Higher Rates, but Fewer Supports

Consider these facts:

• According to the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, people with disabilities are “one of the groups most at risk of being trafficked."

• Adolescent girls with physical disabilities were almost 5X more likely to experience sex trafficking than their counterparts without disabilities.

• people with intellectual disabilities make up between 1 and 3% of the population, but 28% of girls who were sex trafficked in a review of case records in Florida.

Despite these higher rates and the fact that many of the landmark changes to trafficking laws were predicated on cases involving people with disabilities, there remains a widespread lack of awareness about trafficking in the lives of people with disabilities and a lack of identification tools and interventions specific to addressing trafficking of people with disabilities.

Beyond Criminalizing Domestic Violence

"When Bonnie called the police, all she wanted was to figure out how to get her car back.

Earlier that day, her boyfriend had assaulted her, then left in her car without her permission. 'Since that day,' Bonnie says, 'my life has fallen apart.' The police arrested her boyfriend, even though Bonnie repeatedly asked them not to. Over Bonnie’s objection, the court entered an order prohibiting Bonnie and her boyfriend from having contact.

Whenever Bonnie tried to talk with prosecutors, they dismissed her concerns. Bonnie felt hurt, overwhelmed, and angry. She could not understand why strangers got to make decisions that hugely impacted her life without her input.

Prosecutors charged Bonnie’s boyfriend. Although Bonnie did not want to participate, they subpoenaed her and forced her to testify. Her boyfriend was convicted and incarcerated, despite Bonnie’s insistence at sentencing that she did not want him to go to prison. Bonnie felt humiliated and dehumanized by the judge."