Understanding Sexual Orientation

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LGBTQ+ youth are at least twice as likely to be trafficked as their heterosexual peers.

Homelessness disproportionately affects LGBTQ+ youth, which heightens risk of trafficking.

Prevention requires supportive families, inclusive policies, and targeted resources.

About 10 percent of youth in the United States identify as LGBTQ+. The Polaris Project has found that people of color and those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to be trafficked than any other group. Research shows that nearly 50 percent of youth engaged in commercial sex identify as LGBTQ+, and LGBTQ+ youth are at least twice as likely to be sex trafficked as non-LGBTQ+ youth (French Nafekh et al., 2023; Hogan & Rose-Sepowitz, 2023; Allan, Winters, & Jeglic, 2023).

Take the example of José Alfaro, who is a human trafficking survivor and activist. When José Alfaro was just 16, his father gave him an impossible choice: abandon his home or abandon his LGBTQ+ identity. José grew up in a conservative town in Texas, where he was taught that gay people were not welcome. When his father found out he was gay, he physically assaulted him and then asked him to leave the home. Without a loving home or family support, he formed a relationship online with a 36-year-old man who made him feel accepted and special. His search for belonging led him into the arms of a trafficker who trafficked him for sex through a massage business. Even after he had escaped, he lived with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and resorted to drugs and alcohol to cope. This path from family rejection to violent exploitation is not an unfamiliar tragedy but a cruel and common reality, especially for LGBTQ+ youth.

The Contributing Factors

The reasons why LGBTQ+ youth are over-represented in human trafficking victimization are clear. Traffickers explicitly target vulnerabilities. Discrimination against LGBTQ+ youth puts them at higher risk for instability, making them easier targets for promises of love, acceptance, and more financial security.

Family rejection is the most related factor to explain vulnerabilities to human trafficking. When youth are kicked out or flee their homes due to non-acceptance of their sexual orientation or gender identity, they may become easy prey for traffickers who are master manipulators. The traffickers pretend to be in loving relationships with the youth, at least at the beginning. LGBTQ+ youth often are seeking the love, support, and acceptance that they did not get from their families and friends. Traffickers explicitly target their vulnerabilities, and even frequent locations where marginalized youth congregate, including foster care systems, group homes, shelters, and online LGBTQ+ spaces.

The experience of homelessness is another primary driver of trafficking vulnerability. Up to 40 percent of the 4.2 million youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ+. People of color who are LGBTQ+ are even more likely to experience homelessness. For example, LGBTQ+ youth who are Black experience rates of homelessness at twice the rate as white LGBTQ+ youth. According to the Covenant House, an organization working with homeless youth across the United States, once homeless, LGBTQ+ youth face increased risks of violence, exploitation, and mental health challenges, in addition to human trafficking. They often avoid shelters due to fear of discrimination, leading them to more dangerous survival strategies.

They may also find it harder to find jobs because of discrimination, which can equate to fewer employment opportunities, biases when hiring, or a less inclusive work environment. These all contribute to economic instability. As the Trevor Project has highlighted, without housing and limited means to meet their basic needs, LGBTQ+ youth often turn to the sex trade to survive. Studies show that LGBTQ+ youth are even more likely than non-LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness to have had adverse experiences, including discrimination both by family members and outsiders, physical violence, and forced sex.

To better address the overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ youth involved in trafficking, we must focus on the core vulnerabilities, which include family rejection and homelessness. We need to provide more support for those most marginalized by systemic discrimination, such as LGBTQ+ youth and people of color. We need to incorporate a systems-level perspective, one that focuses on policy and legislation but also cultural shifts to a more inclusive society. We need to build programs to support more youth-led advocacy, as well as more research to collect the data that can be used to advocate for more resources and policy change.

Understanding Sexual Orientation

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Prevention through robust community and family support programs is critical. Organizations such as Covenant House, which provides immediate shelter and comprehensive care to homeless youth, and The Trevor Project, whose 24/7 crisis services offer support and stability for LGBTQ+ youth at risk, are working to supply immediate safety and long-term support needed to break the cycle of exploitation among the LGBTQ+ youth community. Moreover, we are collectively responsible for protecting LGBTQ+ youth from trafficking by advocating for immediate changes that support their safety, such as supporting funding for housing, donating to charities toward this cause, and encouraging a culture of acceptance to dismantle the very conditions that lead to exploitation.

Acknowledgment: Research assistance by Hayley Hui.

Adrian, S., Barnette, D., Bishop, J., Dodd, S., Erangey, J., Guerilla, M., Jackson, K., Jacob, M., Lange, J., Shelton, J., Sumter, G., Tandy, J., Thomas, A., Valentine, J. & Wagaman, A. (2020). The National LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Research Agenda. New York: The Silberman Center for Sexuality & Gender with True Colors United and Advocates for Richmond Youth.

Allan, C., Winters, G. M., & Jeglic, E. L. (2023). Current Trends in Sex Trafficking Research. Current Psychiatry Reports, 25(5), 175–182.

Hogan, K.A., and Roe-Sepowitz, D. (2023). LGBTQ+ Homeless Young Adults and Sex Trafficking Vulnerability. Journal of Human Trafficking, 9(1): 63–78.

French Nafekh, E., Ackerman-Brimberg, M., Walker Brown, K., & Contreras, M. (2023). Understanding the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of LGBTQIA2S+ Youth: What Services Providers Can Do to Build Inclusive Services and Spaces for Youth. National Center for Youth Law. Los Angeles LGBT Center. Saving Innocence. Young Women’s Freedom Center.

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