Dissociative Experiences Among Survivors of Sex Trafficking

Human trafficking is a worldwide, multibillion dollar industry, profiting from the systematic abuse and exploitation of over 27 million people at present. Sex trafficking, in which one implements force, fraud, or coercion to manipulate another into performing commercial sexual services, constitutes a substantial sector of the industry. Profoundly traumatic, sex trafficking inflicts enduring physical and psychological harm upon survivors, with distressing dissociative symptoms representing a frequently reported consequence. This quantitative study explored sex trafficking survivors’ dissociative experiences. Utilizing purposive sampling, the DES-II and a demographics questionnaire were administered to sex trafficking survivors aged 18 and older. The results of 52 completed surveys indicated that adults who had been sex trafficked experienced clinically significant dissociation levels, comparable to levels associated with dissociative disorders. Using a three-factor structure and item assignment delineated in prior literature, the results also revealed depersonalization/derealization and absorption and imaginative involvement were more prominent than amnesia. Additionally, longer durations of sex trafficking, and younger ages at first sex trafficking experiences, were associated with higher dissociation levels. Also, younger ages at first sex trafficking experiences, older ages at last sex trafficking experiences, and amnestic dissociation were associated with longer sex trafficking durations. In conclusion, results illustrate sex trafficking survivors endorse dissociative experiences reminiscent of dissociative disorders, with absorption and imaginative involvement and depersonalization/derealization more common, and longer durations, and younger ages at first experiences, correlating with higher overall dissociation levels.