*Note* This scheduling program was not designed by folks who do a lot with APA Style and unfortunately it defaults to listing authors in alphabetical order. We cannot fix this for this online schedule, but the author orders are posted in the order submitted in the printed program available via pdf here.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (2003) reported over 1.2 million children are forced into sexual slavery every year worldwide. The sexual slavery of children is a global issue, and although often perceived to be a problem in developing nations, it also occurs to a large degree in the United States (Logan, Walker & Hunt, 2009). Between 100,000 and 300,000 youth are prostituted every year in the U.S. (Estes & Weiner, 2001). In the United States domestic minor sex trafficking victims are under the age of 18 and have been recruited, harbored, transported, provided or obtained to perform sex acts (Washington State Office of the Attorney General, n.d.). Kotrla’s (2010) review of the literature on sex trafficking in the U.S. found that the populations most often trafficked domestically are American-born citizens and legal residents, not foreign nationals brought in to U.S., as is often believed to be the case (Hughes, 2007). However, attention, research, and funds are disproportionately allocated to foreign national trafficking victims, followed by domestic adults and finally domestic children (Finklea, Fernandes-Alcantara, & Siskin, 2011; Fong & Berger Cardoso, 2010; Hughes, 2007). The aim of this retrospective study was to collect the personal narratives of U.S. citizen and legal resident adults who were sexually exploited as minors within the U.S. in order to garner insight into their experience. Fifteen survivors were interviewed and a narrative framework that draws on feminist approaches was utilized to explore their experiences. After transcription and analysis, six major themes emerged from the participants’ interviews: predisposing factors, precipitating factors, experiences while being trafficked, present circumstances, mental health related issues and coping mechanisms, and views on sex trafficking. I will provide an overview of their responses with examples from their personal narratives. The mental health and policy implications will also be presented.
Research on women survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has examined sexual functioning among survivors, and resilience factors that contribute to well-being. This narrative research study examined the experiences of nine women survivors of CSA who report having a positive sexual self-concept. Implications for practice, training, and research are discussed.
Male sexual abuse (MSA) is an understudied phenomenon impacting more than 4 to 5 million men in the United States. As is the case for female survivors, male survivors would benefit from being considered in the planning and tailoring of sexual abuse treatments. Making all voices heard, including those of male survivors, may impact traditional gender stereotypes that feminism seeks to deconstruct. Although there are difficulties that make the inclusion of male survivors a challenge, like the pervasive male perpetrator/female victim paradigm, male survivors would benefit from being recognized as individuals who have suffered devastating trauma and should be made to feel welcome in receiving mental health services. Perhaps this recognition would assist to balance out the challenges associated with under-reporting and underutilization of services, whilst moving the field beyond inclusion, so as to embrace the marginalized within the survivor community. One way to promote this shift is to include the perspective of male survivors in research aimed to identify beneficial aspects of sexual abuse treatment. Group therapy is an effective treatment modality for male survivors, yet there are limited studies utilizing male survivor perceptions of the treatment experience. The current study used a qualitative approach to explore six male survivors and their perceptions of the beneficial aspects of sexual abuse group therapy. Preliminary findings suggest that the following aspects of group therapy may be notably beneficial to the participants interviewed: facilitator’s validation and expression of empathy, group membership with other men who have experienced sexual abuse, facilitator’s survivor status, hearing fellow group member’s abuse stories, discussing shame, blame, and guilt, and the facilitator’s willingness to self-disclose. These results may contribute to a foundational knowledge base necessary for future research and may promote further inclusion of male survivors into the survivor community.
