Women and girls involved in the sex trade are at a particularly elevated risk of femicide, which is the sex/gender motivated killing of women and girls. Femicides of women and girls in the sex trade are associated with higher rates of overkill, sexual femicide, and mutilation of the corpse. Despite this, these cases are solved at much lower rates, and research on this form of femicide is limited. This presentation will begin by providing an overview of the existing literature on sex trade femicides. Risk factors, trends, and patterns in sex trade femicides will be discussed using data from the Sex Trade Femicide Database (STFD), exploring these components from individual and structural levels to analyze how systems of colonialism, racism, criminalization, and transphobia shape the killing of women and girls in the sex trade. Next, conceptual and practical challenges in differentiating between sex work and sex trafficking femicides will be discussed, with a focus on the unique challenges posed by sex trafficking femicides. These challenges will be discussed as they pertain to investigators, victim family members, and frontline service providers, using case studies from the STFD to highlight this. The presentation will end by discussing implications for practice, namely, how teachings from femicide cases can better shape prevention and investigative/response efforts. This presentation will be of relevance to law enforcement, service providers, and researchers, and will also aim to initiate a discussion on how the anti-trafficking sector can better mobilize around the issue of sex trade femicides.
Trigger Warning: This presentation contains information (written, spoken, or visual) that may be triggering or (re)traumatizing to attendees.
Laura Aguiar is an MA Sociology student. Her research focuses on femicide in the context of the sex trade, including sex trafficking. She maintains a database of sex trade femicides in Canada and the U.S. from 1960 to present day. Her work is informed by her years of frontline anti-violence practice.