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Volume 10, Issue 3 (2025)Read More

Featured Content

Journal Article
1 February 2018

Theoretical Explanations of Jyoshi Kousei Business ("JK Business") in Japan

Mutsumi Ogaki
Jyoshi kousei (JK) means high school girls in Japanese and “JK business” is an umbrella term for commercial activities done by high school girls to provide male customers with sexual arousal. The “JK business” is considered to promote sexual exploitation or sexual assault of minors. Currently, only two prefectures out of 47 in Japan enforce ordinances that specifically regulate the “JK business.” This paper intends to explore possible theoretical explanations of the “JK business” to raise awareness on the issue. Gendered pathways theory and sexual script theory are selected as the primary source of the discussions. Policy implications and future research recommendations derived from the discussion are provided.
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Journal Article
1 October 2018

Never Again! Surviving Liberalized Prostitution in Germany

Sandra Norak, Ingeborg Kraus
This article, co-authored by a six-year survivor of the sex trade industry in Germany (Sandra Norak) and a psychologist and trauma therapist (Ingeborg Kraus), provides perspectives on the difficulty of withstanding the coercion of traffickers and the difficulties of exiting prostitution in a country in which prostitution has been legalized, normalized and made “a job like any other.” This normalization persuades survivors to believe their traffickers that it is a legitimate occupation and encourages them to endure the violence. Liberalization also has prevented the development of needed trauma services to those seeking to exit the sex trade industry.
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Current Articles

Journal Article1 June 2025

The Equal Rights Amendment: The 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Twiss Butler, Patrick Butler
This article reviews how Supreme Court interpretations of the 14th Amendment have allowed laws to discriminate against women. It aims to show that the Equal Rights Amendment, ratified as the 28th Amendment in 2020, offers a constitutional basis for eliminating all forms of legal sex discrimination against women. These forms include discrimination based on pregnancy and abortion, commodifying women’s bodies, and allowing men to intrude into women’s protected spaces. The review starts with the denial of protection for women by America’s Declaration of Independence in 1776, denounces the Supreme Court’s precedent-setting 1974 Geduldig decision, which ruled—quite illogically—that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is not sex discrimination, and ends with the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision which overturns the constitutional protection under the 14th Amendment for the circumscribed abortion rights women have had since the Court’s Roe decision in 1973. The review also notes that without the constitutional backing of the Equal Rights 28th Amendment, President Trump’s Executive Order on his Inauguration Day in January 2025 prohibiting men from changing their legal sex can be repealed instantly by any successor president. The authors hope this review will help to accelerate the use of the 28th Amendment on behalf of women and girls.
Journal Article1 July 2025

An Exhibition and Protest of Executions in Iran

Donna Hughes
An exhibition and protest of executions in Iran was held in Washington, D.C. in June 2025. Portraits of 2000 men and women who were killed or executed in Iran since the 1980s were displayed on the National Mall in front of the Capitol. The Iranian Resistance estimates that 30,000 activists were massacred in one period in 1988. Executions of prisoners have continued steadily, making Iran the world’s leading executioner of men and women. In recent years, there has been a sharp escalation in the number of executions of prisoners. A United Nations Special Rapporteur reported that over 800 persons were executed in 2024. The Iranian regime uses public executions to terrorize the Iranian population and maintain control. The exhibition and protest represented activists from the 1988 massacre and the protests of 2019 and 2022 (the Woman, Life, Freedom movement). The Iranian American Community that sponsored the exhibition supports the pro-democracy, human rights agenda of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Journal Article1 July 2025

Spiritual Practices in Survivor Care: A Qualitative Analysis of Christian Faith-Based Shelters and Survivor Well-Being

Jeanne Allert
Christian faith-based organizations constituted a significant proportion of shelter programs for survivors of sex trafficking in the United States, with an estimated 63% identifying as Christian-affiliated (Institute for Survivor Care, 2024). Despite their prevalence, such programs often elicited skepticism due to the rise of secularism (Pew Research, 2022) and concerns that spiritual programming might retraumatize survivors (Ahrens et al., 2010; Hodge, 2020). However, Ahrens et al. (2010) and Hodge (2020) also found that religious practices can be helpful. This qualitative study employed a trauma-informed, descriptive survey design to explore the experiences of 158 trafficking survivors, who had either resided in or exited from Christian faith-based residential programs, to understand how religious practices were perceived and what role, if any, those practices played in survivor recovery and well-being. A 17-item, trauma-informed survey instrument was developed in collaboration with survivor advisors and shelter providers. Participants, who each received a $25 digital gift card delivered to their email address to preserve anonymity, responded to questions about their prior religious affiliations, reasons for selecting a shelter, their reception of faith-based practices, and their perceived spiritual growth. Digital distribution was facilitated by shelter staff to ensure anonymity throughout the process. Results indicated that 84% of respondents self-identified as Christian, and over 75% entered Christian faith-based shelters to reconnect with, or begin, a relationship with God. While 65% of respondents indicated no discomfort with religious practices, approximately 9.5% described feeling pressure to conform. Nevertheless, participants frequently cited community belonging, forgiveness, identity formation, and renewed spirituality as key contributors to their healing (Nguyen et al., 2014; Van Hook, 2016). The findings suggested that Christian faith-based residential programs facilitated meaningful psychological and spiritual transformation when implemented with respect for autonomy and trauma-informed principles (SAMHSA, 2013). These results challenged the assumption that religion inherently hinders recovery (Walker et al., 2009; Pressley & Spinazzola, 2015) and highlighted spirituality as a powerful pathway to resilience and post-traumatic growth.
Journal Article1 August 2025

Resonant Disruptions: Understanding Canadian Nurses’ Practice with Youth Survivors of Sexual Exploitation

Danielle Giebelhaus, Andrew Estefan
The sexual exploitation of youth is a global concern. Youth survivors of sexual exploitation present to and require healthcare services, but most nurses do not feel effectively equipped to care for this population. There is currently little nursing literature to guide nurses in their practice with youth survivors. In this article, we report on a qualitative, hermeneutic study undertaken to explore nursing practice with youth survivors of sexual exploitation. Hermeneutics is concerned with understanding, and is a helpful way to conduct research when little is known about a topic. In this study, we asked the research question, “How might we understand nurses’ experiences of working with youth survivors of sexual exploitation?” The findings of this study are captured in three interpretations: (a) Stigma, Refuge, and Beautiful Words; (b) How to Convey Mattering to Youth Survivors of Sexual Exploitation; and (c) What Nurses Hold On to for Themselves and Their Patients. The findings point to a clear need for developing mandatory education and raising and building public awareness.