In recent years, sex trafficking awareness and intervention have skyrocketed in the United States. The 2016 Polaris Hotline Statistics Sheet reports a drastic increase of reported sex trafficking cases over the span of four years, with only 3,409 cases of human trafficking in 2012 and 8,042 in 2016, 73% of which were specifically sex trafficking cases (Polaris Project, 2016). The incidence of sex trafficking has not increased, but rather, attention to sex trafficking and implementation of legislation has increased awareness and reporting (Farrell et al., 2012). While this rise in public awareness of sex trafficking has positively impacted victim identification, there has not been an increase in convicting sex traffickers (Polaris Project, 2016). According to the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report, 3,000 federal investigations that involved human trafficking, the majority of which specifically involved sex trafficking, were opened in 2015. Of these federal investigations, only 10% led to case prosecutions. Analyzing the relationship of law enforcement, specifically vice units, and victims of sex trafficking is just one of the many ways to address this complex issue. This study consisted of a qualitative analysis of the makeup, training, and policing methods of vice units nationwide. It further aimed to determine the vice officer perceptions regarding the elements that make sex trafficking cases convictable.

Sexual violence, as defined by the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN), is used as an all-encompassing term to include crimes of sexual assault, rape, and sexual abuse (RAINN, 2016). There are numerous negative impacts of sexual violence on a victim. Victims of sexual violence experience negative health impacts, such as physical injuries from the result of sexual violence and unwanted reproductive consequences, such as the risk of sexually transmitted infections or unwanted pregnancy (Shahali et. al, 2016). They also suffer from long-term psychological impacts, such as long-term emotional trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Reddington & Kriesel, 2005). The long-term consequences of sexual violence on a victim can result in loss of steady employment and engaging in high-risk behaviors, like drug and alcohol abuse, as well as suicidal thoughts and feelings of hopelessness (Mulla, 2014, NAESV, 2011). The negative impacts of sexual violence indicate the various needs of a victim of sexual violence. One method to address the needs of a victim of sexual violence is to put them in contact with resources that address the physical and psychological impacts of sexual violence by providing services and care to victims. The purpose of this thesis is to determine what kinds of resources are available in Arizona and how these resources are being used to help the needs of victims of sexual violence. Through expert interviews and information collected through public online resources, I created a visual aid, a map, that organizes and categorizes the resources that are available in Arizona. I then provide separate descriptions of a list of resources. This was to determine how this set of resources are being used to provide services and care to victims of sexual violence as a means to better understand a local approach to the issues of sexual violence.