By Linda A Smith Samantha Healy Vardaman Melissa A Snow

50Shared Hope InternationalChapter 6: Lack of Justice for the Victimsof Domestic Minor Sex TraffickingVictims of domestic minor sex trafficking are systematically arrested and detainedacross the United States.Intersections of Juvenile Delinquency and VictimizationThe lack of established identification methods causes victimized youth to be identified as juveniledelinquents leading to their involvement in the juvenile justice system and is a primary cause for thedetention of DMST victims in juvenile detention facilities. The inconsistency of labeling by the firstresponders coming into contact with the victims affects the involvement of law enforcement and canresult in treatment plans geared toward delinquency rather than sexual exploitation. In fact, the sameintercepted child may receive a completely different label with each encounter. For example, one might seea minor as sexually exploited, particularly if he or she has previously received training on domestic minorsex trafficking, while another responder might identify the minor as truant.Social service providers misidentified trafficked youth in the majority of study locations. One runawayyouth shelter identified 57% of their clients in 2006 as domestic minor sex trafficking victims afterreceiving training on identifiers. 142 It is important to note, that this is not a reflection of poor services,but merely a lack of awareness and education. Many service providers, including this particular runawayshelter, desire training on the proper identification of sex trafficking victims. It is critical that serviceproviders receive such training.Masking ChargesTraffickers will purposely place their victims in situations of crimes or delinquency during exploitation inan attempt to damage the child’s image, making them less credible to those within the justice system —law enforcement, prosecutors, and juries. Though the TVPA states that these children should not be heldaccountable for crimes committed as a direct result of their trafficked condition (recognizing they wereunder the control of a trafficker), domestic minor sex trafficking victims are entering the juvenile justicesystem under “masking charges.” These charges of delinquency obscure the trafficking victimization andundermine the credibility of the juvenile’s claims of victimization to first responders. These charges ofteninclude status offenses, such as curfew violations or runaway status, as well as delinquency, such as drugpossession.At times, law enforcement purposely place a masking charge on a victim in order to hold the juvenilewithout realizing that the child qualifies as a trafficking victim. If a minor is caught engaging inprostitution, a well-intentioned law enforcement officer may take the child directly to a runaway shelter orarrest the child for a status offense such as truancy or a curfew violation. This process of arresting142Bayhi-Gennaro, Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Assessment Report — Baton Rouge/New Orleans, Louisiana, pg. 59.