affects gay men.

FACT
Sex trafficking affects males across all sexual orientations, racial and ethnic identities, socioeconomic status, age, etc. It preys on vulnerabilities.

MYTH
Boys/men can get away.

FACT
Boys/men are sex trafficked too.

MYTH
All traffickers are male.

FACT
Approximately 30% of sex traffickers are female.

MYTH
Boys and men cannot be sexually assaulted.

FACT
One in six males report sexual abuse or assault at some point in their lifetimes.

MYTH
If someone does not identify as a victim, then they must have wanted it.

FACT
Many victims do not recognize themselves as victims due to social stigma, feelings of shame, pre-existing vulnerabilities that normalize abuse, and lack of resources available.

Consent is an active, sober, verbal, yes. Anything short of that is not consent and therefore unwanted.

MYTH
Males don’t ask for help.

FACT
The majority of sex trafficking survivors report asking for help from multiple professionals before finally receiving the help they need to escape.

Their out cries, especially males, are often overlooked or misinterpreted due to lack of awareness about the signs and symptoms of sex trafficking, as well as the social stigmas mentioned above.

Statistics on CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation) of Males

Human trafficking victims rarely come forward to seek help whether they are unable to do so or their vulnerabilities are being exploited to prevent them from seeking assistance. They rarely know their rights and how to get help, or they are afraid to reach out for fear of being hurt, arrested, or deported.
Treatment must address the traumas in order to prevent crime and break the cycle of exploitation. We need trauma-informed accountability in our criminal justice system.
Service providers, law enforcement, and other community members who interact with victims may be unfamiliar with the indicators of human trafficking. Sometimes they erroneously perceive victims primarily as teen runaways, juvenile delinquents, users of illegal substances, prostitutes, or removable aliens. This can generate inappropriate responses and ignores the very vulnerabilities for which traffickers targeted them.
Victims of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation have often endured unspeakable levels of injury that can be physical, psychological, sexual, financial, or otherwise harmful in nature.
Victims often require a wide range of short-and long-term assistance, ranging from immediate shelter, nourishment, and medical care to lawful immigration status, housing, education, and employment opportunities. Receiving adequate and appropriate assistance as soon as possible is the intervention victims need to stabilize, avoid falling victim again, and work toward recovery.

Traffickers can be relatives, friends, politically connected in their country of origin, and operating alone or as part of gangs or transnational criminal organizations.
Traffickers use various forms of force, fraud, and coercion to control and exploit victims. This might include imposing debt, fraudulent employment opportunities, false promises of marriage or a better life, psychological coercion, and violence or threats of violence.
Each year, DHS forensically examines more than 3,000 terabytes of data in support of child sexual exploitation investigations.

We believe the current data only captures a fraction of the actual total. Current assessment measures miss the boys because they do not ask the right questions.

References: Polaris, NCBI, HHS.gov, USA Today, DHS

Service Gaps We've Identified

Most youth do not understand that they are being exploited and therefore do not seek help or identify as "victims"
Need more research on this population
Must address the stigma that “males cannot be raped”
Law enforcement also should recognize that sometimes individuals have engaged in unlawful activity as a result of being a victim of human trafficking. That activity can include prostitution, entering the country without documentation, or working without documentation or with false documents

One crisis call took 22 hours to get an assessment.

Local psychiatric hospitals denied admission despite a clear pattern of mood instability, reactive impulsivity, risk of harm to self/others, and evidence of delusions (including grandiose, persecutory, and jealous).
Priority is given to “imminent risk” in cases of involuntary admission, which means that service providers, families, and law enforcement must wait until the person is actively causing harm or is psychotic to the point that they are completely disoriented.

Medication refills have been a significant challenge, especially when changing providers
For example. Dovato is a medication that helps patients with HIV and costs up to $3,000.00 without insurance or enrollment in a financial assistance program. There is no pamphlet or handout explaining the program, how enrollment works, and how to reinstate one's membership. Getting this refilled for one of our residents required two difference case managers, a doctor, a pharmacist, a masters level clinician, and a resident assistant. How can we expect these kids to navigate their critical care needs when it is this challenging for highly educated, trained professionals?

These youth are unable to care for or advocate for themselves and often develop cooccurring disorders, such as Bipolar with psychotic features, due to lack of access to appropriate care and therefore additional victimizations.
Current programs are either full with a wait list, unattainably expensive, or do not also address the psychological trauma aspect of the population they serve.

Solutions We Propose

IOP/PHP level of programming
On site psychiatric care with on call availability
Psychological evaluation with collateral reports
Residential staff on site outside of IOP/PHP programming hours
Total wrap around care through community partners
Single occupancy rooms
Mentorship from community leaders

Interagency cooperation and ability to share relevant information
Changes to duty to warn
Ability of law enforcement to intervene prior to imminent threat
Minimum standards for discharge planning, especially safe placement
Ease of access for medication refills with safeguards in place to prevent fraud (such as the ID requirements for purchasing decongestants)
Fixed case load limits for case managers and service providers
Emergency psychiatric care for individuals who do not meet criteria for inpatient admission

Education and Media

Myths vs. Facts About Sex Trafficking of Males

Statistics on CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation) of Males

Service Gaps We've Identified

Solutions We Propose

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