Juror Decision-Making in a Child Trafficking Case: The Impact of Defendant and Victim Gender,Defendant Age,and Defendant Status

Abstract

There has been an increase in human trafficking in Canada from 2018 to 2019, which suggests a rising trend in human trafficking, and as such, the number of court cases are likely increasing. Because of this, the current study sought to examine how a defendant and victim’s gender, and defendant social status and age impacted mock jurors’ decision-making in a child trafficking case. Participants (N = 584) read a mock trial transcript depicting a child trafficking case. They were then asked to render a verdict, answer questions relating to perceptions of the victim and defendant and rate their level of agreements on statements concerning sex and human trafficking. Although there was no effect on dichotomous verdict, mock jurors attributed higher guilt ratings to the male trafficker. Moreover, participants reported more favorable perceptions of the victim when the trafficker was female, and the victim was male compared to female. Participants also reported more favorable perceptions of the victim when the trafficker was of high social status and younger compared to older. Additionally, when mock jurors were well-informed about trafficking victim blaming did not occur. The results of the current study provide some insight into juror perceptions of child sex trafficking cases.

Keywords

defendant gender defendant age defendant status victim gender child trafficking

Introduction

The defendant was a wealthy financier with celebrity connections. The victims were underage. The case was child trafficking. In 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for sex trafficking due to his involvement with underage girls from 2002 to 2005 (Gajanan, 2019). Epstein was not only paying girls as young as 14 for sex, but he also was paying them to recruit more victims and travel to several of his properties for sexual encounters with his famous friends (Gajanan, 2019). Ghislaine Maxwell, a wealthy socialite, and Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, also was charged with sex trafficking in 2020 for her involvement in recruiting and grooming victims for Epstein (Johnson et al., 2020). However, it is important to note that this example is an extreme example of how status may influence perceptions. Perpetrators of child trafficking can be male or female and may be well-known by the public and therefore considered “high status” defendants. The purpose of the current study is to better understand the interaction between defendant social status (i.e., maintenance worker vs. government worker), defendant age (i.e., 25 years vs. 55 years), and both defendant and victim gender.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report on Trafficking Persons (2020) has established that the profile of a “typical” human trafficking victim is changing. Although women used to make up 70% of trafficking victims, the number of trafficked women has decreased to less than 50% as of 2018 (UNODC, 2020). There has also been an increasing number of both men and child victims (UNODC, 2020). In 2018, the UNODC reported that about one-third of victims worldwide were children, where 19% of victims were girls and 15% of victims were boys (UNODC, 2020). In Canada, it was reported that 50% of victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation, and 21% of the trafficked victims were children (Statistics Canada, 2021).

The Criminal Code of Canada includes six offences related to trafficking. Section 279.011 (1) defines the trafficking of underage individuals as any person who influences the movements of an underage individual for the purpose of exploiting them (Criminal Code of Canada, 1985). Furthermore, Section 279.011 (2) states that any type of consent provided by a victim is invalid when the victim is under 18 years old. An amendment in 2012 brought the inclusion of exploitation and factors for the court to consider in human trafficking cases (i.e., the use of threat, coercion or force, deception, and abuse of power; Bill C:310, 2012). Although the court does not need a victim to state that they were afraid, it is the strongest supporting argument for exploitation (Ontario Women’s Justice Network, n.d.).

It may be difficult for jurors to interpret the laws and exploitation factors in trafficking cases, which may contribute to the observed low conviction rates (Roe-Sepowitz, 2019; UNODC, 2020), with 89% of human trafficking cases in Canada being stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged in 2019 (Statistics Canada, 2021). Only 7% of trafficking cases resulted in a guilty verdict, compared to 31% of all violent offences in 2019 (Statistics Canada, 2021). This could be due to jurors’ views on child trafficking in general, child trafficking laws, and the people involved in the crime (e.g., defendant and victim characteristics). A 44% increase in trafficking reports in Canada from 2018 to 2019 suggests a rising trend in human trafficking, which means that the number of court cases are likely increasing (Statistics Canada, 2021). Therefore, it is important to gain some understanding on how jurors perceive defendants and victims based on gender, social status, and age.

There are several models that theorize how mock jurors interpret the information presented to them in juror decision-making paradigms, including the Director’s Cut Model (Devine, 2012). According to the model, jurors interpret the information presented to them and create a mental narrative. Their narrative is affected by their own personal experience and knowledge, as well as pre-existing cognitive scripts that could bias their perceptions of a case (i.e., subscribing to human trafficking myths; Devine, 2012). The current study sought to examine how social status, age, and gender played a role in jurors’ judgments, ultimately leading to their final decisions in the case.

Myths and Perceptions

It is now widely known that subscribing to rape myths can further influence jurors’ perceptions of victims, leading to victim blaming (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). For example, Ayala and colleagues (2018) examined the effects of both victim and perpetrator gender for a sexual assault case where rape myth acceptance was measured. Results showed that participants with low myth acceptance placed less blame on the victim, male or female, for the assault. In contrast, participants with high myth acceptance placed more blame on the victim, with the most blame placed on male victims. When myth acceptance was higher, participants would place less blame on the perpetrator. Overall, female victims received the least amount of blame (Ayala et al., 2018). Although child trafficking is considered a type of sexual abuse, characteristics regarding these two crimes are different. It is therefore important to consider jurors’ perceptions of common trafficking myths.

Cunningham and Cromer (2016) created the Human Trafficking Myths Scale (HTMS) to assess jurors’ perceptions in cases involving human trafficking. This scale relied on human trafficking myths presented by the Polaris Project, a social justice movement with a goal to end human trafficking (Polaris Project, 2021). The HTMS included myths from the Polaris Project such as, “traffickers target victims they don’t know,” “parents and other adults should be on the lookout for strangers who are trying to exploit children,” and “some teenagers get involved in the sex trade due to ‘loose morals’” (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016; Polaris Project, 2021). When creating the scale, a study was conducted using a human trafficking vignette to assess jurors’ perceptions of the victim and defendant when a victim was 13 years old (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). Results found that male jurors were less likely to believe the victim and had higher scores on the HTMS, which suggests male jurors’ have a higher rate of endorsing victim blaming and are less likely to believe the victim. Thus, when looking at this from the Director’s cut model, male jurors’ endorsement of victim blaming may play a role in how their narrative is shaped. The results are consistent with findings in the literature for rape and child abuse cases where an increase in myth acceptance led to more victim blaming and less positive perceptions of victim credibility (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). For the current study, the HTMS will be used to assess whether there are differences in verdict decisions and defendant and victim credibility in a stereotypical human trafficking case (i.e., male trafficker, female victim, low social status, and young trafficker) versus a nonstereotypical trafficking case (i.e., female trafficker, male victim, high social status, and older trafficker).

Social Status

Social status can be expressed in terms of occupation, socioeconomic status, education level, and income (Rosoff, 1989; Willis-Esqueda et al., 2008). Defendant social status, especially for high-profile individuals, has the potential to influence perceptions of defendant culpability. There has been little research focused on cases involving child trafficking and social status, and the literature has been inconsistent regarding the effects of social status for other types of cases, such as physical assault, sexual assault, and homicide (e.g., Bray et al., 1978; Loeffler and Lawson, 2002; Pica et al., 2020). Shaw and Skolnick (1996) examined defendant social status, location of crime, and severity of harm for a case of assault. The authors believed social status could be used as a shield (i.e., a defendant with high status would be perceived more favorably and receive more lenient punishment), or a liability (i.e., a defendant with low social status would be perceived less favorably and receive harsher punishment). Results of this study indicated that high-status defendants were assigned more liability than low-status defendants when the crime was professionally related, and high-status defendants were held more accountable for compensatory damages (Shaw & Skolnick, 1996). Similarly, Bray and colleagues (1978) examined the effect of defendant status for a homicide case. The results indicated that when the defendant was of high status, mock-jurors gave longer sentencing recommendations and were more confident in their verdict decision; however, verdict decisions were not influenced (Bray et al., 1978).

Similarly, Loeffler and Lawson (2002) examined social status of defendants charged with a physical assault. Although results indicated that status had no effect on jurors’ recommended sentencing or judgments of recidivism, status was related to perceptions of the defendant. Specifically, mock-jurors had more positive perceptions of the defendant when they were of high status compared to defendants of low status (Loeffler & Lawson, 2002). In contrast, Gleason and Harris (1976) examined how social status of a defendant in an armed robbery case would affect decision-making. The defendant was either a 10th grade educated janitor, or a college graduate employed at a brokerage firm. Defendants with low social status were assigned more blame and guilt, compared to high-status defendants (Gleason & Harris, 1976).

More relevant to the current study, Pica et al. (2020) examined mock-jurors’ perceptions in a sexual assault case where social status of both the victim and defendant (i.e., bartender vs. star athlete), victim gender, and why the victim was unconscious (i.e., alcohol vs. cold medicine) were manipulated. Results showed that none of the independent variables had significant effects on jurors’ verdict decisions. However, results indicated that jurors assigned higher ratings of guilt for the defendant when the victim was of high social status. In contrast, when the victim and defendant both had low social status, jurors had more favorable perceptions of the victim (Pica et al., 2020). As the literature has demonstrated mixed results regarding the effects of defendant social status, it was of interest in the current study to examine the influence of social status for a case involving child trafficking. The current study sought to examine whether defendant social status would be influential in jurors’ decision-making when the defendant was described as a maintenance worker with a high school education (i.e., low social status) or a government worker with a master’s degree (i.e., high social status).

According to the Director’s Cut Model (Devine, 2012), mock jurors may have personal experience as having either a low- or high-status job, which could influence how they perceive the trial participants. Because of this, perceived status may be relative to the individual and could influence individuals’ judgments prior to entering the deliberation room. This, along with pre-existing cognitive scripts surrounding myths of child trafficking, could easily set the stage for how mock jurors may interpret the other variables.

Victim Gender

As previously mentioned, females used to make up the majority of trafficking victims, but the number of male victims has been on the rise in recent years (UNODC, 2020). Given that there is little research examining this in the context of trafficking, we can extrapolate from the literature examining sexual assault and/or abuse cases. Gerber and colleagues (2004) examined if attributions of blame from a sexual assault case would be different based on the gender of the victim. Participants believed female victims were more unwelcoming to the assault and were less responsible for the assault occurring, compared to male victims (Gerber et al., 2004). Similarly, Rye and colleagues (2006) examined differences in blame attributions for a murder case when both victim and defendant gender were manipulated. The results demonstrated that when the victim was a male, participants were more lenient toward the defendant and harsher toward the victim. The results also indicated that when a male defendant murdered a male victim, ratings of victim responsibility were highest, and defendant judgments were most lenient. Victim gender for a female defendant did not change perceptions of the defendant or victim (Rye et al., 2006). In addition, Quas and colleagues (2002) used a child sexual assault case to examine the effects of victim, defendant, and mock-juror gender on decision-making. Results found that male jurors had more lenient views for female defendants when her victim was a male. Overall, mock-jurors were more confident in their guilty verdicts when the defendant was male but perceived the female defendant to be more responsible for her crime (Quas et al., 2002). These studies suggest a potential for gender bias in jurors, meaning further research is needed to assess whether these gender biases can be extended to other violent crimes (i.e., child sex trafficking cases).

In contrast, some studies have not found an influence of victim gender on juror decision-making. For example, Pozzulo and colleagues (2010) conducted a study using a child sexual assault case that examined the effects of victim gender, defendant gender, and defendant age (i.e., 15 vs. 40 years old). The results of the study found no significant effects for victim gender on mock-juror verdict decisions and no significant effects on perceptions of the victim (Pozzulo et al., 2010). Similar results were found by Pettalia and colleagues (2017) who examined the effects of different child abuse cases (i.e., physical, sexual, emotional, or neglect), victim gender, and mock-juror gender on decision-making. Results indicated that neither victim gender nor type of abuse influenced jurors’ verdict decisions. Furthermore, victim gender had no impact on ratings of guilt or perceptions of the victim and defendant (Pettalia et al., 2017). With studies examining victim gender producing mixed results, it was of interest in the current study to examine victim gender in the context of child trafficking. Given that mock jurors’ narratives are affected by their own personal experience and knowledge, as well as pre-existing cognitive scripts that could bias their perceptions of a case (Devine, 2012). Females may face their own unique experiences when it comes to trafficking, abuse, or sexual assault, which may frame how they view a child trafficking case or the defendant and victim within the case itself.

Defendant Characteristics

The trend in the literature suggests male defendants are viewed less positively (e.g., Pozzulo et al., 2010; Stevens et al., 2021), but little research has been conducted examining perpetrators of child trafficking. Roe-Sepowitz (2019) examined 1,416 persons who were charged with sex trafficking of a minor in the United States from 2010 to 2015. There were 1,067 (75.4%) male traffickers, 346 (24.4%) female traffickers, and 1 (0.1%) transgender trafficker. On average, female sex traffickers (M_age = 26.34) were significantly younger than male traffickers (M_age = 29.2 years). Furthermore, almost half of the examined traffickers had gang affiliations, which is important given that victims of gangs were more likely to be younger, homeless, addicted to drugs, or live in foster care before being groomed for sex trafficking. Roe-Sepowitz (2019) also found gender differences in traffickers. In general, female sex traffickers were more likely to be arrested, have prior prostitution charges, or be working with a male counterpart. Furthermore, female traffickers were more likely to take on the roles of victim grooming, advertising, money collection, and occasionally administer punishments to the victims. Roe-Sepowitz (2019) also created a sex trafficker profile based on the characteristics identified in their study. The typical trafficker was an African American male, aged 28, who often targeted known females around the age of 15. The trafficking usually occurred in a hotel room with potential clients being notified via technology (i.e., a website; Roe-Sepowitz, 2019). A rise in the number of female traffickers (Roe-Sepowitz, 2019; UNODC, 2020) suggests an increasing need to assess whether female traffickers are perceived differently than their male counterparts.

The literature has been consistent regarding the effects of defendant gender on juror decision-making. For example, Stevens and colleagues (2021) examined the effect of defendant gender for a sex trafficking case. Results indicated that male defendants were more likely to receive a guilty verdict. However, participant confidence in verdict decisions and perceptions of the defendant were not affected by defendant gender (Stevens et al., 2021). For a case of child sexual assault, Pozzulo colleagues (2010) found that when the defendant was male, compared to female, mock-jurors would assign higher ratings of guilt (Pozzulo et al., 2010). Comparatively, Gerber and colleagues (2004) found that participants blamed male defendants more for a sexual assault when the victim was female. Overall, the trend in the literature suggests male defendants are perceived more negatively than female defendants.

Although research on the effects of defendant age has been shown to influence juror decision-making, the results have been mixed. Some research has found that younger defendants are perceived as more guilty (e.g., Sheahan et al., 2021), whereas other studies have found the opposite (e.g., Bergeron & McKelvie, 2004), or no effects at all (e.g., Higgins et al., 2007; Loeffler & Lawson, 2002). Bergeron and McKelive (2004) found an “inverted-U” effect of defendant age. Specifically, younger (i.e., 20 years old) and elderly (i.e., 60 years old) defendants were perceived less harshly in sentencing decisions than adults (i.e., 40 years old). However, this was only true when the crime was of a serious nature, such as murder. For less serious crimes, such as theft, there were no effects of defendant age (Bergeron & McKelive, 2004). Of the studies that found no effect of defendant age (e.g., Higgins et al., 2007; Loeffler & Lawson, 2002), less severe crimes were used. Specifically, Higgins and colleagues (2007) examined juror perceptions of defendant age (i.e., 22 years old vs. 65 years old) when the defendant had physically assaulted the victim and found no effect of age on guilty verdicts. These results are similar to Bergeron and McKelive (2004) who found no differences of defendant age when the crime was theft. Thus, age may only influence verdict decisions and defendant perceptions when the defendant is committing a serious offence, such as child sex trafficking.

Although less research has been conducted in a human trafficking context, we can extrapolate from the literature examining sexual assault and abuse cases. For example, Pozzulo and colleagues (2010) assessed the effects of defendant age (i.e., 25 years old vs. 40 years old) in a child sexual abuse case. Although defendant age did not directly affect verdict decisions, it was found to influence victim responsibility for the crime. Specifically, the victim was perceived to be more responsible for the abuse when the defendant was 40 years old, compared to when the defendant was 25 years old. Additionally, age interacted with victim gender, such that the younger defendant was perceived as more likely to have desired to commit the crime when the victim was female. Additionally, Sheahan and colleagues (2021) examined the effects of defendant age for a young (i.e., 12 years old), versus adolescent (i.e., 16 years old), versus adult defendant (i.e., 25 years old) across different types of abuse. Results indicated that jurors perceived the 25-year-old defendant as more guilty but only when the abuse was sexual. However, unlike Pozzulo and colleagues (2010), defendant age did not influence perceptions of the defendant. Despite these differences, the research overall suggests that mock-juror perceptions can be influenced by defendant age when the crime is sexual. The current study examined the effects of defendant age in the context of a child sex trafficking case.

The Present Study

With the rise in sex trafficking reports (Statistics Canada, 2021), it is important to understand how jurors may perceive different factors in a child trafficking case. The current study hopes to identify how victims and defendants are viewed by jurors when gender, social status, and age is varied. These factors mirror differences between recent high-profile cases and the more stereotypical cases from the past. This study is interested in juror perceptions of victim and defendant gender (i.e., male vs. female), defendant social status (i.e., a maintenance worker vs. government worker), and defendant age (i.e., 25 years old vs. 55 years old). Based on the reviewed literature and the Director’s Cut Model, it is hypothesized that male defendants will be perceived less positively and be assigned more guilty verdicts than female defendants (H1). Additionally, it is hypothesized that female victims will be perceived more positively than male victims, which may elicit more guilty verdicts for the defendant (H2). It is also hypothesized that the younger defendant (i.e., 25 years old) will be assigned more guilty verdicts than the older defendant (i.e., 55 years old; H3). Finally, it is hypothesized that defendants with low social status will receive more guilty verdicts and be perceived less positively than high-status defendants (H4).

Method

Participants

Undergraduate students (N = 584) were recruited from a university in Ontario, Canada. The majority of participants were female (68.2%), and ages ranged from 18 to 50 years old (M = 20.08, SD = 4.05). The majority of participants identified as White/Caucasian (58.9%), with fewer participants identifying as Asian (18%), Black/African American (10.6%), Latino/a (2.6%), Indigenous Canadian (1.7%), and mixed/other (8.2%). All participants received course credit for their participation.

Design

A 2 (defendant gender: male vs. female) × 2 (victim gender: male vs. female) × 2 (defendant social status: low vs. high) × 2 (defendant age: 25 years vs. 55 years) between-subjects factorial design was used.

Measures

Trial Transcript

Sixteen versions of a nine-page trial transcript that varied victim gender, defendant gender, defendant age, and defendant social status were created. The transcript described a case of child trafficking where young girls or boys were groomed and trafficked by a male or female defendant, who was described as being 25 or 55 years old with high or low social status. The transcripts began with opening statements from the Judge, Crown, and Defense. The participants then read three Crown witness testimonies (i.e., the victim’s teacher, the arresting officer, and the victim) and three Defense witness testimonies (i.e., the defendant’s coworker, the defendant’s friend, and the defendant). The transcript concluded with closing statements from the Crown, Defense, and instructions to the jury from the Judge.

Defendant Guilt

Participants were asked to assign a dichotomous verdict on whether they believed the defendant was guilty or not guilty. They also were asked to rate the degree of confidence they felt in their verdict decisions on a 10-point scale that ranged from 0 (not at all confident) to 10 (very confident). Finally, they were asked to rate the degree to which they believed the defendant was guilty on a 101-point scale that ranged from 0 (not at all) to 100 (very much so).

Perceptions

Participants were asked about their perceptions of the defendant (i.e., reliability, credibility, and intent on engaging in child trafficking), and their perceptions of the victim (i.e., responsibility and control for what happened and sympathy toward the victim). All questions were rated on Likert-type scales that ranged from 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much so).

Sex Trafficking Attitudes Scale

Participants were asked to complete the Sex Trafficking Attitudes Scale (STAS) to measure their level of agreement with 33 statements related to sex trafficking (e.g., “I do not understand the issues surrounding sex trafficking.”; Houston-Kolnik et al., 2016). Agreement was rated on Likert-type scales that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The STAS was found to have internal consistency across its six subscales that ranged from 0.75 to 0.84 (Houston-Kolnik et al., 2016).

Human Trafficking Myths Scale

Participants also were asked to complete the HTMS to measure their beliefs in 17 statements related to human trafficking (e.g., “If someone did not want to be trafficked, he or she would leave the situation”; Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). Belief levels were rated on Likert-type scales that ranged from 1 (definitely false) to 6 (definitely true). The scale was found to have an internal consistency value of 0.81 (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). For the current study, the scale was adapted to reflect a Canadian perspective (e.g., “Human trafficking does not happen in the United States,” was changed to “Human trafficking does not happen in Canada”).

Manipulation Check

Participants also were asked to answer four manipulation check questions regarding the independent variables (i.e., gender of the defendant, gender of the victim, social status of the defendant, and age of the defendant). Participants had to correctly answer the questions to be included in the analyses. A total of 87 participants answered one of these manipulation checks incorrectly, thus resulting in the final sample size of 584.

Procedure

The online survey tool, Qualtrics, was used to collect the data for this study. Participants who signed up for the study through the university recruitment forum were given a unique URL that randomly assigned them to 1 of the 16 conditions. The participants were asked to read the trial transcript and then complete a series of questionnaires (i.e., the verdict form, perceptions of the defendant and victim, the STAS, the HTMS, and the manipulation check). After completion of the study, participants were given a debriefing form and thanked for their participation. Data cleaning then took place to remove incomplete responses, those who did not meet juror eligibility, and manipulation checks. Participants took an average of 18 min to complete the study.

Results

Dichotomous Guilt

Participants were asked to determine whether they found the defendant guilty or not guilty of child trafficking. A binary logistic regression was run with trafficker gender, age, and status and victim gender as the independent variables and dichotomous guilt (0 = guilty, 1 = not guilty) as the dependent variable. Model 1 included the main effects; Model 2 included the main effects and two-way interactions; Model 3 included the main effects, two-way interactions, and three-way interactions; and Model 4 included the main effects, two-way interactions, three-way interactions, and four-way interaction. Model 1 was nonsignificant, χ²(4) = 2.64, p = .62, as such, none of the additional models were explored. However, this may be due to the ceiling effect of more guilty verdicts (0.96) compared to not guilty verdicts (0.04).

Continuous Guilt

Participants were asked to rate the defendant’s guilt on a 0 (not at all) to 100 (very much so) scale. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was run with trafficker gender, age, and status and victim gender as the independent variables and continuous guilt as the dependent variable. A Bonferroni adjustment was used due to the multiple comparisons. Only a significant main effect of trafficker gender emerged, F(1, 567) = 6.67, p = .01, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .01. Participants attributed more guilt to the trafficker when the trafficker was male (M = 82.36, SD = 18.59) compared to female (M = 78.24, SD = 19.33). The remainder of the main effects were nonsignificant, nor were any of the interactions.

Perceptions of the Defendant and Victim

Participants were asked seven questions related to the perceptions of the defendant, all questions were significantly correlated, as such, a composite scale was created (α = .84). An ANOVA was run with trafficker gender, age, and status and victim gender as the independent variables and defendant perceptions as the dependent variable. No significant effects emerged after a Bonferroni adjustment. Participants also were asked questions related to the perceptions of the victim (n = 4); all questions were significantly correlated, as such, a composite scale was created (α = .76). An ANOVA was run with trafficker gender, age, and status and victim gender as the independent variables and victim perceptions as the dependent variable. A Bonferroni adjustment was used due to the multiple comparisons. There was a significant two-way interaction between trafficker gender and victim gender, F(1, 566) = 5.27, p = .02, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .02. Participants reported more favorable perceptions of the victim when the trafficker was female and the victim was male (M = 5.29, SD = 0.68) compared to female (M = 5.09, SD = 0.84), t(291) = 2.27, p = .02. There were no significant differences between male victims (M = 5.12, SD = 0.91) and female victims (M = 5.22, SD = 0.77) when the trafficker was male, t(287) = −1.06, p = .29. There also was a significant two-way interaction between trafficker status and age, F(1, 566) = 6.10, p = .01, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .01. Participants reported more favorable perceptions of the victim when the trafficker was of high social status and 25 years old (M = 5.35, SD = 0.74) compared to 55 years old (M = 5.11, SD = 0.82), t(283) = 2.55, p = 0.01. There were no significant differences between the 25-year-old trafficker (M = 5.09, SD = 0.86) and the 55-year-old trafficker (M = 5.18, SD = 0.77) when the trafficker was of low social status, t(295) = −0.92, p = .36. No other interactions were significant.

Sex Trafficking Attitudes Scale

The STAS is broken down into six subscales: attitudes toward ability to leave sex trafficking (α = .67), efficacy to reduce sex trafficking (α = .86), knowledge about sex trafficking (α = .85), empathic reactions toward sex trafficking (α = .76), attitudes toward helping survivors (α = .84), and awareness of sex trafficking (α = .81). We wanted to examine whether these beliefs predicted participants’ continuous guilt, perceptions of the defendant, and perceptions of the victim. Separate linear regressions were conducted with the aforementioned variables as dependent variables and the subscales scores as the independent variables. A series of linear regressions were conducted with continuous guilt, defendant perceptions, and victim perceptions as the dependent variables and the separate subscales as the predictor variables.

Continuous Guilt

We analyzed whether each subscale had predictive utility. A Bonferroni adjustment was used due to the multiple comparisons. The attitudes toward ability to leave sex trafficking significantly predicted continuous guilt rating, B = 8.37, SE = 1.22, t = 6.86, p < .001, 95% CI [5.97, 10.76]. The knowledge about sex trafficking subscale also significantly predicted continuous guilt rating, B = 4.43, SE = 0.88, t = 5.01, p < .001, 95% CI [2.70, 6.17]. The empathic reactions toward sex trafficking also significantly predicted continuous guilt, B = 5.84, SE = 1.21, t = 4.84, p < .001, 95% CI [3.47, 8.21]. Lastly, the awareness of sex trafficking subscale predicted continuous guilt rating, B = 1.97, SE = 0.81, t = 2.43, p = .01, 95% CI [.38, 3.56]. Given the direction of all analyses, these results suggest that with one unit increase in these specific attitudes, continuous guilt increased. The remaining subscales had no predictive utility.

Defendant Perceptions

A Bonferroni adjustment was used due to the multiple comparisons. The attitudes toward ability to leave sex trafficking significantly predicted how mock-jurors viewed the defendant, B = −0.50, SE = 0.05, t = −9.75, p < .001, 95% CI [−0.60, −0.40]. The knowledge about sex trafficking subscale also significantly predicted how mock-jurors viewed the defendant, B = −0.24, SE = 0.04, t = −6.22, p < .001, 95% CI [−0.31, −0.16]. The empathic reactions toward sex trafficking also significantly predicted how mock-jurors viewed the defendant, B = −0.38, SE = 0.05, t = −7.50, p < .001, 95% CI [−0.48, −0.28]. Lastly, the awareness of sex trafficking subscale predicted how mock-jurors viewed the defendant, B = −0.10, SE = 0.04, t = −2.83, p = .01, 95% CI [−17, −0.03]. Given the direction of all analyses, these results suggest that with one unit increase in these specific attitudes, perceptions of the defendant decrease. The remaining subscales had no predictive utility.

Victim Perceptions

We analyzed whether each subscale had predictive utility. A Bonferroni adjustment was adjustment was used due to the multiple comparisons. After this correction, only five of the subscales predicted how the victim was viewed by mock-jurors (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Predictive Utility of Sex Trafficking Attitudes Sub-Scales for Perceptions of the Victim.

Subscale	B	SE	T	p	95% CI
Attitudes toward ability to leave	0.63	0.04	14.47	<.001	0.55, 0.72
Efficacy to reduce trafficking	0.07	0.04	1.98	>.05
Knowledge about sex trafficking	0.27	0.04	7.892	<.001	0.21, 0.34
Attitudes toward helping survivors	0.08	0.03	2.84	.005	0.02, 0.13
Awareness of sex trafficking	0.11	0.03	3.51	<.001	0.05, 0.18
Empathic reactions toward sex trafficking	0.46	0.05	9.94	<.001	0.37, 0.56

Human Trafficking Myths Scale

Participants reported a mean score of 5.22 (SD = 0.56) in their responses on the HTMS (α = .82), suggesting that participants in the current study were in general agreement with human trafficking myths. Because of this, we wanted to examine whether these beliefs predicted participants’ continuous guilt, perceptions of the defendant, and perceptions of the victim. A Bonferroni adjustment was used due to the multiple comparisons. Linear regressions were conducted with the aforementioned variables as dependent variables and the scores on the HTMS as the independent variable. Scores significantly predicted continuous guilt, B = −6.32, SE = 1.47, t = −4.29, p < .001, thus suggesting that those who endorsed common human trafficking myths were more likely to attribute less guilt to the defendant. Similar results were observed for defendant perceptions, B = 0.40, SE = 0.06, t = 6.46, p < .001, and victim perceptions, B = −0.46, SE = 0.06, t = −8.24, p < .001, thus suggesting that those who endorsed common human trafficking myths were more likely to hold favorable perceptions of the defendant and less favorable perceptions of the victim.

Discussion

The purpose of the present study was to examine how characteristics of both a trafficked individual and the trafficker influenced mock-juror decision-making. Although there are increasing rates of human trafficking cases (Statistics Canada, 2021), people may still subscribe to common misconceptions regarding human trafficking (e.g., a trafficked person has the ability to leave his or her circumstances; Houston-Kolnik et al., 2016). Given recent cases of child sex trafficking (Ly, 2021), the current study sought to examine whether victim and defendant gender, and defendant social status and age, would be influential to jurors’ perceptions.

Hypotheses 1 and 2

The first hypothesis predicted that male defendants would be perceived less positively than female defendants and would be assigned more guilty verdicts. Both defendant and victim gender did not influence dichotomous guilt decisions, which could be due to the aforementioned ceiling effect. Furthermore, victim gender did not influence continuous ratings of guilt. It is possible that mock-jurors in the current study were more focused on the victim being a child regardless of gender as research has found victim age to be highly influential in cases that involve a sexual component (e.g., Bottoms & Goodman, 1994, Experiment 1; Davies & Rogers, 2009; Schmidt & Brigham, 1996). Contrary to the current study, Stevens and colleagues (2021) found that male defendants were more likely to receive a guilty verdict, whereas in the current study this was not observed (possibly pointing to the decreased statistical sensitivity of dichotomous data).

Our results also may point to a potential gender bias whereby a male defendant may be perceived as a more “typical” child sex trafficker, regardless of victim gender (Roe-Sepowitz, 2019), which could help explain the findings that the male defendant was given higher guilt ratings than the female defendant. Furthermore, the notion of a gender-crime congruency effect, for which jurors are more likely to stereotype a perpetrator as male for cases involving a sexual component, is supported by the current study (Stevens et al., 2021). As the Director’s Model suggests that our preconceived notions can influence how we view trial information, this stereotypical thought of males being the perpetrator of child trafficking could be one potential explanation for this finding. This could be concerning for trafficking cases in the criminal justice system. Given that female perpetrators are perceived as less culpable compared for their male counterparts, crimes committed by female perpetrators may not be taken as seriously by jurors.

Although gender of the defendant and gender of the victim did not predict perceptions of the victim independently, an interaction between the two was observed. Mock-jurors held more favorable perceptions of the victim when the defendant was female and the victim was male, compared to when the victim was female. These findings could be a result of the misconceptions that men are more sexual in nature, and thus, enjoy sexual encounters (Smith, 2012). Because of this, mock-jurors may have perceived the female perpetrator to be more in control of the situation and their sexual impulses. Additionally, the sample was majority female, and as such, this could have been more relative to the individual, and thus, more influential in creating their narrative of the testimony heard (Devine, 2012). Moreover, Smith et al. (1988) found that male victims of female perpetrators are perceived as enjoying the situation as opposed to wanting out of the situation. However, our results are inconsistent with previous research, which have found no effects of gender (e.g., Pettalia et al., 2017; Pozzulo et al., 2010), or contradictory results, where a male victim is perceived less favorably than a female victim, regardless of defendant gender (e.g., Gerber et al., 2004; Quas et al., 2002; Rye et al., 2006). These results could be concerning for male victims harmed by female perpetrators. The gender of a defendant should not affect how jurors perceive victims, especially in cases as serious as child trafficking. If a female defendant influences how a victim is perceived, in conjunction with female defendants being perceived as less culpable for their crimes, it is concerning to contemplate what outcomes may be decided on trafficking cases in the criminal justice system.

Cunningham and Cromer (2016) suggested a possible incongruence of economic or violent exchange in trafficking cases to explain this interaction. Specifically, jurors’ perceptions of the victim can change depending on whether they perceive the presence of violence or believe the victim to be involved in an economic exchange (e.g., exchanging sex for monetary value; Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). Perhaps jurors perceived the presence of violence and therefore perceived the victim more favorably. Neither victim gender nor defendant gender influenced perceptions of the defendant in the current study. It is possible that in cases where the defendant–victim gender combination is not “typical” (i.e., male defendant and female victim), jurors rely on the presence of violence when perceiving the victim. Given that the number of male trafficking victims is on the rise (UNODC, 2020), these results highlight the need to further examine the role of gender biases and gender-crime congruency in child sex trafficking cases.

Hypotheses 3 and 4

Defendant age and social status interacted to influence juror perceptions of the victim. Specifically, victims were perceived more favorably when the defendant was of high social status and were younger (i.e., 25 years old) compared to older (i.e., 55 years old). There were no differences for low-status defendants. Given the fact that social status can be seen as having a shield or liability effect, in the current study it may have been seen as a liability due to the victim’s age. The high status was perceived more harshly when the victim was a young adult as opposed an adult in the current study. Moreover, child trafficking is seen as a severe offense, which would have then increased the liability effect (Shaw & Skolnick, 1996).

Our findings also partially support that of Pozzulo and colleagues (2010) who found that an older defendant made the victim appear more responsible for the crime occurring. Neither defendant’s age nor social status affected mock-jurors’ perceptions of the defendant. This finding is inconsistent with Loeffler and Lawson (2002), who found mock-jurors had more favorable perceptions of a high-status defendant, but consistent with Sheahan and colleagues (2021), who found that defendant age did not affect defendant perceptions. It is possible that jurors believed the child victim was more likely to fall victim to a perpetrator closer in age and of high-status; therefore, believing the victim was less responsible for their involvement.

Trafficking Myths

Trafficking myths are commonly held beliefs about trafficking that reflect a lack of knowledge regarding trafficking and a tendency to place blame on the victim. As research has shown that the endorsement of rape myths leads to more victim blaming in cases of sexual assault (e.g., Ayala et al., 2018; Cunningham & Cromer, 2016), it is likely that the endorsement of trafficking myths would lead to more victim blaming as well. This was evident in the current study. When mock-jurors were well-informed about trafficking (i.e., had high scores on the STAS), victim blaming did not occur. Specifically, when examining the six subscales of the STAS, scores on the attitudes toward the ability to leave sex trafficking, knowledge about sex trafficking, empathic reactions toward sex trafficking, and the awareness of sex trafficking subscales predicted juror perceptions. Higher scores on these subscales meant jurors were more likely to attribute more guilt to the defendant, perceive the victim more favorably, and perceive the defendant less favorably. Comparatively, when mock-jurors endorsed human trafficking myths (i.e., had high scores on the HTMS), they attributed less guilt to the defendant, had less favorable perceptions of the victim, and had more favorable perceptions of the defendant. These results suggest that those mock-jurors who subscribed to trafficking myths may have subconsciously been influenced by these beliefs when asked to make decisions as a juror, which could be a determining factor in how they came to their narrative (Devine, 2012). Subscribing to these myths could lead jurors to place more blame on the victim and therefore assign a not guilty verdict to the defendant.

The Polaris Project (2021) found that subscribing to human trafficking myths results in the enforcement of misinformation, which is concerning for future trafficking cases. It is important to determine ways in which the court can inform jurors of human trafficking, so that common myths are not subconsciously influencing decision-making. The inclusion of expert testimony (Schuller & Hastings, 1996) and the Judge’s instructions to the jury are two avenues that can be explored to help inform jurors of any myths that could negatively impact their perceptions of the case and trial participants. Although the majority of research focuses on Judge’s instructions in the context of eyewitness identification (e.g., Jones & Penrod, 2018), the same could be said for its usefulness when it has been found that preconceived notions about a certain crime event impacts decision-making, as was found in the current study.

Limitations and Future Directions

The current study examined mock-juror perceptions of a child sex trafficking case using a fictional trial transcript. Additionally, results might differ if the sample included participants who were not college educated as our study specifically includes status as a variable, which is driven in large part by education. Using community members may be the next step to determine whether results would change. It is possible that the results may not be representative of an actual jury because a mock-juror paradigm was used (Devine et al., 2001; Gosling et al., 2004). Specifically, the results may not extend to other demographics (e.g., different cultures and different education levels), as the current study was composed of primarily White university students. Despite this, recent research has found no significant differences between student and community samples (Bornstein et al., 2017). Although the results were collected completely online, and no jury deliberation took place, research has shown no significant differences between online studies or studies that include group deliberation (Devine et al., 2001; Gosling et al., 2004). Furthermore, the current study did not examine juror characteristics outside of their beliefs toward common trafficking myths, but research has shown that juror demographics may influence decision-making (Devine & Caughlin, 2014). Although the current study examined multiple defendant characteristics, only one victim characteristic was examined. Future research may wish to examine victim age and social status to see if juror perceptions are influenced by additional victim characteristics. Despite these limitations, the results should be taken into consideration when examining the topic of child sex trafficking.

Conclusion

The current study examined the influence of victim and defendant gender, and defendant social status and age. The current study did not find support that any of the manipulated variables influenced mock jurors’ dichotomous guilt. Perhaps the binary choice does not reflect the actual thoughts of prospective jurors. Using the continuous guilt rating allows us to determine how guilty or how not guilty mock jurors believe the defendant to be, which likely would translate into influencing actual jurors’ decision-making. The results of the study found that defendant gender influenced continuous ratings of guilt, such that male defendants received higher attributions of guilt compared to female defendants. Furthermore, defendant gender and victim gender interacted, such that the victim was perceived more favorably when he was male, compared to female, and was trafficked by a female. Defendant age and social status also interacted to affect perceptions of the victim, such that victims were perceived more favorably when the defendant was younger and high-status, compared to older. Finally, both the HTMS and the STAS had predictive utility in the current study. Specifically, endorsement of common trafficking myths, or a lack of trafficking knowledge, led mock-jurors to attribute less guilt to the defendant, perceive the victim less favorably, and perceive the defendant more favorably. The findings of the study suggest that subscribing to trafficking myths affects juror judgments, and as such, jurors need to be better informed of their own biases, which could be done through the voir dire process. Although the current study provides some insight into juror perceptions of child sex trafficking cases, more research is required to further examine the underlying factors that influence decision-making.

Diversity has become a major focus in the field of psychology, as such, how our study relates to diversity is important. Due to the overwhelming number of females in the current study, these results may not be fully generalizable, especially for the male population. Moreover, the majority of the sample was White. Given that child trafficking can happen to any one of any race, it is important to examine how juror race, defendant race, and victim race may intertwine to influence jurors’ judgments in a case such as this one. For example, a 2-year review found that 40% of trafficked women were Black (Davey, 2020). Moreover, traffickers tend to target Black women with a lower socioeconomic status. These findings from the review provide further justification for future research to incorporate race when examining jurors’ decisions in a child trafficking case.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

ORCID iD

Emily Pica

Author Biographies

Emily Pica, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Science and Counseling at Austin Peay State University. Broadly, her research focuses on the contributing factors of wrongful convictions, perceptions of exonerees, and post-exoneration experiences. Her secondary lines of research examine factors that impact eyewitness identification and juror decision-making.

Alexa Hildenbrand, BA is a Master’s student at Carleton University under the supervision of Dr. Joanna Pozzulo. Her research interests include the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and its effects on juror decision-making in various legal contexts. She is also interested in extralegal factors that may affect juror perceptions of eyewitnesses and defendants, such as mental health.

Laura Fraser, BA is a Master’s student at Carleton University. She is supervised by Dr. Joanna Pozzulo. Her research focuses on examining factors that influences juror decision-making including how age and type of crime can impact juror perceptions. Her secondary interests include examining juror perceptions of legal aspects of juries such as types of legal arguments.

Joanna Pozzulo, PhD is a Chancellor’s Professor, Department of Psychology, Carleton University. Her research examines factors that contribute to wrongful conviction with a focus on the young eyewitness. As a secondary line of research, she explores how age of witness interacts with other nonjudicial factors within a juror decision-making paradigm.

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