Sex Trafficking and Technology: A Systematic Review of Recruitment and Exploitation

Author: Gezinski, Lindsay & Gonzalez-Pons, Kwynn

Abstract: With passage of Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Traffickers Act and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (FOSTA-SESTA) in 2018, technology became inextricably linked to sex trafficking in the United States (U.S.) public policy arena. FOSTA-SESTA aimed to combat sex trafficking by legislating digital spaces; however, largely missing from legislative debate was the inclusion of prevalence data to inform this policy making. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the existing empirical evidence on online-facilitated sex trafficking. Twenty-one articles were included in this systematic review, of which the vast majority focused on the U.S. and domestically trafficked youth. Findings indicate very few empirically documented cases of online-facilitated recruitment of victims for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Greater empirical evidence exists for trafficked persons advertised online for sexual exploitation; however, the person posting these advertisements (e.g., self, friend, trafficker) varies. Overall, the actual prevalence of online-facilitated trafficking remains unknown, suggesting the need for rigorous and large-scale representative studies. Opportunities for leveraging technology to support survivors and service organizations are discussed. In contrast to sweeping legislation that targets web platform providers, policy is needed that reduces structural risk factors to prevent exploitation and trafficking.

Keywords: commercial sexual exploitation, internet, mobile applications, social media, human trafficking, public policy