The Role of Inclusive Sexual Education in Promoting Human Rights and Trafficking Prevention

Juniper  ◆  August 5, 2022  ◆  10:15 am – 11:45 am

This presentation will explain the findings of a paper published in the 2021 edition of the Charleston Law Review. The authors will discuss the origins of human trafficking in commercial sex, as well as sexual abuse more broadly, and the role of inclusive sexual and reproductive health education in preventing sexual exploitation, with a special focus on the trafficking of minors. The paper uses the experiences of LGTBQ youth in the U.S. school system and survivors of human trafficking who were trafficked from Mexico into the United States as case studies upon which to build its analysis. Sex negativity and gendered, homophobic, and transphobic ideas around appropriate sexual practices, particularly in the context of school and community-based learning, are examined as contributing factors to risk on a continuum of sexual abuse, including trafficking, throughout an individual’s life course.