How Are Foster Youth and Former Foster Youth More Susceptible to Human Trafficking?
The risk of human trafficking greatly increases with layers of vulnerability for those who are marginalized and underresourced. When understanding the complex layers of human trafficking as a social ill, we must understand the ‘push and pull’ factors that increase vulnerability to trafficking. Push factors include factors that push people into more high-risk circumstances; for example ACEs, houselessness, poverty, marginalized identities and/or being in the foster care system. Pull factors include the needs of individuals, such as stability, a home, acceptance, income/security, parental role, belonging, etc.. When the needs of individuals are not being met, people are forced to make decisions to be able to meet those needs. Oftentimes, the way people become involved in human trafficking is through a trafficker who is willing to meet their needs while exploiting their vulnerability. This can become the case with foster youth who may experience higher rates of houselessness, education barriers, exposure to domestic violence, mental health and development disorders, barriers to healthcare access, neglect, and juvenile justice involvement compared to their peers outside of foster care.
According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, approximately half a million youth in the United States experience foster care placement each year. The state is responsible for providing foster youths with safe and temporary housing, however, there is dissonance in stable placements due to placement mismatch, substandard care and/or youth-initiated disruptions. The lack of stability in these placements can result in youths running away from their homes, putting them at increased risk of trafficking and/or other unsafe situations. In a study published in the Children and Youth Services Review in 2019, researchers found that 19% (N=7039) of youth with at least one foster placement at age 10 or older had at least one foster care runaway episode. This same study also identified a higher prevalence of human trafficking allegations when the foster youth was on runaway status. Further, a New York study to identify the prevalence of commercially sexually exploited youth found that 85% of these youth had prior child welfare system involvement. From these data, we can note that the risk of trafficking increases when an individual is forced to run away from a foster care placement, and that youth who have experienced trafficking are grossly overrepresented by those in the child welfare system.
Interpersonal Dynamics of Foster Youth
Those who have experienced foster care placement are at an increased risk of having a history of emotional abuse, having problems at school, being introduced to sexual activities at a young age, substance abuse and different types of trauma. Abuse, neglect and maltreatment can become normalized for foster youth who experience such trauma and circumstances on a regular basis. When this becomes a standard or norm for foster youth, it can be difficult to distinguish what kind of treatment is or isn’t okay, especially when traffickers use coercion to groom youth into thinking they are safe. This exploitative power dynamic can easily lead to abuse and manipulation.
Photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash
The COVID-19 pandemic has made security and stability even more challenging for foster youth and parents. The increased risk of exposure to the virus poses challenges such as stopping visits from biological parents or spreading the virus in group homes. There have also been scenarios in which foster youth are not allowed to return to their foster homes if they leave without permission. Turnover rate has increased for older adults fostering teens and many parents have relinquished care, leaving foster youth with extremely limited options. For new foster parents and youth, it is more difficult to establish relationships virtually, making trust more challenging to build. Foster care already posed many risks and challenges for youth that made them susceptible to abuse and other vulnerabilities and the pandemic has only worsened security and safety for them.
If we are to address human trafficking holistically, we must be actively engaged in reforming systems that contribute to marginalizing vulnerable populations. We must address push factors, or risk factors, and commit to fulfilling pull factors, or needs, better than traffickers are able to. We can do this by supporting community organizers who know best how to serve these communities sustainably, providing resources that can meet peoples’ needs, and contributing to a social rhetoric that does not discriminate service provision based on identity.
About the Author
Becca Wong is a junior at the University of Michigan studying Sociology and Social Work with a minor in data science. She aspires to reform trauma-informed legal systems and is passionate about mental health, survivor advocacy, and social justice. In her free time, she loves curating playlists, taking care of her plants and spending time with her friends.