Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
Harnessing technology to reduce recruitment into commercial sexual exploitation
(USC Thesis Other)
Harnessing technology to reduce recruitment into commercial sexual exploitation
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Contact Us
Contact Us
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
Running Head: DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 1
Harnessing Technology to Reduce Recruitment into Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Kiley Dunne Lizama, LMFT, Doctoral Candidate
Residency Committee:
Dr. Diana Lynn Iglesias, Dr. Ronald Manderscheid, and Dr. Jane James
Doctoral Capstone Project (SOWK 722)
Doctor of Social Work
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
University of Southern California
May 2020
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 2
© 2020
Kiley Gashaw Dunne Lizama
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 3
Executive Summary
Introduction
Human trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation have created a
multibillion-dollar industry. Using the Social Work Grand Challenge of Harnessing
Technology for Social Good, this proposed innovation will harness technology to educate
youth in middle and high schools across California on the risk factors and recruitment
tactics traffickers use to lure a victim into Sexual Exploitation.
Opportunity and Solution
The rise of the technological revolution has made it easier for traffickers to recruit
victims due to "the accessibility and the anonymity the Internet provides" (Latonero,
2011). Traffickers use technology and social media to engage vulnerable youth and build
trust and rapport with them. The game curriculum will educate youth between the ages of
12-17 on the various factors and risks that can lead someone down the path of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation and to create a space for empathy and growth in how we
as a society view this topic. Research shows that persons most at-risk for entering sexual
exploitation are children and adolescents. Youth are particularly at risk due to their desire
to fit in and make friends, and traffickers understand precisely how to exploit those risk
factors. Teachers and School Administrators play a critical role in helping educate and
identify at-risk or sexually exploited youth and connecting the youth to services due to
the amount of time they are able to spend with students. By providing education and
support to teachers, the purpose of this proposed innovation is to see an increase in
empathy in youth for survivors of Sexual Exploitation, as well as an increase in Victims
reaching out for support. The objective of this proposed innovation is to help Survivors
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 4
share their story on a larger platform while educating students on the dangers of
exploitation and allowing victims to come forward and reach out for help on their terms.
The expected measures of success for the curriculum are to reduce the number of
youth entering commercial sexual exploitation and to provide those involved with the
skills and resources to leave Sexual Exploitation. Students will be provided with a post-
test directly after the last chapter of the game is played to ensure learning and information
processing. The students will receive a post-test one month, six months, and one year
after gameplay to track information retention, as well as whether the game helped reduce
recruitment into sexual exploitation. These measurements of data will be collected and
monitored in partnership with universities to ensure the efficacy of the program and allow
for modifications of the digital curriculum as necessary.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 5
Statement of The Problem
The Underground Commercial Sex Industry is a multibillion-dollar industry
spanning both global and domestic markets. In San Diego County alone, the Commercial
Sex Economy produces an average of 810 million dollars annually (Carpenter, and
Gates, 2016). The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported, "while
only 19% of victims are trafficked for sex, sexual exploitation earns 66% of the global
profits of human trafficking." The median profit generated per victim of trafficking is
approximately one hundred thousand dollars annually. Large tourist areas such as Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Diego create massive markets for Commercial Sexual
Exploitation for tourists looking to engage in sexual activities (Carolin, 2015). With so
much money coming into this industry, is it any wonder why there has been a rise in the
recruitment of victims?
Gone are the days in which "prostitutes," paraded down dark streets waiting for
tricks to pick them up. With the success of the technology boom, trafficking has moved
to a more organized and sophisticated online platform making it increasingly difficult to
identify and catch traffickers. Sites like Backpage, before it was shut down, Craigslist,
and Redbook are perused daily by sex buyers looking for sexual encounters. Backpage
alone was involved in nearly seventy-five percent of reports received by the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child trafficking between 2013 and
2017 (Goebel, 2019). Marinus Analytics identified approximately 146,000 sex ads are
posted daily on various websites. Although Commercial Sexual Exploitation continues to
be a dangerous activity, the demand for sex continues to perpetuate the profitability of
trafficking.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 6
Literature and Practice Review of the Problem
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA, 2000) differentiates between
Commercial Sexual Activity involving adults versus minors, stating that if an individual
is under the age of 18, the use of force, fraud, or coercion is not required for participation
in Commercial Sexual activity to be considered Human Trafficking. While Human
Trafficking involves force, fraud, or coercion to be recognized as trafficking, Commercial
Sexual Exploitation encompasses the full spectrum of activities, including an exchange of
goods for sexual activities. Although individuals under the age of 18 cannot consent to
sexual acts, the average age of entry into "The Life, or The Game," for young women is
between 12 to 14 years old, and 11 to 13 years old for young men. For victims over the
age of 18, many report being recruited or propositioned into commercial sex as teenagers.
The TVPA describes all minors involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation as
victims of Human Trafficking and is regarded as the most severe form of trafficking.
Commercial Sexual Activity defines commercial sex as “any sex act on account of which
anything of value is given to or received by any person.” The exchange can involve
payment or compensation in the form of money, services, or goods. Child sex trafficking
includes all activities involved in encouraging a minor’s participation in Commercial
Sexual Exploitation, from the initial recruitment of the minor to the purchasing of the
sexual services of the child (Moossy, 2009).
Though CSE affects all genders and races, people of color over-represent the vast
majority of individuals engaged in “’ Prostitution,' or The Game." The established racist
mythology in the United States that repeatedly over-sexualized girls of color, suggests
that their victimization experiences be viewed not as paid rape, exploitation, or sexual
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 7
abuse, but as Prostitution, a label implying these victims had a choice (Bryant-Davis &
Tummala-Narra, 2017). Through research conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) on the demographics of individuals suspected to be involved in Commercial Sexual
Exploitation, 95 percent of victims identified as female, and 54 percent were minors.
Additionally, the BJS found approximately 20 percent of the victims were white, another
20 percent were of Latinx origin, and 30 percent were Black (Banks and Kyckkelhahn
2011). This proposed innovation aims to educate youth on the dangers of CSE through a
video game while creating a space for discussions on the roles of sexism, classism, and
racism within this complex system of exploitation upon completion of the game.
Social Significance
When society visualizes Commercial Sexual Exploitation or Human Trafficking,
images of women and children helplessly chained in rooms are conjured, tugging at
heartstrings everywhere. However, when interchanged with a word such as prostitute,
pictures of scantily clad women of color walking down streets, shouting profanities at one
another, and stepping into cars pour into our minds. To better understand this complex
problem, we as a society must be made aware of how powerful language is and how
language impacts our perception of an issue. Researchers Tasha Menaker and Cortney
Franklin argue the importance of language explaining, “prostitution myths are defined as
culturally supported attitudes that normalize the sexual exploitation of [people], justify
the existence of prostitution, and misrepresent the harm experienced by [people] involved
in the sex trade” (Menaker, and Franklin, 2018). Adding to the challenge of changing
perceptions of individuals engaged in Commercial Sexual Exploitation is the victim's
apprehension with identifying as a victim.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 8
The challenge with Commercial Sexual Exploitation is that there is no one
definition of what a victim is. Some youth, through circumstance, may engage in survival
sex to meet their basic needs, and may not necessarily be under the control of a third-
party exploiter (Greene, Ennett, & Ringwalt, 1999). Many youth who identify as male or
as part of the LGBTQI+ community engage in survival sex as a means of sustaining
themselves through their homelessness. As a result, this kind of exploitation presents the
delusion that the victim is choosing their victimization rather than the image of a victim
being groomed into Commercial Sex to try to survive. The fallacy that a minor, or any
person for that matter, may decide to engage in Commercial Sexual impacts how society
understands the harm caused by Sex Trafficking, and fails to understand how exploited
children comprehend and cope with their abuse (Goździak, 2016).
Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is incredibly difficult to combat due in
part to the fact that victims do not often see themselves as victims. Individuals engaged in
CSE frequently identify their pimps as romantic partners rather than exploiters. Pimps
will establish relationships with their victims under the pretense of being their boyfriend;
they will identify victims with minimal social supports, victims who are desperate for
validation or love. For some victims, pimps are their primary attachment figure,
providing the victims with affection, and connection regardless of the exploitative
dynamics of the relationship. The pimps are, at times, the only consistent adults providing
loyalty, even if the foundation of loyalty is abuse. Once they have established and
solidified the relationship with the victim, they will slowly begin to exploit the victims
offering them promises of marriage and family once "they have made it."
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 9
Much like victims of Domestic Violence, the bond in CSE increases the difficulty
for victims questioning whether to leave their pimps, an already risky process due to
threats, violence, and economic dependence on their pimps. Although the use of violence
and coercion to force victims into CSE is common, quite often, the promise of love
proves to be the most effective strategy to keep victims involved in exploitation (Basson,
Langs, Acker, Katz, Desai, and Ford, 2018). Authors Kristine E. Hickle and Dominique
Roe-Sepowitz (2016) contend that while victims believe they are in loving relationships,
that pimps are aware from the commencement of a relationship how they will exploit
their victims.
The words we use directly affect survivors' perceptions of themselves, frequently
misplacing the blame squarely on their shoulders. This shame impacts both theirs, and
service providers’ ability to see these individuals as victims of exploitation, and in many
cases can change how services providers provide services to them. To remain consistent
with the theme of the paper, the term “Prostitution,” moving forward, will be replaced
with “Commercial Sexual Exploitation, CSE).”
Proposed Innovation and Effect on Grand Challenge
Technology influences the way we interact with the world daily, and empathy
gives us the ability to view the world from another person’s perspective in combination
with an emotional reaction to that perspective, involving feelings of concern for others
(Davis 1983). Games have the ability to represent complex systems and abstract
concepts, by combining technology through video game software, we can place people in
the driver's seat of another person's experience. Ultimately harnessing technology for
good to create a world in which we are better able to understand one another and our
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 10
experiences in life. Games have always had the power to engage people through shared
experiences; whether it be a simple game of tag or complex games such as World of
Warcraft, games allow people to connect in ways not possible through simple, direct
interactions.
Adolescence is an evolving period in a person's life marked by both profound
physical and psychological transformation. Research has shown that experience of the
first onset of mental health illness such as anxiety and depression appearing during a
person's adolescence. For adolescents experiencing complex and chronic trauma, this
period of their lives can make them particularly vulnerable to engaging in unsafe
activities and prime targets for recruitment by traffickers and pimps. Traffickers are adept
at understanding risk factors that make specific individuals susceptible to recruitment,
and will often use these experiences to shame victims into remaining in Commercial
Sexual Exploitation.
The video game engages Middle and High School students, persons most at risk
for entering Commercial Sexual Exploitation. The program consists of multiple layers of
activities in which players can develop a more profound sense of understanding and
empathy for their character. The intention of "The Game," is to create an education
videogame that invites youth on a journey with a character of their choosing who is at
risk for entering "The Game." Based on the gamer's choice of their character's skin color,
age, and gender, the game's algorithm will shift to match the real-life experiences of
individuals involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Researchers Kral et al. (2018) argue that "empathy is a skill that can buoy well-
being by reducing the negative impact of poor peer relations on personal adjustment—
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 11
young adolescents with higher empathic accuracy have less internalizing symptoms and
are less likely to be targets of bullying." By harnessing technology to create a videogame
that helps adolescents develop empathy for themselves and their peers, survivors of
Sexual Exploitation will be more willing to reach out and identify themselves. For youth
at risk but not currently involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation, the game will assist
in further developing and identifying healthy, confident, and supportive relationships that
can buffer the development of maladaptive behaviors.
Views of Key Stakeholders
Many organizations have documented the intersection between involvement in the
child welfare system and child sex trafficking. On average, between 50 and 90 percent of
identified child victims of commercial sexual exploitation have previous involvement
with the child welfare system (Walker, n.d.). Probation and Child Welfare institutions
have a chance to design and implement innovative and effective prevention and early
intervention programs to ensure the growing Sex Trafficking industry does not further
victimize youth who are the most vulnerable to Commercial Sexual Exploitation. This
Digital curriculum will build on current prevention and intervention practices that have
been implemented throughout the country to provide a comprehensive continuum of care.
The question at the heart of this proposed innovation is, what makes it so difficult
for society to change its perceptions and assumptions of one another? In the digital age
where we have access to each other and new content thrown in our faces daily, evidence
has shown that most people would instead reject or further minimize uncomfortable
information than restructure their worldview to accommodate the latest news. Dr. Jamie
Gates of Point Loma Nazarene University, author of “The Nature and Extent of Gang
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 12
Involvement in Sex Trafficking in San Diego County," the most extensive study in the
United States conducted on Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Dr.
Gates additionally helped "design and implement a drama-based curriculum to help
educate middle and high school students on the realities of human trafficking recruitment
in their midst.”
When asked about what he viewed as the most challenging part of the changing
the language around “prostitution,” and Sexual Exploitation, Dr. Gates stated, “People
often see prostitution as morally suspect but at the same time normalize it as ‘the oldest
profession known to humans,’ this assumes that for no real reason it has always existed
and always will. Sexual exploitation only continues to exist as people ignore the true
inhumanity in it." Until society can acknowledge Survivors as victims and recognize the
impact of complex trauma, victims will continue to feel stigmatized and too ashamed to
speak up and advocate for themselves (Dunne Lizama, 2019).
Impact on Victims
Youth spend the majority of their adolescence in the care of school providers
focused on shaping their minds and ultimately creating productive adults. For many
youths at risk of involvement in Sexual Exploitation, school staff are sometimes their
only source of moral guidance and support. The inspiration for the proposed innovation
came through frequent conversations with survivors regarding their discomfort with re-
engaging with their educational systems. Many of youth report fear of shame and the
stigma associated with their experiences and argued they would have nothing in common
with their peers anymore due to significantly different life experiences. The youth
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 13
repeatedly identified wishing they would have had ways to make their peers and school
staff understand how events in their lives made exploitation a possible reality.
Individuals involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation are frequently exposed
to sexually transmitted infections and have increased associations with depression,
posttraumatic stress disorder, homelessness, and substance use. Individuals involved in
commercial sexual exploitation also report regular exposure to violence from sex buyers,
or their traffickers (Pfeffer, Ormachea, & Eagleman, 2018). The Office of Juvenile
Justice Delinquency Program reports:
The degree of traumatization experienced by CSEC victims is well documented.
Sexually exploited persons suffer from high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), Stockholm Syndrome, memory loss, aggression, fear, depression,
anxiety, hostility, anger issues, sexually transmitted disease/infection (STD/STI),
physical trauma from beatings, and emotional and psychological trauma from
engaging in unwanted sex (OJJDP, n.d.).
These risk factors make it difficult for individuals to get services for fear of the shame
and stigmas often associated with involvement in "The Game." Often, many individuals
involved in CSE have spent time in and out of the prison system both as juveniles and
adults. This severe and chronic abuse experienced throughout their lives often results in
entering prison as a direct result of those traumatic experiences, and due to their criminal
records, they will often resort to Commercial Sexual Exploitation to provide for
themselves and their families upon release.
Evidence and Current Context for Proposed Innovation
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 14
What makes this innovation new and creative is the use of virtual reality to help
the student/player interact in a more exact scenario rather than imagining a story from
paper curriculums. Through being able to visually interact with other characters and
actively working through traumatic experiences, the game can leave a lasting impact that
is difficult to replicate through a paper curriculum. Video games have the power to
emotionally connect people to the characters they create, and by building that connection;
the proposed videogame will hopefully channel that connection into real-life empathy.
The videogame will be broken down into six chapters: Chapter 1: Character
Development, Chapter 2: Navigating School and Peer Relationships, Chapter 3: Getting
Recruited, Chapter 4: The Glamorous side of Exploitation, Chapter 5: The Realities of
Exploitation, and trying to get help, and finally Chapter 6: Seeking Services and
Community Engagement. Upon the completion of each chapter, students will be invited
to process their experiences in the game with a facilitator (their teacher or other trained
school staff member) and will explore their classmate's experiences as well based on race,
age, and gender classmates chose. By providing teens the opportunity to experience the
game first hand, it will allow youth to understand and identify grooming tactics
traffickers can use to lure the youth into “The Game.”
The game intends to reshape the perceptions and create a space for the
development of empathy of the peers and community providers that victims interact with
daily. The experience of each character will come with a developed background and
choices along the way based on the real-life situations of individuals who have
experienced scenarios similar to that of the characters in the game. Characters will suffer
discrimination based on societal norms and will choose options in the game in which
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 15
none of the proposed choices are fair. In experiencing scenarios in the game which feel
unfair or unjust, players will have the opportunity to grasp what these experiences are
like for victims and survivors, ultimately creating a deeper level of compassion and
understanding of another person's experience.
The character is prompted to make choices throughout the game that will affect
their experience in Commercial Sexual Exploitation. It will ultimately drive how the
character will choose to seek support. Throughout the game, the characters will have
opportunities to meet with law enforcement, service providers, and community groups,
and the interactions will prompt information with real-world support services in the
player's community. This addition will allow students the opportunity to reach out for
support through the game directly should they want to access services. Reducing the
stigma of Sexual Exploitation through layers of a videogame focused on empathy can
build healthier communities and reduce the potential risk of a victim re-entering
exploitation.
Comparative Assessment of Other Opportunities for Innovation
Nicola Schutte and Emma Stilinovic of the University of New England conducted
a controlled study to measure whether empathy could be developed through the use of
Virtual Reality. Schutte and Stilinovic argued, "the Virtual reality experience [leads] to a
higher level of two dimensions of empathy, empathic perspective-taking, and empathic
concern," which is the intended consequence of the proposed innovation; the ability to
experience the world Victims of Exploitation live through within a safe virtual reality
game environment (Schutte and Stilinovic, 2017).
This qualitative study included “14 females and 10 males with a mean age of
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 16
19.92 (SD=3.46)," participants who were randomly assigned to the experimental (three-
dimensional virtual headset) or the control (two-dimensional virtual headset) group.
Participants watched an 8-minute documentary, on the headsets, about a young girl in a
Syrian refugee camp. After the presentation of the material, all participants completed
surveys based on a five-point scale that measured engagement and empathy (Schutte, and
Stilinovic, 2017) using statements such as, “I was absorbed,” and “I lost myself in this
experience.” Schutte and Stilinovic found that the Virtual Reality experience resulted in
more robust player engagement and that the players of the game generated a higher layer
of "empathy for the character featured in the virtual reality material compared to a control
condition presenting the same material in a non-virtual reality format" (Schutte, and
Stilinovic, 2017). The study overall found that both empathic perspective-taking and
empathic concern were more significant among participants in the virtual reality
condition.
Professor Adele Jones of the University of Huddersfield studied the social impact
of video games on youth, and through her research, was able to create a videogame that
taught youth about the signs, effects, and dangers of Domestic Violence. The game
consists of five levels in which students navigate the messy world of the title character,
Jesse, and work towards understanding the impact of the trauma from the Domestic
Violence on Jesse. The game includes a discussion component after each level on how
the students felt about the character's challenges and choices.
Professor Jones' team conducted a qualitative survey of over 400 children, in
which “the objective of was to assess the effectiveness of a context-specific, prosocial
video game in increasing affective and cognitive responsiveness (empathy) towards
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 17
victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) among children and adolescents (N = 172, age-
range 9 – 17 years, M = 12.27, SD = 2.26)," (Boduzek et al., 2019). The study conducted
a randomized controlled trial in seven schools (3 primary schools, two secondary schools,
and two government technical schools) located in Barbados. One hundred seventy-two
participants, 89 male, and 83 female-identifying participants, were separated by gender
and randomly assigned to an experimental (video game) or control (standard school
curriculum) group.
Data was collected at baseline, after the intervention, and at a seven day follow up
to test "pro-social affectiveness" from the video game versus the paper curriculum
(Boduzek et at., 2019). Both genders in the experimental group identified an increase in
their “affective response after the intervention,” as the control group did not (Boduzek et
al., 2019). Participants in the experimental group played the game on a computer in the
school computer labs for five days for approximately 45 minutes. Pre and post-tests were
administered and collected before the game intervention (Time 1; day one, Monday
morning), immediately after game intervention (Time 2; day five, Friday afternoon), and
seven days after the intervention (Time 3; day twelve, Friday afternoon). The study found
an increase in pro-social effectiveness within the experimental group, leading to a
promising conclusion regarding the impact of videogames and the education of youth.
Although findings suggest the videogame is a promising new tool to assist with
education around intimate partner violence among youth, this specific curriculum does
not culturally translate outside of the intended gaming audience. The game would need
culturally sensitive and appropriate modification if implemented in other countries to
ensure player connection to the game. Additionally, the data collected from the video
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 18
game experiment solely relied on gameplay. They did not incorporate a group discussion
portion at the end of each session to further reinforce the material from the game. The
program additionally does account for youth who may have dropped out of school and
would potentially be a higher risk for intimate partner violence, resulting in potential
biases about the overall engagement and success of the study. Overall, this experiment is
a promising tool for educating and connecting with youth, which is the hope of the
proposed innovation.
Games create endless possibilities and require participants to understand all sides
of the experience to help themselves better. If we shift to educational perspectives, games
are frequently used in classroom settings to engage youth and teach a variety of subjects.
Games provide a way to show cause-and-effect in relationships furthering the player's
understanding of others or characters. Often games may leave a lasting impact on players
due to the nature of the learning experience they can create (Mayer, 2019).
Description of Capstone Deliverable
The proposed implementation plan for the Digital Curriculum, “The Game,” is
presented in a step-by-step guide to help the reader comprehend the theory of change and
intended measures of success. As shown in Figure 1, a table of the Logic Model provides
a clear representation of hypothesized transformations over time, including a Mission
Statement provided to give a clear summary of the expected goal of the Digital
Curriculum. The following elements are illustrated in the figure below this guide:
Mission Statement: “The Game,” works to change the language and perception of
Survivors for Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation by improving
understanding and empathy through a videogame for Middle and High school-age
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 19
students. By providing preventative interventions, the purpose of the program is to
educate youth on the risk factors and recruitment tactics traffickers use to lure
adolescents into Sexual Exploitation while also providing a safe space for victims to
reach out for support.”
Context or Conditions: The new Digital Curriculum aligns directly with current
legislation, specifically AB 1227, which "requires California public schools to offer
education and training on human trafficking identification and prevention to avert
children from being exploited for labor or sex," (Becerra, 2017). School staff will be
trained in implementing the group discussion portions of the curriculum and be connected
to Community Service Providers in their respective communities that would be able to
provide the continuum of care to better support the youth and their families.
Inputs: Several resources will be needed to successfully embed the digital
curriculum into schools, including partnerships with Education Institutions, Probation
and Law Enforcement Departments, and the Child Welfare System.
First, the proposed innovation will require funding to begin the development and
implementation of the game. Next, partnerships with Universities to start the
development of the digital curriculum will be essential. For the curriculum to be
effective, the innovation requires research and development of each character in the
game, and the various interactions the characters will experience within the game.
Additionally, partnerships with the universities to track data collection will be
valuable in identifying the effectiveness of the program in reducing recruitment into
Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Next, providers will receive training to implement the
group discussion portion of the game and will be educated on the community resources
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 20
available to them to help youth who have identified that they have either been exploited
or are at risk of exploitation.
Activities: To achieve the program's goal, several events will be taking place. For
the appropriate implementation of the pilot program, school staff, and social workers and
law enforcement will complete an in-person training to develop a clear understanding of
how to support students in the group discussions and connect any youth who identify as a
victim to community programs. Staff will additionally receive training on community
resources and appropriate language to use to avoid re-traumatization. Data collected from
pre and post surveys and conclusions from the pilot program will be shared with the
California State Senate and Assembly as evidence of program achievement, community
approval/disapproval and effective implementation of the proposed innovation.
Outputs: It is predicted that several outputs will generate from the above
activities. To ensure the operations are performed as designed, the program will leverage
partnerships with Universities to gather data during the pilot program to track the success
or unforeseen challenges. As the program continues to develop, and the game is tweaked
based on accumulated data, the program will continue to adjust data collection to ensure
appropriate and practical curriculum design. Measures of success will be determined by
recorded data from Probation and Child Welfare services of a reduction in the number of
youth identified in custody as victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Immediate and Long-Term Outcomes: One outcome of the program will be the
successful development and implementation of a digital curriculum within California
school districts to educate youth on the risk factors involved in Sexual Exploitation.
Additionally, “The Game,” is likely to create increase community awareness of high-risk
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 21
behaviors, which warrant the need for prevention and early intervention programming in
the community. Finally, "The Game" will enhance the peer and community group's
understanding of empathy and the lasting effects of trauma.
Comparative Market Analysis
With the enhancements in digital gaming, the use of Virtual Reality games has
begun to create a space for individuals to experience worlds outside of their daily reality.
Virtual Reality allows people to gain first-hand experience into another person's reality
providing a deeper level of engagement and desire to help the character/person succeed.
Research continues to look into a better understanding of the interrelated empathic
abilities of the proverb "to walk a mile in someone else's shoes," to establish how the
presence and lack of empathy-related phenomena affect prosocial engagement and
dynamics within connected groups. Stanford researcher Fernanda Herrera's team found
that "Virtual reality has been increasingly referred to as the 'ultimate empathy machine,'
since it allows users to experience any situation from any point of view,” (Jacobs, 2018).
As it appears, virtual reality will enable individuals to step into someone else's world,
through a perceptual fantasy called embodiment, or "the body ownership illusion"
(Bertrand et al., 2018) and enables individuals to learn from the experiences and suffering
of others and to know when and how to offer support better.
While paper and pencil curriculums have had their fair share of successful
implementation in detention facilities and community programming, they are not the
most effective interventions in reducing recruitment. The purpose of creating a narrative
choice-based game is to provide students with a sense of autonomy during gameplay.
Some identified potential barriers in creating this proposed innovation include the social
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 22
and cultural norms surrounding survivors of Exploitation, parent discomfort with such a
heavy curriculum in schools, school district's lack of access to appropriate technology,
the fidelity of gameplay due to teachers potential discomfort with teaching the material,
as well feeling overwhelmed with adding another lesson to their impacted workload, and
finally the confidentiality and safety of victims reaching out for support or discussion
their exploitation.
Facilitators of this proposed innovation include piloting the curriculum through
Probation and Child Welfare Services to ensure the efficacy of game before
disseminating to school districts, including Survivor Leaders within the creation and
implementation of the curriculum, working with CSEC specific community resources,
ensuring the game is available on cross-platform software, and working with teachers to
help youth speak up about their exploitation and to feel validated by people they consider
safe and reliable.
The difference between the proposed innovation and similar products is that the
proposed innovation focuses specifically on Domestic Sex Trafficking and Sexual
Exploitation. In contrast, many other games focus on international-based trafficking or
the victims "forced" into exploitation, leaving out a vast population of victims who do not
quite fit in the box. The game hopes to provide youth with the perspective of other types
of victims while also illustrating to youth how quickly it could happen to them. To reduce
the number of victims involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human
Trafficking, programs must invest, educate, and empower youth and communities to
understand the factors that lead a person down the path of victimization.
Project Implementation Methods
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 23
Development
The Proposed Innovation cannot succeed without the support of Juvenile Justice,
Education, and Child Welfare Systems. To achieve the proposed innovation's goal,
several activities will take place. The proposed innovation has worked on focus groups
with survivor leaders to develop the curriculum. Once the game is complete, survivor
leaders will be invited back to assist with the creation of the training manual and
curriculum implementation.
Next, the proposed innovation will require the support of a gaming company to
develop the curriculum into a functional game that can be used on a variety of platforms.
The author of this paper has partnered with The League of Amazing Programmers, a local
non-profit organization in San Diego, to code the videogame. This partnership allows the
proposed innovation to provide the videogame at no cost to school districts minus the
cost of training and consultation. The proposed innovation will additionally develop
partnerships with University researchers to collect data and track the efficacy of the
digital curriculum.
Piloting
The proposed innovation is currently being piloted through various non-profit
groups in San Diego that work with at-risk or youth currently involved in Sexual
Exploitation. The meetings have provided the author of this paper with feedback to
improve gameplay and user experience while still providing educational material. Once
the full game is completed, the proposed innovation will be piloted in two charter schools
in San Diego to collect more data. This data will be provided to key stakeholders within
Child Welfare and the Probation system to create buy-in of the game and create another
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 24
round of piloting within the institutions. The data collected from that pilot will then be
provided to the various school districts during Board of Supervisor meetings to introduce
the game to different school districts, and hopefully, create partnerships with the various
school districts in the county.
Implementation
To better ensure the chances of success and effective implementation, providers
will receive training a one-day training on the curriculum that they can then take back to
their designated sites and train their teams on how to support students after they have
played each chapter of the game. The training will educate trainees in Harm Reduction,
and a Trauma-Informed approach to assist victims through their healing journey that will
include a 101 review of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking,
including risk factors, and recruitment tactics. Following the 101 training, providers will
then be taken through each chapter of the game and will engage in group facilitation role-
play to develop the skills to lead students through the group processing section of the
curriculum.
Next, providers will need to be trained to implement the group discussion portion
of the game and will be educated on the community resources available to them to help
youth who have identified that they have either been exploited or are at risk of
exploitation. For the appropriate implementation of the pilot program, school staff, and
social workers and law enforcement will complete an in-person training to develop a
clear understanding of how to support students in the group discussions and connect any
youth who identify as a victim to community programs. Staff will additionally receive
training on community resources and appropriate language to use to avoid re-
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 25
traumatization. Data collected from pre and post surveys and conclusions from the pilot
program will be shared with the California State Senate and Assembly as evidence of
program achievement, community approval/disapproval and effective implementation of
the proposed innovation (Dunne Lizama, 2019).
While the expected goal for the proposed innovation is to educate and empower
youth to advocate for themselves, the more considerable challenge at hand is ensuring
service providers and their communities are trained and prepared to support victims who
reach out for support, as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux once said, “the road to hell is paved
with good intentions.” Victims repeatedly enter "the Life," multiple times before they
decide to leave exploitation, and the key to their success and rehabilitation is healthy
patient, and kind communities as well as service providers to help them feel safe and
understood. Training providers on appropriate engagement tactics will ensure a higher
likelihood of success and retention of the curriculum's material.
This Digital curriculum will build on current prevention and early intervention
best practices currently implemented throughout the country to provide a comprehensive
continuum of care. Training will be provided to probation officers, and social workers as
part of their onboarding process to help them identify potential victims. This training
process aims to help front line staff empathize with youth at risk for recruitment or
currently involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation, intending to create bonds between
service providers and survivors.
Financial Plans
The innovation will work with Survivor leaders to develop training materials and
conduct outreach and marketing for the curriculum. Through partnerships with Survivor
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 26
leaders, the proposed innovation aims to reach potential partners by providing a real-life
face to the game. The proposed innovation aims to provide Survivor Leaders in their
communities with opportunities to consult and educate providers. The Survivor leaders
will be staffed as independent contractors ensuring they receive compensation for sharing
their story and helping reduce recruitment into Sexual Exploitation.
The League of Amazing Programmers has generously donated the coding for the
game. With that support, the game will be offered to school districts and other service
providers at no cost minus the fee for the consultation. The proposed innovation will set
up Memorandums of Understanding (MOU's) with school districts, which will include
the billing information regarding prices. Following the MOU’s, each school district will
pay a fee of $2000 for a one day train the trainer course, and then a $100 per in-person
consultation fee to bring a Survivor leader to individual sites to provide site-specific
support. This will allow school personnel to reach out for assistance regarding how to
best approach an identified student, as well as which community provider in the student's
region is most qualified to support the student. Schools can additionally sign up for
monthly access to the online community forum and connect with survivor leaders
regarding any questions or concerns during the implementation of the curriculum. The
revenue produced from the one-day training will allow for maintenance of the community
forum and website as well as help Survivor Leaders with travel costs.
The proposed innovation will leverage preexisting relationships with university
researchers, and various non-profit organizations to collect and track data from the games
as well as ensure HIPAA compliance when managing confidential information.
Project Impact Assessment Methods
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 27
Programs evaluations are implemented to help programs develop a greater
understanding of their product and how it relates to consumer consumption. For this
paper, the author of this paper will focus on a pre and post-test evaluation design to
“measure whether the expected changes took place in the participants in [the] program”
(EMpower). A survey questionnaire will be provided to the students before participation
begins (Baseline) to garner a better understanding of each student’s knowledge regarding
Sexual Exploitation (See Figure 2). The survey questionnaire will then be re-applied at
the end of the program (Endline) to gather data on how much students are learning by
playing the game. The students will also complete the questionnaire one month, six
months, and one year after the final to collect data on information retention.
The goal of this research design is to assess the reduction of youth into
Commercial Sexual Exploitation while seeing an increase in previously unidentified
youth speaking up about their exploitation. It is important to note that this process is an
experimental, longitudinal study. The program will pilot through Child Welfare and
Probation with efforts to introduce the curriculum to the schools once sufficient data has
been collected. The majority of youth introduced into Commercial Sexual Exploitation
fall within the Dependency (Child Welfare) or Delinquency (Probation) systems, and
sometimes both. The common denominator within both groups is that the youth have to
attend school. That being said, the outcome objective of this proposed innovation is to
utilize all three systems to educate and support San Diego's most vulnerable populations.
Secondary data analysis gathered from Child Welfare and Probation will be used to
demonstrate the benefits and limitations of the proposed innovation. Identified threats to
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 28
internal validity may be present due to the secondary data collection tools, and data may
also be limited, documented incorrectly, or unavailable (Posavac & Carey, 2007).
Secondary data information will be gathered in partnership with Probation and
Child Welfare utilizing the West Coast Screening Tool, commonly referred to at the
CSE-IT Tool (Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool), to identify youth at
risk for involvement in Sexual Exploitation. The data collection will aim to identify a
sample group of youth to implement the curriculum with; however, a limitation that
presents itself is the youth who refuse to identify as victims or will alter their information
so as not to be identified. Another identified limitation is that multiple providers meet
with the youth in custody, and there is a potential for duplication of services/education,
which can affect external validity (Posavac & Carey, 2007). Due to a lack of information
from the secondary databases, criteria for inclusion and exclusion have not been
identified. Once that information is collected, the sample can move forward with the
experiential study.
Additionally, the proposed innovation will work to capture data on new
recruitment tactics through the group discussions that follow the gameplay. By meeting
with students and processing their experiences with a trained facilitator, the proposed
innovation will identify new techniques traffickers use to lure victims into Commercial
Sexual Exploitation as well as gather data on new risk factors that could lead a person
down the path to victimization. The information collected from these discussions will
then be used in-game updates to ensure the game mimics real-life experiences to keep the
game current and relevant for the students participating. As time changes, so will how
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 29
individuals interact with social media and their peers. A digital curriculum will allow us
to modify content as society changes to remain current and engaging for youth.
Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation disproportionately
affects youth in vulnerable positions such as probation or the foster care/child welfare
system. Both of which are institutions with limited funding, inconsistent support
networks, and a lack of adequate and appropriate adult supervision. The connection
between Commercial Sexual Exploitation and the Child Welfare System should not be
unexpected. Many of the vulnerabilities that warrant involvement in the child welfare
system are the same characteristics exploiters target as they recruit children into their
trafficking rings. In their report about the intersectionality of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation and the Child Welfare System, Kate Walker and Fiza Quraishi identified
that nearly eighty percent of female juveniles on Probation with CSEC involvement were
also involved in the Child Welfare System (Walker, & Quraishi, 2014).
The proposed innovation aims to develop and maintain transparent relationships
with stakeholders through the involvement of executive boards as well as developing
partnerships within the Child Welfare System, Probation, and the various school districts
within the county of San Diego. The proposed innovation additionally aims to partner
with the Human Trafficking Council as well as the CSEC Steering Committee in the
county to discuss piloting and implementation of the program within the various
proposed systems.
The proposed innovation will be introduced to Child Welfare and to various
universities to discuss partnerships as the project will require partnerships that have
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 30
access to the target population to begin initial implementation of the game. In 2017,
California passed Assembly Bill 1227 that requires the public education system to
provide education on Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking (Becerra,
2017). The barrier for adoption of the program within the education system is the initial
buy-in from school districts. To encourage school districts to use the program, the
proposed innovation will require partnerships with Law Enforcement agencies, as well as
the Child Welfare system to test the efficacy of the program in identifying victims
through an increase in empathy from peers in both systems, as well as staff, to help
reduce the shame and stigma associated with trafficking, and sexual exploitation.
Facilitators will be social workers and probation officers who will complete an in-person
training to develop a strong understanding of what interventions to use to support
students during the group discussions (Dunne Lizama, 2019). This pilot will allow the
program to gather data on the efficacy of the curriculum in terms of identifying new
victims of Sexual Exploitation to ultimately encourage school districts in San Diego
County to utilize the curriculum
Through the engagement of these three systems, the curriculum can reach youth
that may cross over into one or all three systems and will better help staff provide the
youth with the trauma-informed care they would need to leave exploitation.
Communication Strategies
The proposed innovation will utilize frequent outreach and communication to
disseminate information to the various stakeholders. The proposed innovation will share
data analysis outcomes, program evaluation, and annual budget analyses to ensure the
appropriate use of funding. The dissemination will include presentations to the
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 31
stakeholders and the community, executive summaries, and outreach material to
describes the proposed mission of the digital curriculum.
Ethical Considerations
Survivors of Sexual Exploitation experience significantly high rates of Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatization (Office of Victims of Crime, n.d.). These
potential triggers may cause youth who do not participate in the program to continue to
be exploited and may not learn about tactics used in exploitation. Additionally, many
victims report fears around being "outed" to their peer group for fear of retaliation or
bullying and social isolation. Another consideration is the safety of the youth if they
choose to come forward about their exploitation and how it may impact their safety with
regards to their traffickers.
Cultural Competency is the core foundation of the Digital Curriculum
Culture, influenced by many characteristics, including race, gender, age, sexual
orientation, education, and experience. The Proposed Innovation will actively engage
Survivor leaders on the board as well as stakeholders throughout the entire process to
ensure relevancy, ethical considerations, and accuracy of Sexual Exploitation; this
engagement will allow for consistent development of an inclusive curriculum and
enhance the innovation's cultural competence.
Conclusion
In learning to understand a person's life choices rather than judge them for those
choices, we as a community will be able to reduce the shame and stigma associated with
experiencing exploitation and provide victims a safe space in which they can reach out
for support free from judgment. The only way to reduce recruitment and involvement in
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 32
Commercial Sexual Exploitation is to create experiences for victims and survivors in
which they can understand and feel what real healthy relationships are. The more loved
and supported victims and survivors feel, the less they will want to enter a life in which
the only way to experience love is to give of themselves.
A recent interview conducted by the author of this paper with a Dependency
Court Judge in Los Angeles County identified that the most successful intervention
strategy for working with Victims and Survivors was to create a meaningful and
connected relationship to a healthy adult be it family, a service provider, or a friend.
Through the digital curriculum presented below, the innovation will work to educate and
empower service providers, peers, and the community to utilize empathy and compassion
as the intervention strategy of choice when working with Commercially Sexually
Exploited individuals.
By allowing the students to initially believe they will have the option to make
positive choices, the game experience will gradually illustrate to the user how little
opportunity they have in their skills, and sometimes no choice will feel fair or just. As
Kerry Washington boldly exclaimed in Little Fires Everywhere, people “don’t MAKE
good choices,” they, “HAD good choices.” The videogame aims to create visceral
reactions in each user to enhance their connection to their characters further and develop
a broader sense of compassion for individuals involved in sexual exploitation. This
videogame curriculum intends to create a space for understanding various factors that can
lead someone down the path of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and to create a space for
empathy and growth.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 33
While Commercial Sexual Exploitation has historically been perceived as a
victimless crime, as more research is conducted to create support services for individuals
leaving commercial sex, it has become increasingly apparent the alarming link between
what we consider "Prostitution," and what is now considered Commercial Sexual
Exploitation and Human Trafficking. The purpose of this video game project titled "The
Game," is to change the narrative and language surrounding prostitution and change how
society perceives an individual's experience in the commercial sex industry, an industry
in which one human is ultimately making a choice of no choices.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 34
References
Banks, Duren, and Tracy Kyckkelhahn. 2011. Characteristics of Suspected Human
Trafficking Incidents, 2008–10. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cshti0810.pdf
Basson, D., Langs, J., Acker, K., Katz, S., Desai, N., & Ford, J. (2018). Psychotherapy
for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children: A Guide for Community-Based
Behavioral Health Practitioners and Agencies. Oakland, CA: WestCoast
Children’s Clinic
Basson, Danna (2017). Validation of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Identification
Tool (CSE-IT). Technical Report. Oakland, CA: WestCoast Children’s Clinic.
Becerra, V. (2017). AB 1227 (Bonta) – Human Trafficking Prevention Education and
Training Act (p. 1) (United States, California State Assembly, Office of
Assemblymember Rob Bonta). Sacramento, CA.
Bertrand P, Guegan J, Robieux L, McCall CA, and Zenasni F (2018) Learning Empathy
Through Virtual Reality: Multiple Strategies for Training Empathy-Related
Abilities Using Body Ownership Illusions in Embodied Virtual Reality. Front.
Robot. AI 5:26. DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00026
Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Jones, A., Ma, M., Smith, D., Willmott, D., ... Kirkman, G.
(2019). Prosocial video game as an intimate partner violence prevention tool
among youth: A randomized controlled trial. Computers in Human Behavior, 93,
260-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.12.028
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 35
Bryant-Davis, T., & Tummala-Narra, P. (2017). Cultural Oppression and Human
Trafficking: Exploring the Role of Racism and Ethnic Bias. Women & Therapy,
40(1–2), 152–169.
Carolin L, Lindsay A, Victor W (2015) Sex Trafficking in the Tourism Industry. J
Tourism Hospitality 4:166. DOI:10.4172/2167-0269.1000166
Carpenter, A., & Gates, J. (2016). The Nature and Extent of Gang Involvement in Sex
Trafficking in San Diego County. 1-172. Retrieved February 27, 2020, from
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/249857.pdf.
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a
multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44,
113–126. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
Dunne Lizama, K. G. (2018). A Look at Mass Incarceration and How to Promote Smart
Decarceration [Scholarly project]. Retrieved March 03, 2020.
Dunne Lizama, K. G. (2019). Harnessing Technology to Reduce Recruitment into Sexual
Exploitation [Scholarly project]. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
Goebel, T. (2019, February 07). Human trafficking 'hub' Backpage is long gone, but the
problem still remains. Retrieved February 27, 2020, from
Goździak, E. M. (2016). Forced Victims or Willing Migrants? Contesting Assumptions
About Child Trafficking. In M. L. Seeberg & E. M. Goździak (Eds.), Contested
Childhoods: Growing up in Migrancy: Migration, Governance, Identities (pp. 23–
41). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 36
Greene, J. M., Ennett, S. T., & Ringwalt, C. L. (1999). Prevalence and correlates of
survival sex among runaway and homeless youth. American Journal of Public
Health, 89(9), 1406-1409.
Hickle, K., & Roe-Sepowitz, D. (2016). "Curiosity and a Pimp": Exploring sex
trafficking victimization in experiences of entering the sex trade industry work
among participants in a prostitution diversion program. Women & Criminal
Justice, 27(2), 1–17.
Jacobs, T. (2018, October 17). Virtual Reality Can Increase Empathy for the Homeless.
Retrieved April 20, 2019, from https://psmag.com/social-justice/virtual-reality-
can-increase-empathy-for-the-homeless
Kral, T. R., Stodola, D. E., Birn, R. M., Mumford, J. A., Solis, E., Flook, L., . . .
Davidson, R. J. (2018). Neural correlates of video game empathy training in
adolescents: A randomized trial. Science of Learning, 3(13), 1-10.
DOI:10.1038/s41539-018-0029-6
Latonero, M. (2011). Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites
and Online Classifieds. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2045851
Mayer, R. E. (2019). Computer Games in Education. Annual Review of Psychology, 70,
531-549. doi:https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102744
Menaker, T., & Franklin, C. (2018). Prostitution Myth Endorsement: Assessing the
Effects of Sexism, Sexual Victimization History, Pornography, and Self-Control.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 42(3), 313–325.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684318754790
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 37
Moossy, R. (2009). Sex trafficking: Identifying cases and victims. (NCJ No. 225759).
NIJ Journal, 262. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225759.pdf
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) n.d. "Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children" Retrieved from
https://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/csec_program.htm
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Home Page. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2020, from
https://www.ovc.gov/welcome.html
Pfeffer, R., Ormachea, P., & Eagleman, D. (2018). Gendered Outcomes in Prostitution
Arrests in Houston, Texas. Crime & Delinquency, 64(12), 1538–1567.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128717748576
Posavac, E. J., & Carey, R. G. (2007). Program evaluation: Methods and case studies.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232583247_Program_evaluation_Metho
ds_and_case_studies_5th_ed
Schutte, N.S. & Stilinović, E.J. Motiv Emot (2017) 41: 708. https://doi-
org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1007/s11031-017-9641-7. Retrieved March 03, 2020.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), 22 U.S.C.§7105(b)(1)(E)(u)[2000]).
Walker`, K. (n.d.). Stopping Victimization of Vulnerable Children in California.
Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://youthlaw.org/publication/stopping-
victimization-of-vulnerable-children-in-california/
Walker, K. & Quraishi, F. (2014) National Center for Youth Law, Retrieved February 26,
2020. From Abused and Neglected to Abused and Exploited: The Intersection
Between the Child Welfare System and Child Sex Trafficking.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 38
Welcome to EMpower: EMpower. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2020, from
https://empowerweb.org/assets/uploads/tools-resources/461/5._guidance_for_pre-
_and_post-test_design.pdf
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 39
Appendix
Figure 1.
Appendix A
Inputs Activities Outputs Immediate Outcome Intermediate Outcome Long-term Outcomes
Train Service
Providers and
Teachers on Digital
Curriculum
Students to take
class
Course curriculum
App Development
Funding
Train staff
Engage
Students in
Game
Staff facilitate
process group
for students
Policy development
8 week Digital
Game play
8 week follow
up process
group
A well-developed
standardized program to
teach youth about the
risks factors for
recruitment and how to
identify recruitment
tactics.
Peers and service
providers use a
compassion-centered
approach to working with
victims.
Organizational
chart with Mission
Vision and Values
Expectations
Strategic planning
development
Evaluation of game
Consistent
language and
engagement
Fewer Stigmas for
Survivors/Victims
reaching out.
Services for Survivors/Victims
is Trauma Informed
Curriculum is taught quarterly
in schools and CWS/Probation
Reduction in youth involved in
Human Trafficking and
Commercial Sexual
Exploitation
Implement as a standardized
curriculum in grades 6-12
schools.
Implemented as part of on-
boarding for all new CWS and
Probation Staff
Process
improvement
opportunities based
on data analysis.
New organization metrics
for outcomes, compliance
and accountability.
Data collection and
analysis.
DECREASING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 40
Figure 2.
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
Human trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation have created a multibillion-dollar industry. Commercial Sexual Exploitation includes but is not limited to stripping, pornography, and prostitution. Individuals involved in Commercial Sexual Exploitation are exposed to sexually transmitted infections and have increased associations with depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, homelessness, and substance use. Additionally, involvement in Commercial Sexual Exploitation leads to a higher risk of violence from traffickers or sex buyers. The proposed innovation will harness technology for social good through a videogame curriculum whose algorithms will change throughout the game based on choices users make in choosing both their character as well as how their character interacts throughout the game. The game curriculum will educate youth between the ages of 12-17 on the various factors and risks involved that can lead someone down the path of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and to create a space for empathy and growth in how we as a society view this topic. The expected implementation of the game will be in Middle Schools and High Schools, populations most at risk for recruitment into exploitation. The expected measures of success of the effects of the curriculum are to reduce the number of youth entering Commercial Sexual Exploitation through education on the risk factors associated with recruitment and to provide those involved with skills and resources to leave Sexual Exploitation. The game will additionally increase empathy within students playing the game as it will provide them choices and experiences in the game that will help them better understand a Victim's experiences. These measurements of data will be collected and tracked in partnership with universities to ensure the efficacy of the program and allow for modifications of the digital curriculum as necessary.
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
Conceptually similar
PDF
Commercial sexual exploitation of children: the impact of awareness education in the Los Angeles Unified School District
PDF
Creating safe spaces: stopping the cycle of commercial sexual exploitation of children
PDF
BluEspero capstone project
PDF
Stigma-free pregnancy: a recruitment and retention strategy for healthcare systems to engage pregnant women with substance use disorder in collaborative care
PDF
Kids Cope Primary Prevention Services: evidence-based practices for supporting children impacted by parental incarceration
PDF
Governance Excellence through Consumer Voice
PDF
Paved with good intentions: auditing higher education’s commitment to race and gender inclusion
PDF
Strength-Based Reporting: a trauma-informed practice for mandated reporters, to address behavioral health concerns in children at risk of child welfare involvement
PDF
Technology enhanced substance use disorder treatment
PDF
Reducing the prevalence of missed primary care appointments in community health centers
PDF
The road less traveled: personal development for school-aged youth
PDF
Transdisciplinary education approach for collaborative health
PDF
Asset building through rewards-based system: innovative steps to retirement planning
PDF
Unto the least of these homeless ministry: ending homelessness within the co-occurring population
PDF
Love Your Neighbor Collaborative: a multi-sector response to homelessness
PDF
Closing the health gap: the case for integrated care services in outpatient dialysis centers
PDF
Closing the health gap: the development of a mobile psychiatric treatment team
PDF
Flockittome: an app to support and encourage volunteering for social good, to make it fun to volunteer and be on a team
PDF
Taking flight: improving outcomes of transition age youth on the autism spectrum
PDF
Impact of change in sexual identity on mental health risks among sexual minority adolescents
Asset Metadata
Creator
Dunne Lizama, Kiley Gashaw
(author)
Core Title
Harnessing technology to reduce recruitment into commercial sexual exploitation
School
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Degree
Doctor of Social Work
Degree Program
Social Work
Publication Date
05/07/2020
Defense Date
04/17/2020
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
anti-trafficking,commercial sexual exploitation,CSEC,CSEC and technology,human trafficking,OAI-PMH Harvest,prostitution
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Inglesias, Diane (
committee chair
), James, Jane (
committee chair
), Manderscheid, Ronald (
committee chair
)
Creator Email
kileylizama@gmail.com,lizama@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-298958
Unique identifier
UC11665377
Identifier
etd-DunneLizam-8445.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-298958 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-DunneLizam-8445.pdf
Dmrecord
298958
Document Type
Capstone project
Rights
Dunne Lizama, Kiley Gashaw
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
anti-trafficking
commercial sexual exploitation
CSEC
CSEC and technology
human trafficking