“Like shooting fish in a barrel:” recruitment into sex trafficking in emergency shelters for youth experiencing homelessness

Youth experiencing homelessness often possess a ‘perfect storm’ of risk factors which traffickers exploit to lure and recruit them into sex trafficking. Despite this, little research has investigated how to prevent youth experiencing homelessness from being trafficked, including in the spaces that are meant to provide respite to them, such as emergency shelters. This paper utilizes findings from 23 semi-structured interviews with survivors of sex trafficking to investigate how and why the experience of homelessness among young people increases their vulnerability to being trafficked and how service providers can reduce the risk of this happening. The results show that traffickers actively target youth experiencing homelessness in shelters by posing as residents, sending others inside to pose as residents and loitering in the areas outside shelters to find potential victims. Qualitative analysis yielded two central themes that, when combined, make shelters attractive and effective spaces for traffickers: individual-level targeting factors among young people and elements of the emergency shelter system. The individual-level factors identified were isolation and loneliness, the need for safety, a lack of basic needs and the experience of homelessness. The emergency shelter factors included large physical spaces with numerous residents, a lack of staff training and awareness, the staff’s demeanour and approach, and various policies and procedures that have unintentional consequences. Mindfully designing and monitoring the spaces, policies and procedures within emergency shelters, and ensuring staff are trauma-informed and trained on the issues of sex trafficking can mitigate the risk of traffickers luring young people onsite. Interventions that support socio-economic inclusion and create supportive relationships with family and communities of belonging should be prioritized by service providers.