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Shattered Hearts (Summary Report): The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of American Indian Women And Girls In Minnesota., Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

Table of Contents

Background 1

Definitions and terms 2

The context 5

Prevalence 8

Patterns in entering the sex trade 10

Age of entry 10

Modes of entry 11

Factors that facilitate entry 17

Generational trauma 17

Runaway, thrown away, and/or homeless 17

Repeated exposure to abuse, exploitation, and violence 20

Addiction 25

Failure to finish high school 27

Mental and emotional vulnerability 28

Barriers to exiting the sex trade 29

Limited access to emergency and supportive housing 29

Absence of other options for self-sufficiency 30

Distrust of law enforcement 29

Child protection policies 30

Limited resources for support and …

Shattered Hearts (Full Report): The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of American Indian Women And Girls In Minnesota., Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

Table of contents

Acknowledgements iii

Background 1

Organization of the report 3

I The context 4

Native women’s experiences during colonization 5

Native women’s experiences during national expansion 7

Native girls’ boarding school experiences 8

Impact of assimilation policies on Native women 10

The damage caused by life in prostitution 14

II Methods and definitions 16

III Prevalence 28

Involvement in prostitution 28

Involvement in the Internet sex trade 35

IV Patterns in entering the sex trade 36

Age of entry 36

Modes of entry 39

V Factors that facilitate entry 53

Generational trauma 53

Runaway, thrown away, and/or homeless …