Centering Survivors, Rethinking Evaluation

CBPR and Radical Care in Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Bibliographic Data

ID24218539
AuthorsJada Y Vaughan (0009-0001-1436-2729, Northeastern University), Bridget O’Kelly (0000-0003-2555-2568, Boston Human Exploitation Advocacy Team (HEAT), Boston, MA, USA), Katherine P Hazen (0000-0002-9494-6002, Northeastern University), Abigail M Judge (0000-0002-3768-8887, Boston Human Exploitation Advocacy Team (HEAT), Boston, MA, USA)
Year2026
Pages1-8
Publication date2026-09-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Human Trafficking (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2332-2705 • E-ISSN: 2332-2713
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23322705.2026.2737361
OpenAlexW7214193938
LanguageEN
References cited14

Programs that support women experiencing commercial sexual exploitation, often rely on flexibility and relationship-based trust to be effective, yet these same qualities make them difficult to evaluate using conventional, researcher-driven methods. This commentary examines how a community-based participatory research approach can produce evaluation methods that are both valid and useful for this population, using a two-year partnership between a university evaluation team and a service program for women in active addiction who are experiencing sexual exploitation. Researchers spent extended time embedded in the program’s daily operations, building trust with staff and participants before introducing any formal data collection, and worked collaboratively to define what success looked like, to build data-tracking tools around existing practice, and to revise an interview protocol based on direct feedback from the women it was designed to include. This collaborative process shifted what was measured, away from conventional outcomes such as abstinence from drug use or commercial sex, toward outcomes the community identified as meaningful, such as trust, engagement, and access to practical support. The commentary concludes that participatory research is not simply a more ethical or comfortable option for working with this population, but a methodological necessity: without it, evaluation risks measuring compliance with researcher assumptions rather than a program’s actual effect on the people it serves. As more programs adopt similarly flexible, relationship-based models of care, evaluators will need participatory frameworks capable of capturing what these programs actually accomplish.

commercial sexual exploitation · Community-based participatory research · embedded evaluation · human trafficking survivors · meaningful outcomes · Program evaluation · relationship-centered care · Community Health and Development · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Sex work and related issues

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Open DOI