The embodiment of complex trauma in domestic minor sex trafficking victims and the dangers of misidentification

Author: McGuire, Karie

Abstract: Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) victims face many barriers to getting appropriate, trauma-informed treatment. Many of these victims experience childhood trauma by trusted adults or by non-familial perpetrators of abuse. Complex trauma, later defined in depth, captures what many DMST victims endure as the harm that they experience is ongoing and cannot be identified as a singular event. Due to the complex trauma these victims experience, they become dissociated as a tool for survival. As a result of trauma, many DMST victims do not embody protective skills, and attempt to gain control of their lives through maladaptive behaviors that can lead to re-victimization. I begin by discussing the literature around embodiment, trauma and the body, and dissociation to demonstrate why a trauma-informed approach in identification and therapy is important when working with DMST victims. Subsequently, I present a case study to explore an example of how the presentation of trauma, or ways it is masked, can lead to misidentification. This case study will illustrate how social workers can effectively advocate for DMST victims at the early stages of identification and also foster a safe, accepting therapeutic space to assist these clients in trust-building and identify formation. Trauma-informed care needs to be integrated from the first interaction with law enforcement, throughout the development of a treatment plan with providers, and for the duration of the therapeutic relationship.

Keywords: human trafficking, domestic minor sex trafficking, complex trauma, dissociation, embodiment