By:
Leah Albright-Byrd,
Kevin Cavazos
&
The SECT Collaborative
• Step out and take a
break.
• Talk to someone you
trust.
• Do something relaxing.
The experience of exposure to actual or
threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation
The individual has an
overwhelming sense of:
Horror
Fear
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
Terror
Helplessness
Vicarious
Trauma
Complex
Trauma
Chronic
Trauma
Acute
Trauma
Acute
Traumatic
Stress
Secondary
Traumatic
Stress
Compassion
Fatigue
Insidious and
Historical
Trauma
G
• Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
• Community violence and victimization
• Abandonment and neglect
• Domestic violence
• Traumatic loss
• Prostitution/Sex trafficking
• Serious accident
• Medical trauma, injury, illness
• Natural disaster
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
Potentially Traumatizing Events in JJ Settings
• Seclusion
• Restraint
• Routine room confinement
• Strip searches/pat downs
• Placement on suicide status
• Observing physical altercations
• Fear of being attacked by other youth
• Separation from caregivers/community
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
IMPLICIT MEMORY

A type of memory that is
expressed through
performance, rather than
conscious recall, such as
information acquired during
skill learning, habit formation,
classical conditioning,
emotional learning, and
priming. Also known as nondeclarative memory.
EXPLICIT MEMORY

Memory in which
there is a need for
conscious
recollection in order
to recall something.
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
Frontal Cortex
“Quick Action Plan”
Thalamus
“Encodes Sensory Input”
Hippocampus
“Short Term Memory to Long
Term”
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
Amygdala
“Emotional Response”
During Trauma the Pre Frontal Cortex
quickly processes which action to
take- Fight/Flight/Freeze and
generally is not thought out
Fight or
Flee
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
Functions of the Pre Frontal Cortex
•Controlling impulses
•Inhibiting inappropriate
behaviors
•Initiating appropriate behaviors
•Stopping upon completion
•Shifting/Adjusting when
situations change
•Organization/Planning
•Setting Priorities
•Decision Making
•Sensitivity to feedback
•Insight
Fight, Flee, or Freeze (to protect)
Hippocampus
Hypothalamus
“Links the nervous
system to the endocrine
system to secrete
stress hormones”
Breathing rate
increases
Digestion and
Immune Systems
are shut off
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
“Stores memories of
danger”
Heart rate and blood
pressure increase
Release of adrenaline
and cortisol
G
Age of the
youth
Trauma
History
Trauma at the
hand of
caretakers
Secondary
adversities
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
• Intrusion
• Avoidance
• Negative Alt in cog/mood
• Hyperarousal/Reactivity
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
INTRUSIVE SYMPTOMS
Images, sensations, or memories of the traumatic event recur
uncontrollably.
This includes
• nightmares
• disturbing thoughts
• flashbacks
• physiological reactions
• intense/prolonged
psychological distress
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
INTRUSIVE SYMPTOMS
These images and sensations can be so intense that we feel as if we are going through
the trauma all over again. This is called a flashback. Young children may also reexperience or reenact traumatic experiences through their play. They may try in their
play to make whatever happened turn out differently.
• There can also be
physiological reactions to
the reminders including
racing heart, stomach
ache, headache that
occur frequently
• Or psychological distress,
which is a sudden sense
of unease or anxiety
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
AVOIDANCE SYMPTOMS
Avoidance of internal reminders
• thoughts, feelings, or physical
sensations
Avoidance of external reminders
• People, places, objects
• Activities, situations,
conversations
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
ALTERATIONS IN AROUSAL & REACTIVITY
•Bodies are always primed to respond to
any stress (Flight, Fight, Freeze).
• Irritable or aggressive behavior
•Self-destructive or reckless behavior
• Jumpiness or quick to startle (Anxiety)
• Problems with concentration
• Sleep disturbance
•Rapid Heart Rate and Breathing
•Impulsive, inattentive
• Hyperarousal can lead to hypervigiliance:
a need to constantly scan the
environment and other people for danger.
Resource: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
DISSOCIATION
Mentally separating the self
from the experience
Derealization: May experience
the self as detached from the
body, on the ceiling,
somewhere else in the room
Depersonalization: May feel
as if in a dream or unreal
state
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
G
NEGATIVE ALTERATIONS IN COGNITION/MOOD
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”
•
Inability to remember parts of traumatic event
•
Persistent negative emotions
•
Persistent difficulty experiencing positive
emotions
•
Decreased interest or participation in activities
•
Feeling detached from others
•
Persistent exaggerated negative expectations
•
Persistent distorted blame of self or others
Things, events,
situations, places,
sensations, and even
people that a youth
consciously or
unconsciously connects
with a traumatic event
*Source: NCTSN “Think Trauma Training”

The NCSTN defines “severe forms of trafficking
in persons” in the following two-tiered
definition:
 Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is
induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which
the person induced to perform such an act has
not attained 18 years of age; or,
 The recruitment, harboring, transportation,
provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or
services, through the use of force, fraud, or
coercion for the purposes of subjection to
involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage,
or slavery.
*Source: NCTSN
• Recruiting or Harboring or Moving or Obtaining
Action
Means
• By
• Force or Fraud or Coercion
• For the purpose of:
• Involuntary Servitude or Debt Bondage or Slavery
Purpose or Commercial Sex Acts
*Source: NCTSN

Level One










Age
Foster Youth
School Truancy
Hx of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
Suspensions/Expulsions (not enrolled in school)
LGBTQ
Minority Populations
Poverty
Educational behavioral problems
Runaway (first or second time)

Level Two











Level One risk factors
Exposure to a trafficker and/or exploited youth/person
Homelessness
CPS involvement
Hx of arrest and juvenile detention
Hx of exploitation in the family
Hx of domestic violence
Accessed emergency shelter
Chronic runaway
Group home and numerous foster care placements
Arrest hx

Level Three
 Level One and Two risk factors
 Gang Activity
 First arrest for prostitution

Level Four
 Level One, Two, and Three risk factors
 Multiple prostitution arrests
 Branding/Tattoos

Social Media
Accounts
 Redbook account
 Craig’s list
account
 Meet Up
 “Snap-Chat” app
 “Kik” App
•
In addition:
 Inexplicable appearance of
expensive gifts, clothing, or other
costly items
 Presence of an older boy/girlfriend
 Withdrawal or lack of interest in
previous activities
 Multiple phones

Trafficked Minors
 12-14 years old girls and 11-13 year old boys are the highest





*Source: NCTSN
rated targeted population for “pimps”
100,000 to 300,000 youth per year are as risk in coming sexually
exploited
Of 1.7 million runaways annually, 1/3rd are reported missing
parents
In the US., it is estimated average age of entry into prostitution is
12.
One study estimates 30% of shelter youth and 70% of street
youth are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. They may
engage or be coerced into prostitution for “survival sex” to
meet daily needs for food, shelter, or drugs.
75% of child victims engaged in prostitution are under the
control of a pimp.






Teens choose to prostitute themselves
If they really wanted out, they could leave at any time
Teens are willing participants/know what they are getting into
Teens get paid to do this
This only happens to females
This only happens to "bad" kids or kids from "bad" families
Resource: Sexually Exploited Children & Teens (www.sacramentosect.org)
Waging War Against Sexual Exploitation Bridget’s Dream | 2013






A child victim does not know the reality of the
violence and trauma she is facing
Pimps use brute force, manipulation, and the illusion
of love and acceptance to maintain control over
their victims
The average victim may be forced to have sex up to
20-48 times a day.*
A pimp can make $150,000-$200,000 per child each
year and the average pimp has 4 to 6 girls.*
The average age of entry for boys is 11-13 and there
are even fewer services and supports available for
them
Victims come from ALL backgrounds
*Source: Department of Justice
1. Bagley, C. & Young, L. (1987). Juvenile Prostitution and Child Sexual Abuse: A Controlled Study. Canadian Journal of
Community Mental Health.
2. Annual Report. (1991). Council for Prostitution Alternatives. Portland, Oregon.
3. Murphy, Patricia. (1993). Making Connections: Women, Work, and Abuse. Paul M. Deutsch Press, Florida.
62%
of respondents had been raped in prostitution
73%
had experienced physical assault in prostitution
72%
were currently or formerly homeless
92%
stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately
A Prostitution Alternatives report revealed that their participants were being raped
an average of 16 times a year by pimps, and were raped 33 times a year by
johns.
▪ Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8
(4): 405-426
▪ Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives Annual Report, 1991, Portland, Oregon
What do we
need to
understand
about CSEC so
that we can
help them to
Heal?
Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children
(CSEC)
• Childhood
Trauma
• Symptoms/Fear
Responses
• Violation of
Boundaries
• Guilt & Shame
Level 1
Child Trauma
Level 2
• View Self as
Sexual Object
• Low Self-Esteem
• Runaway/
• Homeless
(Survival Sex)
• Poverty & Need
(Survival Sex)
• Unequal Power
Dynamics of
Adult/Child
Relationships
• Media Influence
• Actions/Means/
Purpose
• Demand
• Approached by
Recruiters, Pimps,
Traffickers
Sexual Exploitation
of Children (SEC)
Level 3
Level 4
• Trauma Bonding
Debriefing Question:
What impact does sex-trafficking
have on children?
Psychological/Emotional Impact of CSEC
Disruption of healthy psychological development
 Self-concept, intimacy, beliefs and goals
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Impulse to revisit traumatic events,
intrusive emotions & memories, flashbacks, hyper arousal,
exaggerated startle reaction, panic symptoms
Self-injurious and suicidal behavior
Dissociative disorders
Anxiety
Paranoia
Clinical depression
Explosive outbursts
Sleep disturbance & nightmares
Bond with perpetrators
Hyper-sexualization
Spiritual Impact of CSEC
Despair
Hopelessness
Lack of belief in humanity
Lack of faith in spiritual power
Physical Impact of CSEC
Continuous physical abuse
Rape & gang rape
STDs & STIs
HIV & AIDS
Loss of bowel control
Pregnancy (wanted and unwanted)
Sterility
Facial/dental reconstruction
Tattoos & branding
Brain damage
Substance abuse/addiction
Self-cutting
Isolation from peer group
Suicide/Death
Disconnection from community
Social Impact of CSEC
Emotional Impact of CSEC
Anger and rage
Deep emotional pain/grieving
Feelings of humiliation/shame
Stigma of exploitation
Self-blame/Self-loathing
Loss of sexual desire, feelings, or response
Isolation from mainstream society
Homelessness
Incarceration/Criminal record as obstacle
Disempowerment
Lack of life skills
Trust issues/Difficulty maintaining relationships
Obstacles to vocation
Lack of access to legal economies, lack of job experience/skills
Educational deprivation
Missed school, disconnection with school system

Experts speak of the trauma suffered by child sex
trafficking victims as more severe than most sexually
based trauma given the chronic nature coupled with
the reinforced victimization from the community at
large of buyers.

Additionally, CSEC report severe stigma emanating from
first responders as well as from other children.
G
Victims Need
•Crisis housing
•Long-term housing
•Food
•Clothing
•Education
•Job or income
•Viable alternatives for employment
•Transportation
•Opportunities to Develop
• Spiritual Care
•
•
•
•
•
New skills and strengths
Medical and/or dental care
Health education
Mental healthcare
Counseling and/or case
management
• Safety plan
• Childcare and/or parenting
skills
• Legal representation and/or
advocacy
Pimp Use Tactics
Of Coercion and Control that create
impediments to rehabilitation
Enforcing trivial
demands
Isolation
Monopolization of
perception
Degradation
Demonstrating
“omnipotence”
Induced debility
& exhaustion
Threats
Occasional
indulgences
What needs to be present for Stockholm Syndrome to occur?




The presence of a perceived threat to one's physical or
psychological survival and the belief that the abuser would
carry out the threat
The presence of a perceived small kindness from the abuser to
the victim
Isolation from perspectives other than those of the abuser
The perceived inability to escape the situation
How is Stockholm Syndrome displayed?






Positive feelings by the victim toward the
abuser/controller
Negative feelings by the victim toward family, friends, or
authorities trying to rescue/support them or win their
release
Support of the abuser's reasons and behaviors
Positive feelings by the abuser toward the victim
Supportive behaviors by the victim, at times helping the
abuser
Inability to engage in behaviors that may assist in their
release or detachment

Keep an open and non-judgmental mind

Familiarize yourself with resources for rehabilitation
o

Identify key community partners that can assist
Foster a trusting relationship with identified victims
o
o
o
o
o
“I believe you…”
Stay calm
Avoid “Why” questions
Meet them where they are
Respect cultural differences

Assess risk

Notify appropriate authorities (i.e. CPS, Support
Programs for Victims, etc.)
Court
County and
School
Districts
County
Agencies
Education
Youth
Local and
Federal
Law &
Enforcement
Attorney
Groups
Community
Providers &
Advocates
• Probation,
• Behavioral
Health
• Child
Protective
Services
•
•
•
•
District Attorney
Public Defender
County Counsel
Children’s Law
Center
• Parents’
Attorneys