Dominique Roe-Sepowitz
Biographic Data
| ID | 641354 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dominique Roe-Sepowitz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dominique |
| FAMILY NAME | Roe-Sepowitz |
| SIGNATURE | ROE-SEPOWITZ D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Arizona State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7827-1631 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 100 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Exploring Minor Perpetration: Novel Insights into Minors Who are Sex Traffickers
This article examines the rarely analyzed phenomenon of minors identified as sex traffickers through a secondary analysis of 2,032 sex trafficking cases investigated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department between 2011 and 2024. Thirty cases (1.5%) involved minors who recruited, controlled, and/or profited from peers. Using a deductive descriptive design informed by prior trafficking research, case records were analyzed to assess offender…
Gang-involved sex trafficking of minors in the United States: Recruitment tactics, exploitation, and criminal networks
Gang-involved sex trafficking of minors is a critical yet understudied issue in the United States. This study examines the characteristics, recruitment strategies, and exploitation tactics of gang-affiliated sex traffickers compared to their non-gang counterparts. Using a national sample of arrests from 2010 to 2015, the findings reveal that nearly one in five sex trafficking arrests involved a trafficker with gang affiliations. Gang-involved tra…
Human Trafficking: A Scientometric Review of the Knowledge Domain
Exploring the Effectiveness of Diversion Programs for Women Involved in Commercial Sex: A Comparison of Sex-Trafficked and Non-Trafficked Individuals
Diversion programs are increasingly used as alternatives to criminal penalties for women involved in commercial sex, yet limited research has examined how such programs support behavior change across diverse subgroups, particularly between sex-trafficked and non-trafficked participants. This study evaluates changes in readiness for change among 131 women who participated in a court-ordered diversion program led by survivors of sex trafficking. Pa…
A Comprehensive Analysis of Labor Trafficking Cases in the United States: An 11-Year Review
Despite increasing attention to human trafficking since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, knowledge gaps about labor trafficking remain. Issues such as legal inconsistencies, sector-specific vulnerabilities, and limited training for stakeholders hinder effective prosecution, often leading to outcomes that inadequately address the gravity of these crimes. While research has focused primarily on victims, less attention has been given …
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Homelessness: A Critical Examination of the Association between Specific ACEs and Sex Trafficking among Homeless Youth in Kentuckiana
Youth experiencing homelessness have often also been exposed to childhood trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Aims: More information is needed to determine the prevalence and impact of ACEs in youth experiencing homelessness who have also been trafficked for sex with the goal of developing services informed by this knowledge. The present study examines ACEs and sex trafficking in a convenience sample of 119 youths experiencing homeles…
Dating Violence Experiences Among Sex-Trafficking Youths in Juvenile Detention
Juvenile justice involvement is a risk factor for sex trafficking, as is teen dating violence (TDV). However, little is known about how TDV victimization correlates with sex-trafficking victimization among girls in juvenile detention. This study was conducted with 111 detained female minors from two Arizona juvenile detention centers. All female detainees were screened for sex-trafficking risk factors by a clinical staff member and completed a se…
LGBTQ+ Homeless Young Adults and Sex Trafficking Vulnerability
The sexual exploitation of LGBTQ+ young adults and how to best serve this population is an emerging field of knowledge. In July 2015, a cross-sectional purposeful sampling design was used to recruit 215 homeless young adults (ages 18–25) from greater Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, to complete the paper and pencil Youth Experiences Survey. Over a third of the sample reported having been sex trafficked, and of those, over half were LGBTQ+. Further, a…
Providing Services to Victims of Human Trafficking During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Social Service Agency State-Wide Survey
While research has documented the needs of human trafficking victims, the importance of such needs during the COVID-19 pandemic remains understudied. This study sought to determine the most critical and urgent service needs of social service providers who serve human trafficking victims. Drawing from survey responses collected from 100 service providers from all 15 counties in Arizona, researchers examined agency needs to serve human trafficking …
Prostitution Arrest Spatial Forecasting in an Era of Increasing Decriminalization
There is ongoing debate regarding the merits of decriminalization or outright legalization of commercial sex work in the United States. A few municipalities have officially legalized both the selling and purchasing of sex, while others unofficially criminalize purchasing sex but have decriminalized its sale. In addition, there are many other locales with no official guidance on the subject but have unofficially decriminalized sex work by designat…
Sex trafficking experiences of help-seeking individuals in Hawaiʻi
Sex trafficking in the United States has emerged as a critical social issue that negatively impacts the health and mental health of victims. The existence of sex trafficking in Hawaiʻi has been questioned due to a lack of empirical evidence and lack of successful prosecutions of sex traffickers. The purpose of this study is to determine the rate of sex trafficking and the sex trafficking experiences among clients of a large social service agency …
A Four-year Analysis of Labor Trafficking Cases in the United States: Exploring Characteristics and Labor Trafficking Patterns
The scope of labor trafficking in the United States has been difficult to estimate due to a number of factors including the hidden nature of the crimes of labor trafficking. This study explores a cross-section of arrests of labor traffickers from 2013 to 2016. Arrests if 125 labor traffickers from 47 cases were analyzed. Labor trafficking arrests were found in 20 states over the four years with Texas (34.4%) having the highest percentage of arres…
Estimating the sex buying behavior of adult males in the United States: List experiment and direct question estimates
A six-year analysis of sex traffickers of minors: Exploring Characteristics and Sex Trafficking Patterns
Few studies have explored the characteristics and arrest patterns of sex traffickers, particularly sex traffickers of persons under the age of 18 (minors) in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavior and characteristics of a national cross sectional sample of sex traffickers of minors during a six-year period. This study explored cases involving the arrest of sex traffickers of minors or persons under the age of 18 in the U…
Underage Drinking Diversion: Characterizing Severity With Latent Class Analysis
Substance misuse among young adults is associated with serious safety and risk factors that can lead to harmful consequences. Little is known about the heterogeneity among emerging adults (EAs) entering substance-abuse-focused diversion programs and the impact of characteristics on clinical decision making. In consideration of the developmental period of emerging adulthood, this study used latent class analysis and path modeling to determine part…
Adversity and intervention needs among girls in residential care with experiences of commercial sexual exploitation
Youth Experiences Survey (YES): Exploring the Scope and Complexity of Sex Trafficking in a Sample of Youth Experiencing Homelessness
In the United States, sex trafficking victims have been identified at ages across the lifespan but young persons (under age 25) have been found to have unique vulnerabilities. At-risk youth, such as those who run away from home or those experiencing homelessness, are also at an increased risk of sexual exploitation. To better understand the scope and complexity of sex trafficking among these at-risk youth, a convenience sample of 131 homeless you…
“Curiosity and a Pimp”: Exploring Sex Trafficking Victimization in Experiences of Entering Sex Trade Industry Work Among Participants in a Prostitution Diversion Program
This mixed-methods study explored entry into the sex trade industry and experiences of sex trafficking victimization among 478 adult women enrolled in a prostitution diversion program in a large southwestern state. Written responses to several open-ended survey questions were coded using a template approach to content analysis wherein a priori codes were identified based on characteristics of sex trafficking victimization identified in the Victim…
Invisible Offenders: Estimating Online Sex Customers
Research on prostitution demand has well documented why men buy sex from girls and women, but there is very little understanding of the scope and scale of the issue. The lack of stable and valid measures of how many people buy sex from prostituted persons severely hinders the development of prevention and intervention efforts. This study developed a probability estimate of the population of active customers of online sex in the United States in a…
Victim or Whore: The Similarities and Differences between Victim's Experiences of Domestic Violence and Sex Trafficking
This research review addresses the similarities and differences between domestic violence and sex trafficking victimization. While there is evidence that domestic violence and sex trafficking often co-occur, there is a large disparity in the understanding and interventions utilized by law enforcement as well as the services available for victims of each crime despite the considerable overlap of victimization. This article explores current researc…
Juvenile Entry Into Prostitution: The Role of Emotional Abuse
This study seeks to assess the nature and extent of childhood emotional abuse among adult women in a residential prostitution-exiting program. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the unique role of childhood emotional abuse in the prediction of age of entry into prostitution. Childhood emotional abuse, a history of running away during childhood, and participating in survival-based exchanges of sex were significantly associated with the c…
Age at Entry into Prostitution: Relationship to Drug Use, Race, Suicide, Education Level, Childhood Abuse, and Family Experiences
This study seeks to explore factors related to age at entry into prostitution. Participants were 389 women arrested for prostitution who had attended a diversion program. Women who entered prostitution as minors were found to be more likely to be African-American; report having a family member with a substance use problem; have a history of attempted suicide; and not have completed middle or high school. The age at first drug use was found to sig…
The Impact of Abuse History and Trauma Symptoms on Successful Completion of a Prostitution-exiting Program
This study examines the trauma symptoms and life experiences of 49 women in a residential prostitution-exiting program and identifies differences among women who complete 90 days of the program and women who drop out of the program prior to completing 90 days. The majority of the women reported childhood abuse, adult abusive relationships, and victimization. Women who completed 90 days of treatment were found to be older than the non-completers. …
Shelter Service Utilization of Domestic Violence Victims
This study examines service utilization among 283 adult victims of domestic violence identified by crisis responders as being in need of crisis services. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between the domestic violence victims who choose to utilize shelter services and those who do not. Findings suggest that domestic violence victims who were more likely to utilize shelter services included those who had children at the time …
Crime Victimization and Divorce
Extemsive research has been conducted regarding factors contributing to the breakdown of marriage, focusing on problems such as infidelity, domestic violence, money problems and mid-life crises. This study explores a new question: does crime victimization contribute to the dissolution of marriage? Unique information from a national panel survey, the National Crime Victimization Survey, was analyzed in a longitudinal format to determine whether ma…
Juvenile Entry Into Prostitution: The Role of Emotional Abuse
This study seeks to assess the nature and extent of childhood emotional abuse among adult women in a residential prostitution-exiting program. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the unique role of childhood emotional abuse in the prediction of age of entry into prostitution. Childhood emotional abuse, a history of running away during childhood, and participating in survival-based exchanges of sex were significantly associated with the c…
Age at Entry into Prostitution: Relationship to Drug Use, Race, Suicide, Education Level, Childhood Abuse, and Family Experiences
This study seeks to explore factors related to age at entry into prostitution. Participants were 389 women arrested for prostitution who had attended a diversion program. Women who entered prostitution as minors were found to be more likely to be African-American; report having a family member with a substance use problem; have a history of attempted suicide; and not have completed middle or high school. The age at first drug use was found to sig…
A six-year analysis of sex traffickers of minors: Exploring Characteristics and Sex Trafficking Patterns
Few studies have explored the characteristics and arrest patterns of sex traffickers, particularly sex traffickers of persons under the age of 18 (minors) in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavior and characteristics of a national cross sectional sample of sex traffickers of minors during a six-year period. This study explored cases involving the arrest of sex traffickers of minors or persons under the age of 18 in the U…
The Impact of Abuse History and Trauma Symptoms on Successful Completion of a Prostitution-exiting Program
This study examines the trauma symptoms and life experiences of 49 women in a residential prostitution-exiting program and identifies differences among women who complete 90 days of the program and women who drop out of the program prior to completing 90 days. The majority of the women reported childhood abuse, adult abusive relationships, and victimization. Women who completed 90 days of treatment were found to be older than the non-completers. …
Youth Experiences Survey (YES): Exploring the Scope and Complexity of Sex Trafficking in a Sample of Youth Experiencing Homelessness
In the United States, sex trafficking victims have been identified at ages across the lifespan but young persons (under age 25) have been found to have unique vulnerabilities. At-risk youth, such as those who run away from home or those experiencing homelessness, are also at an increased risk of sexual exploitation. To better understand the scope and complexity of sex trafficking among these at-risk youth, a convenience sample of 131 homeless you…
Victim or Whore: The Similarities and Differences between Victim's Experiences of Domestic Violence and Sex Trafficking
This research review addresses the similarities and differences between domestic violence and sex trafficking victimization. While there is evidence that domestic violence and sex trafficking often co-occur, there is a large disparity in the understanding and interventions utilized by law enforcement as well as the services available for victims of each crime despite the considerable overlap of victimization. This article explores current researc…
Female juvenile prostitutes: Exploring the relationship to substance use
Sex trafficking experiences of help-seeking individuals in Hawaiʻi
Sex trafficking in the United States has emerged as a critical social issue that negatively impacts the health and mental health of victims. The existence of sex trafficking in Hawaiʻi has been questioned due to a lack of empirical evidence and lack of successful prosecutions of sex traffickers. The purpose of this study is to determine the rate of sex trafficking and the sex trafficking experiences among clients of a large social service agency …
Shelter Service Utilization of Domestic Violence Victims
This study examines service utilization among 283 adult victims of domestic violence identified by crisis responders as being in need of crisis services. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between the domestic violence victims who choose to utilize shelter services and those who do not. Findings suggest that domestic violence victims who were more likely to utilize shelter services included those who had children at the time …
Estimating the sex buying behavior of adult males in the United States: List experiment and direct question estimates
Adversity and intervention needs among girls in residential care with experiences of commercial sexual exploitation
Invisible Offenders: Estimating Online Sex Customers
Research on prostitution demand has well documented why men buy sex from girls and women, but there is very little understanding of the scope and scale of the issue. The lack of stable and valid measures of how many people buy sex from prostituted persons severely hinders the development of prevention and intervention efforts. This study developed a probability estimate of the population of active customers of online sex in the United States in a…
Crime Victimization and Divorce
Extemsive research has been conducted regarding factors contributing to the breakdown of marriage, focusing on problems such as infidelity, domestic violence, money problems and mid-life crises. This study explores a new question: does crime victimization contribute to the dissolution of marriage? Unique information from a national panel survey, the National Crime Victimization Survey, was analyzed in a longitudinal format to determine whether ma…
Adolescent female murderers: Characteristics and treatment implications
This study examines individual and family characteristics of a population of 29 adolescent females charged with homicide or attempted homicide in the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the limited knowledge about adolescent females charged with homicide. Data were collected including the MAYSI-2, a risk classification instrument, and social, educational and family histories. Findings include high rates of repor…
Crime Victimization and Divorce
Extemsive research has been conducted regarding factors contributing to the breakdown of marriage, focusing on problems such as infidelity, domestic violence, money problems and mid-life crises. This study explores a new question: does crime victimization contribute to the dissolution of marriage? Unique information from a national panel survey, the National Crime Victimization Survey, was analyzed in a longitudinal format to determine whether ma…
Female juvenile prostitutes: Exploring the relationship to substance use
Examining the sexual offenses of female juveniles: The relevance of childhood maltreatment
Research on female juvenile sex offenders is limited by small clinical samples. Little is known about the characteristics of female sexual offending and how it is related to child maltreatment. This study examines data from the case histories of 118 female juvenile sex offenders. In contrast to portrayals in previous research, this study shows that female sex offenders are not a homogeneous group. Findings also included differentiation between fe…
Shelter Service Utilization of Domestic Violence Victims
This study examines service utilization among 283 adult victims of domestic violence identified by crisis responders as being in need of crisis services. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between the domestic violence victims who choose to utilize shelter services and those who do not. Findings suggest that domestic violence victims who were more likely to utilize shelter services included those who had children at the time …
Juvenile Entry Into Prostitution: The Role of Emotional Abuse
This study seeks to assess the nature and extent of childhood emotional abuse among adult women in a residential prostitution-exiting program. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the unique role of childhood emotional abuse in the prediction of age of entry into prostitution. Childhood emotional abuse, a history of running away during childhood, and participating in survival-based exchanges of sex were significantly associated with the c…
Age at Entry into Prostitution: Relationship to Drug Use, Race, Suicide, Education Level, Childhood Abuse, and Family Experiences
This study seeks to explore factors related to age at entry into prostitution. Participants were 389 women arrested for prostitution who had attended a diversion program. Women who entered prostitution as minors were found to be more likely to be African-American; report having a family member with a substance use problem; have a history of attempted suicide; and not have completed middle or high school. The age at first drug use was found to sig…
The Impact of Abuse History and Trauma Symptoms on Successful Completion of a Prostitution-exiting Program
This study examines the trauma symptoms and life experiences of 49 women in a residential prostitution-exiting program and identifies differences among women who complete 90 days of the program and women who drop out of the program prior to completing 90 days. The majority of the women reported childhood abuse, adult abusive relationships, and victimization. Women who completed 90 days of treatment were found to be older than the non-completers. …
Victim or Whore: The Similarities and Differences between Victim's Experiences of Domestic Violence and Sex Trafficking
This research review addresses the similarities and differences between domestic violence and sex trafficking victimization. While there is evidence that domestic violence and sex trafficking often co-occur, there is a large disparity in the understanding and interventions utilized by law enforcement as well as the services available for victims of each crime despite the considerable overlap of victimization. This article explores current researc…
Invisible Offenders: Estimating Online Sex Customers
Research on prostitution demand has well documented why men buy sex from girls and women, but there is very little understanding of the scope and scale of the issue. The lack of stable and valid measures of how many people buy sex from prostituted persons severely hinders the development of prevention and intervention efforts. This study developed a probability estimate of the population of active customers of online sex in the United States in a…
“Curiosity and a Pimp”: Exploring Sex Trafficking Victimization in Experiences of Entering Sex Trade Industry Work Among Participants in a Prostitution Diversion Program
This mixed-methods study explored entry into the sex trade industry and experiences of sex trafficking victimization among 478 adult women enrolled in a prostitution diversion program in a large southwestern state. Written responses to several open-ended survey questions were coded using a template approach to content analysis wherein a priori codes were identified based on characteristics of sex trafficking victimization identified in the Victim…
Underage Drinking Diversion: Characterizing Severity With Latent Class Analysis
Substance misuse among young adults is associated with serious safety and risk factors that can lead to harmful consequences. Little is known about the heterogeneity among emerging adults (EAs) entering substance-abuse-focused diversion programs and the impact of characteristics on clinical decision making. In consideration of the developmental period of emerging adulthood, this study used latent class analysis and path modeling to determine part…
Adversity and intervention needs among girls in residential care with experiences of commercial sexual exploitation
Youth Experiences Survey (YES): Exploring the Scope and Complexity of Sex Trafficking in a Sample of Youth Experiencing Homelessness
In the United States, sex trafficking victims have been identified at ages across the lifespan but young persons (under age 25) have been found to have unique vulnerabilities. At-risk youth, such as those who run away from home or those experiencing homelessness, are also at an increased risk of sexual exploitation. To better understand the scope and complexity of sex trafficking among these at-risk youth, a convenience sample of 131 homeless you…
Estimating the sex buying behavior of adult males in the United States: List experiment and direct question estimates
A six-year analysis of sex traffickers of minors: Exploring Characteristics and Sex Trafficking Patterns
Few studies have explored the characteristics and arrest patterns of sex traffickers, particularly sex traffickers of persons under the age of 18 (minors) in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavior and characteristics of a national cross sectional sample of sex traffickers of minors during a six-year period. This study explored cases involving the arrest of sex traffickers of minors or persons under the age of 18 in the U…
A Four-year Analysis of Labor Trafficking Cases in the United States: Exploring Characteristics and Labor Trafficking Patterns
The scope of labor trafficking in the United States has been difficult to estimate due to a number of factors including the hidden nature of the crimes of labor trafficking. This study explores a cross-section of arrests of labor traffickers from 2013 to 2016. Arrests if 125 labor traffickers from 47 cases were analyzed. Labor trafficking arrests were found in 20 states over the four years with Texas (34.4%) having the highest percentage of arres…
Prostitution Arrest Spatial Forecasting in an Era of Increasing Decriminalization
There is ongoing debate regarding the merits of decriminalization or outright legalization of commercial sex work in the United States. A few municipalities have officially legalized both the selling and purchasing of sex, while others unofficially criminalize purchasing sex but have decriminalized its sale. In addition, there are many other locales with no official guidance on the subject but have unofficially decriminalized sex work by designat…
Sex trafficking experiences of help-seeking individuals in Hawaiʻi
Sex trafficking in the United States has emerged as a critical social issue that negatively impacts the health and mental health of victims. The existence of sex trafficking in Hawaiʻi has been questioned due to a lack of empirical evidence and lack of successful prosecutions of sex traffickers. The purpose of this study is to determine the rate of sex trafficking and the sex trafficking experiences among clients of a large social service agency …
LGBTQ+ Homeless Young Adults and Sex Trafficking Vulnerability
The sexual exploitation of LGBTQ+ young adults and how to best serve this population is an emerging field of knowledge. In July 2015, a cross-sectional purposeful sampling design was used to recruit 215 homeless young adults (ages 18–25) from greater Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, to complete the paper and pencil Youth Experiences Survey. Over a third of the sample reported having been sex trafficked, and of those, over half were LGBTQ+. Further, a…
Providing Services to Victims of Human Trafficking During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Social Service Agency State-Wide Survey
While research has documented the needs of human trafficking victims, the importance of such needs during the COVID-19 pandemic remains understudied. This study sought to determine the most critical and urgent service needs of social service providers who serve human trafficking victims. Drawing from survey responses collected from 100 service providers from all 15 counties in Arizona, researchers examined agency needs to serve human trafficking …
A Comprehensive Analysis of Labor Trafficking Cases in the United States: An 11-Year Review
Despite increasing attention to human trafficking since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, knowledge gaps about labor trafficking remain. Issues such as legal inconsistencies, sector-specific vulnerabilities, and limited training for stakeholders hinder effective prosecution, often leading to outcomes that inadequately address the gravity of these crimes. While research has focused primarily on victims, less attention has been given …
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Homelessness: A Critical Examination of the Association between Specific ACEs and Sex Trafficking among Homeless Youth in Kentuckiana
Youth experiencing homelessness have often also been exposed to childhood trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Aims: More information is needed to determine the prevalence and impact of ACEs in youth experiencing homelessness who have also been trafficked for sex with the goal of developing services informed by this knowledge. The present study examines ACEs and sex trafficking in a convenience sample of 119 youths experiencing homeles…
Dating Violence Experiences Among Sex-Trafficking Youths in Juvenile Detention
Juvenile justice involvement is a risk factor for sex trafficking, as is teen dating violence (TDV). However, little is known about how TDV victimization correlates with sex-trafficking victimization among girls in juvenile detention. This study was conducted with 111 detained female minors from two Arizona juvenile detention centers. All female detainees were screened for sex-trafficking risk factors by a clinical staff member and completed a se…
Human Trafficking: A Scientometric Review of the Knowledge Domain
Psychology (23 works) · Sex work and related issues (22 works) · Medicine (21 works) · Criminology (16 works) · Sex trafficking (14 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (13 works) · Human trafficking (13 works) · Poison control (13 works) · Psychiatry (13 works) · Suicide prevention (11 works)