Evidence and studies show that teens who run away from home are at particularly high risk of being targeted for trafficking. The criminals exploit vulnerabilities and create dependency to control their victims, and runaway teens often have multiple vulnerabilities at once, which might include difficult home environments, alcohol or drug problems, and lack of money or safe shelter. A sample of the academic and expert studies on this issue:
- 36% of runaways in one study had traded sex for a place to stay, or another need. Source: National Clearinghouse on Homeless Youth and Families
- 19% of runaway and homeless youth across the U.S. experience sex trafficking, labor trafficking or both. Source: Study by Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research, and the Loyola University Modern Slavery Research Project
- Running from foster care is the most common pathway to sex trafficking victimization. Source: Latzman, N. E., & Gibbs, D. (2020). Examining the link: Foster care runaway episodes and human trafficking. OPRE Report No. 2020-143. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- 1 in 6 of the more than 25,000 cases of children reported missing to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2021 who had run away were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Source: NCMEC
- 35.8% of runaway and homeless youth report a history of sex trafficking, especially LGBTQ youth (45% reporting this, compared to 28% of heterosexual youth). Source: Roe-Sepowitz, D., Brockie, M. and Bracy, K. (2015). Youth Experiences Survey: Exploring the Sex Trafficking Experiences of Homeless Young Adults in Arizona, Year 2
- Within the first 48 hours of being on the street, 1 in 3 runaway or homeless children are lured into prostitution. Source: National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children/NISMART-2
Other studies with similar findings:
Reid, J. A., Baglivio, M. T., Piquero, A. R., Greenwald, M. A., & Epps, N. (2019). No youth left behind to human trafficking: Exploring profiles of risk. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(6), 704–715.
Greeson, J. K. P., Treglia, D., Wolfe, D. S., & Wasch, S. (2019). Prevalence and Correlates of Sex Trafficking among Homeless and Runaway Youths Presenting for Shelter Services. Social Work Research, 43(2), 91–100
Some other statistics and sources about the trafficking of teenagers in the United States and Canada are below:
- “Victims are typically males between the ages of 14 to 17, but any child can become a victim.” Source: FBI Memphis (2024): ‘Sextortion: A Growing Threat Targeting Minors’
- “Children account for half of the victims of human trafficking. In fact, the average age that a young person becomes involved in sex trafficking is 12 years old. If the victim is a minor, no force, fraud, or coercion is necessary to prove trafficking.” Source: Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
- “The average ages at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14 years old, and for males is the 11-13.” Source: New York State ICAC Task Force (2024)
- “The prime age of vulnerability across all exploitation categories was 13 to 17 years.”- National Institutes of Health (2022)
- “Nearly all (97%) child and youth victims between 2015 to 2022 were aged 12 to 17 years, with a median age of 15 years for girls and 14 years for boys.” Source: Canadian Government, ‘Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2022’
- “The average age of entry for victims of exploitation of this type is 12-14 years old … The average age of entry into sexual exploitation for boys in the U.S. is between 11-13 years old.” Source: Health and Human Services, San Diego County
