NCJ Number
230766
Date Published
2010
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines whether situational crime prevention could be used to combat sex trafficking and how the links between prostitution and sex trafficking could affect the prevention techniques developed to combat the problem.
Abstract
Through previous research, sex trafficking has been linked to prostitution and results have shown that the profit from sex trafficking derives from the exploitation of victims as prostituted persons. This chapter examines the applicability and possibilities of using various situational crime prevention techniques to contain and reduce sex trafficking. The analysis begins with a look at organized crime and how sex trafficking as run by organized crime groups presents an ideal situation for the use of situational crime prevention techniques. The results of three studies are examined to find answers to various questions about sex trafficking that include how women are recruited and what role their consent plays in their victimization; what rational choices do the various players in sex trafficking make; what are the costs and benefits related to these choices; and how the cost/benefit equation can be changed to alter the choices made by participants in sex trafficking and thereby reduce the illegal activity. The research results are also examined to determine which situational factors can be considered as possible points for intervention and interference through the use of situational crime prevention techniques. Implications for the use of situational crime prevention are discussed. References