TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Today was the first of a series of sex trafficking awareness classes being introduced to the Tucson area.
It was called Sex Trafficking 101, and it was led by Arizona State University’s Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research. Two professors, Dominique Roe-Sepowitz and Kaitlin Meadows led the conversation.
The presentation started with their 2022 Youth Experiences Survey and their findings. The study on young people experiencing homelessness shows nearly 40% of the participants had been sex trafficked. This was just one of the profound pieces of data that were shared during today’s presentation.
School of Social Work associate professor Dominique Roe-Sepowitzs research shows results from agencies around Arizona.
“Statewide we had five agencies. In Pima County we had two, Our Family Services and SAFE,” she said.
These agencies total received responses from 107 homeless youth, with more than 60% from Pima County. Twenty-six of those individuals experienced sex trafficking. Sepowitz said their questionnaire showed these participants agreed to sex trafficking mainly because they needed a place to stay, food, or money.
“There are some areas in Pima County that we are concerned about, such as prostitution or sex trafficking where either homeless people are concentrating, where people can exchange sex or something of value to meet their basic needs.”
She said outdoor prostitution is a concern in certain areas “like Miracle Mile or areas of Ajo where there are cheap hotels.”
Councilman Steve Kozachik has supported Sepowitz in her research.
“My office has been very involved with Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, who is probably the expert on sex trafficking in Arizona. We know through state agencies roughly 50 children were sex trafficked last year,” said Kozachik.
That’s around 1 child per week in the city of Tucson alone.
“The sad reality is that because the City of Tucson does not have a robust response to that, virtually nothing happened,” he said.
The series of classes that were introduced today was just the first step in their plan in creating a response to fight sex trafficking. They hope these classes will educate the public and get the conversation started.
——-
Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
