Barriers and Facilitators to Leaving a Trafficker: A Qualitative Analysis of the Accounts of People Who Have Experienced Sex Trafficking

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature on the barriers and facilitators to exiting the commercial sex industry, but little empirical research on how this process may be different for those who have experienced sex trafficking. In this study, we explored the barriers that people who have experienced sex trafficking encountered when they considered leaving their trafficker or leaving the commercial sex industry, as well as facilitators that helped them overcome those barriers. To address these questions, we used qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 158 people who had experienced sex trafficking. Among study participants, the circumstances of leaving a trafficking situation incredibly varied. Most participants faced complex barriers to exiting their trafficking situation and their exit pathways reflected these differences. Despite these barriers, most study participants had left their traffickers. We found that there were two broad ways that study participants left their trafficking situations: either actively or passively. We discuss implications for service providers, law enforcement, and policymakers to help support individual agency and decision-making to better facilitate trafficking exit.