In 2021, the Institute for Shelter Care conducted a national study to examine the prevalence, characteristics, and challenges associated with the commercial sexual exploitation of minors where the exploiter is a family member of the victim. Over 3,500 cases of child exploitation across twenty-four states were represented in the study. Part 1 of this session will lay the foundation for understanding familial sex trafficking and explore how familial trafficking relates to, but is distinct from, incest and briefly how laws help or hurt our identification of this type of trafficking. Part 2 of this session will summarize the limited body of knowledge we have on the profile of victim and perpetrator(s) and explore the relational dynamics between the child and the familial trafficker as these cases traverse the phases of identification, investigation, prosecution, and victim services.
Learning Objectives:
Define familial trafficking and understand how it relates to, but is different from domestic minor sex trafficking or incest.
Gain a general understanding of the prevalence and the profile of the victim and perpetrators of familial trafficking.
Grapple with the complicated challenges associated with familial trafficking cases.
