Social Work Practice with Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation

As awareness of sex trafficking and exploitation have grown, so has the need for improved social work responses. In this volume, expert practitioners, survivors, and researchers model the best practices for working with this population, providing a comprehensive guide to the emerging field of practice with sex trafficking survivors.

Andrea J. Nichols is professor of sociology at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and lecturer and anti-trafficking initiative coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the author of Sex Trafficking in the United States: Theory, Research, Policy, and Practice (Columbia, 2016), coauthor of Human Trafficking in the Midwest: A Case Study of St. Louis and the Bi-State Area (2015), and coeditor of Broadening the Scope of Human Trafficking Research: A Reader (2016).

Tonya Edmond is associate professor of social work and associate dean for diversity, inclusion, and equity at the Brown School of Social Work and a faculty fellow in the Office of the Provost at Washington University in St. Louis.

Erin C. Heil is associate professor of criminal justice studies at Southeastern Illinois University Edwardsville. She is the author of Sex Slaves and Serfs: The Dynamics of Human Trafficking in a Small Florida Town (2012), coauthor of Human Trafficking in the Midwest: A Case Study of St. Louis and the Bi-State Area (2015), and coeditor of Broadening the Scope of Human Trafficking Research: A Reader (2016).

Hasmik Chakaryan, Webster University:
This book is a much needed resource for understanding sex trafficking in its widest meaning, including the various definitions, experiences, perspectives, and populations of sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and sex trade. Social Work Practice with Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation gives a voice to researchers, practitioners, activists, and survivors.

Julie Orme, Howard University:
An invaluable ‘how to’ guide on working with sex trafficking survivors that illuminates the shades of gray within the commercial sex industry. Filled with rich scholarship, this seminal work empowers social service providers to tackle the complexities of sexual exploitation at the practice, program, and policy level. Well done!

Dean Duncan III, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill:
This book makes what appears to me to be an important and significant contribution to our knowledge of what services are needed and how they should be provided. The writing is clear, compelling, and easy to follow.

Andrea Cimino, Johns Hopkins University:
Nichols’s, Edmond’s, and Heil’s comprehensive text successfully navigates the complex politics of sexual exploitation and gives voice to a diverse array of survivors. The inclusion of individual, program-level, and preventive interventions makes this an essential primer for social workers.