Explore the Alarming Intersection of These Crises and the Urgent Need for Solutions
People with disabilities are statistically more vulnerable to both homelessness and human trafficking, two crises that too often go hand-in-hand. Additionally, being homeless or trafficked increases the risk of incurring a disability.
Like so many things related to homelessness, this is a vicious cycle that must come to an end. Learn how you can help protect vulnerable populations from exploitation.
Helen Stiver, a Trafficking Survivor and Formerly Homeless Woman, Was Disabled at Age 4
California native and EverFree’s US Programs Coordinator Helen Stiver has an 18-year track record of working with nonprofits in disability accessibility. But long before she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and became a sought-after voice in the anti-human trafficking campaign, she was a disabled teenager living through precarious times.
At the tender age of 19, Helen was trafficked and endured 8 years of abuse and isolation. By the time she exited the sex trafficking trade, she was well into her late 20s and unable to get a job or stable place to live. This caused her to have to struggle once more through episodic and hidden homelessness.
Stiver attributes a great deal of her struggle to her hearing loss, a disability that made it difficult for her to connect with peers. Helen’s story is sadly emblematic of a larger trend where homelessness, trafficking, and disabilities crash.
“Disabled people have the highest rates of housing discrimination,” Stiver said. “That’s just a fact. Statistics in the US show that between 40% and 50% of those who are unhoused have a disability. That’s 2.5 times higher than the general public. Having a disability itself is an additional vulnerability.
“There’s a wide spectrum of different categories of disabilities and a spectrum of how that affects your life within each category. I personally have a disability,” Stiver continued. “I’ve had a disability since I was 4. I have hearing loss, and that contributed to my vulnerability. Growing up, I definitely had a strong need for communication, and there was a lack of communication with my peers. It was more difficult to establish relationships and friendships due to that.”
In an exclusive interview with Invisible People, Helen opened up about how the isolation she felt through her hearing loss repeated itself again during the eight years she woefully endured sex trafficking. Her story, like an echo, is eerily similar to many others.
In the US, Disabled People Boast the Highest Rates of Housing Discrimination
According to the National Fair Housing Association, housing cases alleging disability discrimination account for the highest number of all housing discrimination cases, reflecting approximately 53% in 2021-2022. This means that, at least on paper, persons with disabilities experience housing discrimination at rates that outrank racism, sexism, and discrimination based on nation of origin and religion, among other attributes.
However, the report’s authors point out that other types of discrimination can be more difficult to prove. This puts disabled people who are already having difficulties connecting in some ways with the rest of society at an increased likelihood of homelessness.
Being Homeless Increases the Likelihood of Being Trafficked. So Does Having a Disability.
Housing insecurity is a key factor in exhibiting higher risks for human trafficking. This can include sex trafficking, labor trafficking, or some combination of both. It is estimated that 1 in 5 youths enduring homelessness are also enduring being trafficked. This is a staggering statistic once you consider that 1 in 30 US-based children are homeless each year, which equates to about 2.5 million school-aged children in total.
When you add to that the 3.5 million or so unaccompanied youths enduring homelessness between the ages of 18 and 25, that turns out to be 1,200,000 trafficked young people pooled from the homeless population alone. That is an unacceptable record of exploitation.
Homeless people, in general, are more likely to fall prey to traffickers because they desperately need stable housing to survive. Traffickers, hoping to exploit vulnerable people, will often seek out individuals with disabilities because they are statistically more likely to be physically or sexually abused and less likely to file any report about their abuse.
The isolation that accompanies a disability can serve as a kind of crutch for the trafficker to lure and further alienate them from the rest of society. As the Office for Victims of Crime reports, people who are trafficked are also extremely likely to develop physical, sensory, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities as a direct result of the trauma associated with being trafficked, hence making it a double-edged sword.
Trafficked People Exhibit a Heightened Risk of Enduring Homelessness if They Can Exit the Lifestyle
Exiting human trafficking is a difficult feat, but those who manage to do so are still not in the clear. Such individuals are highly likely to endure homelessness following that departure due to one or more of the following factors:
- Being isolated from friends and family
- Having a criminal record due to crimes they were forced to commit while they were being trafficked
- Lacking education and work experience due to being trafficked
- Lacking access to vital resources, aid, healthcare, and more
Helen Striver explains it succinctly:
“When you’re homeless, you become vulnerable to being trafficked because you are looking for secure or stable housing. If you have a disability, then that’s another vulnerability. So, if you’re unhoused with a disability, it’s more difficult for you to get out of that situation. Therefore, you’re more vulnerable to someone who preys upon those weaknesses by offering you either a job in labor or sex trafficking.”
Homeless People Are at Higher Risk for Developing Disabilities
Homelessness creates a devastating cycle, as it not only increases the likelihood of developing disabilities but often makes escaping the crisis feel nearly impossible.
In addition to the mental and emotional traumas that almost always accompany homelessness, things like feeling isolated, being depressed, or suffering PTSD, homeless people are also more likely to be violently attacked than housed people, and homeless people with addictions are currently undergoing preventable amputations, losing limbs via wounds that could heal with proper care.
Tell Your Legislators We Must Do Better. We Need Actionable Solutions to the Homeless Crisis
Now that you understand the consequences of our ever-burgeoning homeless crisis, it is time to fight back by demanding that housing be made a human right for all people, including people with disabilities. Contact your legislators today.
