Background : Sex trafficking is a human rights abuse that carries particularly negative health and social consequences, including HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). While HIV/STI infection and sex trafficking have been linked in Asia, the context of these associations and their applicability in Mexico is poorly understood. Aims : Aims of this dissertation were to (1) Critically review evidence linking mobility, trafficking, and HIV vulnerability in Mexico and Central America; (2) Explore associations between features of the risk environment, sex work and drug use history, and underage sex work among female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Cd. Juarez, Mexico; and (3) Describe and "unpack" sex trafficking and its relationship to HIV/STI vulnerability among formerly trafficked FSWs in Tijuana. Methods : This study employed qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate sex trafficking, mobility and HIV vulnerability. In Chapter 2, a critical review of the epidemiology and context of HIV vulnerability among mobile populations in Central America and Mexico was conducted. Chapter 3 draws upon questionnaires and HIV/STI testing among FSWs (n=624) in Tijuana and Cd. Juarez. In Chapter 4, in-depth interviews were conducted with formerly trafficked FSWs in Tijuana (n=31). Results : Chapter 2 found that among mobile groups in Central America and Mexico, social isolation, socio-economic impacts of displacement, gender inequalities, and stigma/discrimination strongly shape HIV/STI risk. In Chapter 3, underage sex work entry was positively associated with inhalants as the first drug used, forced first injection, number of drug treatment attempts, and recent receptive syringe-sharing. Number of recent condom negotiation attempts with steady partners and depression as a reason for first injecting were negatively associated with underage entry into sex work. In Chapter 4, sex trafficking was linked to elevated HIV/STI vulnerability through gender-based violence, economic vulnerability, migration, and stigma. Conclusions: These findings contribute to a foundation of knowledge to advocate for strategies to reduce sex trafficking and HIV. Multi-level, intersectoral interventions to prevent sex trafficking and HIV infection are needed for vulnerable youths, migrants, and FSWs in Mexico-U.S. border cities; recommended components include strengthening the response to gender-based violence, peer-delivered prevention, and the provision of shelter, food, job placements, and psychological support.

Background : Sex trafficking is a human rights abuse that carries particularly negative health and social consequences, including HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). While HIV/STI infection and sex trafficking have been linked in Asia, the context of these associations and their applicability in Mexico is poorly understood. Aims : Aims of this dissertation were to (1) Critically review evidence linking mobility, trafficking, and HIV vulnerability in Mexico and Central America; (2) Explore associations between features of the risk environment, sex work and drug use history, and underage sex work among female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Cd. Juarez, Mexico; and (3) Describe and "unpack" sex trafficking and its relationship to HIV/STI vulnerability among formerly trafficked FSWs in Tijuana. Methods : This study employed qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate sex trafficking, mobility and HIV vulnerability. In Chapter 2, a critical review of the epidemiology and context of HIV vulnerability among mobile populations in Central America and Mexico was conducted. Chapter 3 draws upon questionnaires and HIV/STI testing among FSWs (n=624) in Tijuana and Cd. Juarez. In Chapter 4, in-depth interviews were conducted with formerly trafficked FSWs in Tijuana (n=31). Results : Chapter 2 found that among mobile groups in Central America and Mexico, social isolation, socio-economic impacts of displacement, gender inequalities, and stigma/discrimination strongly shape HIV/STI risk. In Chapter 3, underage sex work entry was positively associated with inhalants as the first drug used, forced first injection, number of drug treatment attempts, and recent receptive syringe-sharing. Number of recent condom negotiation attempts with steady partners and depression as a reason for first injecting were negatively associated with underage entry into sex work. In Chapter 4, sex trafficking was linked to elevated HIV/STI vulnerability through gender-based violence, economic vulnerability, migration, and stigma. Conclusions: These findings contribute to a foundation of knowledge to advocate for strategies to reduce sex trafficking and HIV. Multi-level, intersectoral interventions to prevent sex trafficking and HIV infection are needed for vulnerable youths, migrants, and FSWs in Mexico-U.S. border cities; recommended components include strengthening the response to gender-based violence, peer-delivered prevention, and the provision of shelter, food, job placements, and psychological support.

Millions of people around the world are forced to work without pay and under threat of violence. These individuals can be found working in brothels, factories, mines, farm fields, restaurants, construction sites and private homes: many have been tricked by human traffickers and lured by false promises of good jobs or education, some are forced to work at gunpoint, while others are trapped by phony debts from unscrupulous moneylenders. The SAGE Handbook of Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and global look at the diverse issues surrounding human trafficking and slavery in the post-1945 environment. Covering everything from history, literature and politics to economics, international law and geography, this Handbook is essential reading for academics and researchers, as well as for policy-makers and non-governmental organisations

Every day in the United States, children and adolescents are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Despite the serious and long-term consequences for victims as well as their families, communities, and society, efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes are largely under supported, inefficient, uncoordinated, and unevaluated. Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States examines commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States under age 18. According to this report, efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes require better collaborative approaches that build upon the capabilities of people and entities from a range of sectors. In addition, such efforts need to confront demand and the individuals who commit and benefit from these crimes. The report recommends increased awareness and understanding, strengthening of the law's response, strengthening of research to advance understanding and to support the development of prevention and intervention strategies, support for multi-sector and interagency collaboration, and creation of a digital information-sharing platform. A nation that is unaware of these problems or disengaged from solutions unwittingly contributes to the ongoing abuse of minors. If acted upon in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, the recommendations of Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States can help advance and strengthen the nation's emerging efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the United States.

In The globalization of crime: a transnational organized crime threat assessment, UNODC analyses a range of key transnational crime threats, including human trafficking, migrant smuggling, the illicit heroin and cocaine trades, cybercrime, maritime piracy and trafficking in environmental resources, firearms and counterfeit goods. The report also examines a number of cases where transnational organized crime and instability amplify each other to create vicious circles in which countries or even subregions may become locked. Thus, the report offers a striking view of the global dimensions of organized crime today.

An estimated 35 million people worldwide are displaced by conflict, and most of them are women and children. During their time away from their homes and communities, these women and their children are subjected to a horrifying array of misfortune, including privations of every kind, sexual assaults, disease, imprisonment, unwanted pregnancies, severe psychological trauma, and, upon return or resettlement, social disapproval and isolation. Written by the world’s leading scholars and practitioners, this unique collection brings these problems - and potential solutions - into sharp focus. Based on extensive field research and a broad knowledge of other studies of the challenges facing women who are forced from their homes and homelands by conflict, this book offers in-depth understanding and problem-solving ideas. Derived from a project to advise U.N. agencies, it speaks to a broad array of students, scholars, NGOs, policymakers, government officials, and international organizations.

Exploring human trafficking in the US - Mexico borderlands as a regional expression of a pressing global problem, Borderline Slavery sheds light on the contexts and causes of trafficking, offering policy recommendations for addressing it that do justice to border communities' complex circumstances. This book focuses on both sexual and labor trafficking, proceeding thematically from global to regional levels to provide an empirically grounded, theoretically informed, and policy-relevant approach, which examines the problem through the eyes of scholars and researchers from various fields, as well as journalists, public officials, law enforcement personnel, victims' advocates and NGO representatives. Discussing the multinational networks, global economics, and personal motives that fuel a multibillion dollar trade in human beings as cheap labor, Borderline Slavery suggests future directions for effective policies and law enforcement strategies to prevent the advance of human trafficking. As such, it will be of interest to both policy makers and scholars across the social sciences working in the fields of migration, exploitation and trafficking.