A new study on sex trafficking related to Super Bowl 49 is to be released. But ASU researchers said they have identified 165 additional victims and 79 traffickers, already in the Maricopa County Adult probation system.
Research Director Dominique Roe-Sepowitz said while more needs to be done to help sex trafficking victims get back on their feet, the victimizers are often victims, too.
“That doesn’t mean that what they did wasn’t absolutely abhorrent and a terrible thing to do, but it does tell us that to treat them, to help them treat their behavior, to not victimize others that they require interventions as well," Roe-Sepowitz said.
She said in many cases opportunities to address the issues that propel a person to become a sex trafficker were missed by the justice system and that the trafficking might have been prevented had the irregular behavior been identified.