American Indian Adolescent Girls: Vulnerability to Sex Trafficking, Intervention Strategies

Abstract

The Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center offers harm reduction programming to at-risk adolescent American Indian girls, including outreach, case management, advocacy, healthy sexuality education, and support groups. To evaluate program impact, participants are assessed at intake and every 6 months afterward for current vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation, violence, and addiction. Evaluation results indicate frequent exposure to sex traffickers and suggest that harm reduction methods can help girls reduce risk of commercial sexual exploitation.