Outness and Discrimination as Predictors of Psychological Distress Among Sexual Minority Cisgender Women

This thesis is a quantitative analysis of the relationships between demographics, outness, discrimination experiences, and mental health among cisgender sexual minority women. It utilizes data from the LGBTQ Institute Southern Survey, which documents the experiences of LGBTQ adults in the Southern United States. Greater outness correlates with more discrimination, and both outness and discrimination are associated with psychological distress (greater outness correlates to less psychological distress and greater discrimination correlates to more psychological distress); older respondents tend to be more out, experience more discrimination, and have less psychological distress; bisexual respondents and respondents of some other sexual orientation tend to be less out, experience more discrimination, and have more psychological distress; additionally, Black/African American respondents tend to experience less discrimination, and more educated respondents tend to have less psychological distress

Atlanta Youth Count 2018 Community Report: The Prevalence of Sex and Labor Trafficking Among Homeless Youth in Metro Atlanta

The 2018 Atlanta Youth Count (AYC18) was a follow-up study to the 2015 Atlanta Youth Count and Needs Assessment (AYCNA), expanded in 2018 to specifically address sex and labor trafficking among youth experiencing homelessness in metro Atlanta. The goals of this project were to: 1) provide metro Atlanta service providers, policymakers, and youth advocates with practical information on the size, nature, and needs of the homeless, precariously housed, and runaway youth in our community who are involved in various forms of sex and labor trafficking; 2) collect information that can be used to develop and refine policies, programs, and interventions to help these youth in our community; and 3) encourage a community-wide dialogue about the needs and social determinants of youth homelessness and human trafficking. This study was funded by the National Institute of Justice and was conducted in partnership with local service providers, advocates, researchers, and students. This document is the official public Human Trafficking Report and provides an overview of the study methodology and key findings, including the research team’s official estimates of the prevalence of trafficking among homeless youth in metro Atlanta, as well as a description of key characteristics of the population derived from the survey data collected. Members of the research team are continuing to analyze and use the data to improve the public’s and policymakers’ understanding of youth homelessness and trafficking and to guide community - based efforts to improve services for these young people

The Prevalence and Correlates of Labor and Sex Trafficking in a Community Sample of Youth Experiencing Homelessness in Metro-Atlanta

Research suggests that runaway and homeless youth (RHY) in the United States are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking. In this paper, we report and analyze estimates of sex and labor trafficking collected as part of the Atlanta Youth Count 2018, a community-based field survey of RHY between the ages of 14 and 25 in the metro-Atlanta area. A total of 564 participants were recruited and completed a survey that included questions about their backgrounds as well as the Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST). We found that 39.9% experienced some form of trafficking while homeless. While 15.6% of the youth reported commercial sexual exploitation while homeless, coerced labor (29.3%) or fraud (25.2%) were even more common experiences. Women, transgender, and gender nonconforming youth, as well young people who had prior system involvement and those who had been homeless for more than a year were the most likely to report having been trafficked. The significance of these findings for research and policy on RHY and trafficking are discussed