Urban Institute

Meredith Dank; Lilly Yu; Jennifer Yahner

Keywords: Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children; Healthcare; Homeless Youth; Mental Health; Substance Use and Treatment; Youth Experiences

This report focuses on LGBTQ youth who become involved in the commercial sex market to meet basic survival needs, describing their physical, mental, and sexual health issues, their substance use, and their experiences with service providers. It finds that most youth protect themselves from harm in several ways, including using protection against sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy and visiting service providers for health and nonhealth services. However, most of the youth reported needs that were unmet by service providers, including employment assistance and short- and long-term housing, and youth who reached ages 18 or 21 had even greater challenges accessing services. [Summary from resource.]

Also see the two previous reports in this three-part series: 1) Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex and 2) Locked In: Interactions with the Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Systems for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex.

File : pdf with 0.49 MB in size

Access to Safety: Health Outcomes, Substance Use and Abuse, and Service Provision for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex