Abstract

ANDRADE-RUBIO, Karla Lorena; MORAL-DE-LA-RUBIA, José  and  IZCARA-PALACIOS, Simón Pedro. Birth order as a risk factor for being victim of sex trafficking in the northern triangle of Central America. CienciaUAT [online]. 2023, vol.18, n.1, pp.107-124.  Epub Sep 29, 2023. ISSN 2007-7858.  https://doi.org/10.29059/cienciauat.v18i1.1736.

Human trafficking networks for prostitution recruit vulnerable underage girls, especially those who are considered with no choice but to migrate north to cope with serious economic problems. The aim of this work was to determine if birth order represented a risk factor associated to the vulnerability for sex trafficking of Central American female minors. The interviewees presented vulnerabilities associated to social structures and individual behaviors. On the one hand, all of them grew up in house holds characterized by extreme poverty. On the other hand, they also had vulnerabilities related to teenage pregnancy, lack of education, family dysfunction and participation in illegal markets. Findings suggest that occupying the first place in the order of birth raises the vulnerability of minors to being trafficked to the United States for sex trade. On the contrary, occupying the last place decreases this risk.

Keywords : prostitution; sex trafficking; minors; Central America; United States.