Milwaukee Sex Trafficking of Youth Research Report Released

A Report by Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, Rethink Resources, Medical College of Wisconsin Institute for Health & Equity, Milwaukee Sexual Assault Review, and Milwaukee Police Department – Sensitive Crimes Division (Medical College of Wisconsin, 1 March 2018).

Here are key statistics from the report. As highlighted by this reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Key Statistics:

340 individuals ages 25 and under were confirmed or believed to be victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016.

Because complete demographic and historical information was not available for all individuals identified, 231 individuals were analyzed for this report. Of these, the majority were:

Female (97% or 225 individuals)

Black/African American (65% or 149 individuals)

Confirmed victims of sex trafficking (81% or 187 individuals). The demographic and historical information of individuals confirmed and individuals believed to have been sex trafficked were nearly identical, except that individuals who were confirmed to have been trafficked were more likely than individuals believed to have been trafficked to have a reported history of sexual assault victimization and a history of being reported as a missing person to the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD).

Identified as having a reported interaction with the MPD other than the incident through which they were classified as having been trafficked or believed to have been trafficked (86% or 199 individuals). Types of incidents included sexual assaults, battery/domestic violence incidents, child abuse, drug crimes, and missing reports. A category “other” was included incidents that did not fit any of the other victim history categories.

U.S. citizens or those with legal status (100%).

Juveniles (55% or 126 individuals) at the first reported incident of suspected or confirmed sex trafficking; the remaining 105 individuals (45%) were between the ages of 18 and 25 at the first reported incident of suspected or confirmed sex trafficking.

60 individuals were identified as having been trafficked multiple times.

Fifty-nine percent (136 individuals) had a history of being reported missing at least once. Of those 136 individuals, 59% (80 individuals) were reported missing from out of home care (e.g., group homes and foster care) at least once.