Abstract

Through my independent research project, I explore how youth survivors of human trafficking are represented by the organizations that serve them. Websites of residential programs serving minors with programming/beds specific to human trafficking, that are geographically located within the United States were collected in February 2022- (ongoing). Keyword text searches for “youth”, “minor”, “adolescent”, “resident”, “girl”, “boy”, “child”, and their derivatives were performed across all program’s pages and descriptors were recorded and coded to group like-themed descriptors. Data produced from this qualitative methodology is then compared through case study comparisons within states/geographic location and from programs located within states with safe harbor legislation versus those without. This work relates to the overall themes of social justice and human rights as it focuses upon a population against whom a violation of human rights has been committed and examines the framing of the care available. The paradigm created through the framing, defining, publicizing, and elevation of some voices of this population by the programs who serve them can help us to better understand what motivations they bring when working with this population and how those motivations may shape the programming offered. After the analyses of how survivors are framed, as a fellow survivor, I provide commentary regarding how power cycles (including white supremacy) are constructed and maintained through the current programming landscape. Additionally, the motivations found for supporting youth are often in line with humanitarianism but fall flat when considering the complex needs of traumatized youth. The data, results, and my commentary seek to begin to lay the foundation of truly assessing what programs exist for youth survivors and how those programs approach representing the population they work with in a public format.