The health of children whose mothers are trafficked or in sex work in the U.S.: an exploratory study

The goal of this exploratory study was to identify health problems experienced by children whose mothers are trafficked or in sex work in the U.S. and the proportion of the children who experience these health problems. Participants were adult survivors of sex trafficking and adult women in sex work. They were asked about the health of children whose mothers were trafficked or in sex work but not about their own children. This approach allows participants to discuss sensitive issues but without having to share potentially negative information about their own children. Participants were asked to identify the common and serious health problems among the children based on their observations, to rank the problems in order of seriousness, to estimate the percentages of the children who experience certain health problems, and to identify the causes of death among the children. There were numerous reports of birth defects, fetal alcohol syndrome, blindness, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and physical and sexual abuse. Nearly a third of respondents (31%) knew of the death of a child whose mother was trafficked or in sex work, and 11% reported they knew of the death of a child due to physical abuse. The majority of respondents (89%) reported that some daughters are trafficked into prostitution. The median estimate of the percentage of daughters who are trafficked was 50%. Children born to trafficked adolescents and adult female sex workers in the U.S. are potentially at high risk for many serious and fatal health problems. The magnitude of these health problems is poorly understood but warrant urgent attention.