Date of Award
Spring 5-2025
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Bridget Diamond-Welch
Second Advisor
Timothy Schorn
Third Advisor
Sara Lampert
Keywords
familial sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of children
Subject Categories
Development Studies | Law and Gender
Abstract
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a range of experiences inflicted upon children that involves sexual exploitation for financial benefit and results in many psychological harms on exploited youth. Familial sex trafficking is a subset of CSEC where the child is exploited by a family member through either intergenerational prostitution or exchanging sexual access to their child to others for commercial gain. This paper will review the available literature on CSEC and familial trafficking, focusing specifically on two important questions (1) What makes minors vulnerable to CSEC and sex trafficking and (2) What maintains the involvement on people in sex trafficking after their initial introduction as a minor? This paper uses the previous research in conjunction with a case study of a victim of familial sex trafficking who experienced a transition into non-familial sex trafficking, discussing how prior research illuminates her experience. This study will pinpoint four vulnerabilities and four mechanisms of maintenance found in the literature and contextualized by the case study that warrant further examination and study. This paper will also suggest implications for prevention and exit and victims of sex trafficking in general and familial trafficking specifically.
Recommended Citation
Grabowska, Lindsey M., ""You Gonna Be Like Mama": A Case Study of Intergenerational Sex Trafficking" (2025). Honors Thesis. 371.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/371