Lauren Martin, PhD

Dr. Lauren Martin focuses on community engaged and participatory action research on sex trading, human trafficking, and community wellbeing to illuminate real-world implications, policy, prevention, and community health. She started this work with community partners in 2005, and uses qualitative, mixed-methods, and collaborative research rooted in strengths, assets, meaning-making and experience to highlight the ways that sex trading is a critical community health challenge impacting children and families, communities of color, indigenous people and other marginalized groups.

Dr. Martin also conducts a wide range of community-based research on trauma, education, community development and more. For almost 10 years she was the Director of Research at the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC). Dr. Martin remains an affiliated faculty member of UROC and at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She received her PhD in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research in New York City. Dr. Martin's personal research mission is to co-create empirical knowledge in service of effective social change for justice and equity.

PhD, New School for Social Research
Major: Anthropology

MA, New School for Social Research
Major: Anthropology

BA, Beloit College
Major: Anthropology

• Daisy Award for Commitment to the Understanding of Social Determinants, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2022
• Ally Award, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, 2021
• Honorary Fellow, National Academies of Practice and the Nursing Academy, 2020
• President's Engaged Scholar Award, University of Minnesota, 2016
• Aware Award, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, 2014

• "Minnesota's Safe Harbor Program is Helping More Youth at Risk of Sex Trafficking," KIMT3 Rochester. (August 2024).
• "‘A Screaming Silence’: Sexually Abused Boys in Minnesota Have High Needs, But Little Attention Paid," The Imprint. (July 2024).
• "Sex Trafficking in Minnesota: How to Spot It, Prevent It and Intervene," Minnesota Public Radio. (August 2023).
• "VERIFY: Is the Super Bowl the biggest event for sex trafficking?," WSTP Tampa Bay. (January 2021).
• "Expand Minnesota's Safe Harbor for Sex Trafficking Victims," StarTribune. (January 2019).

Brown, C., Pekala, J., McMorris, B. J., Lee, K., Singerhouse, E., & Martin, L. (2025). School nurse perspectives on interventions supporting youth at risk for or experiencing sex trading. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 21(3), 172–180. https://doi.org/10.1097/JFN.0000000000000548 

Olukotun, O., Abusbaitan, H., Hearst, M., Pirsch, A., Hoffman, S., Martin, L., Connor, J. J., Tosin Adebayo, C., Eyadat, A., Dressel, A., Giama, N., McMorris, B. J., Adams, S., Gondwe K. W., Lopez, A. A., Graf, M., Mekonnen, H., Bekele Mersha, S., Demissie Ashenafi, A., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2025). Gender-based violence in the lives of Somali women with refugee status: A framework for analysis and action.  Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 36(2), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/10436596241274121

O'Brien, J., McKinney, K., Martin, L., & Jones, L. (2024). Help-seeking among youth impacted by child sex trafficking: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence and Abuse.  doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241253045 

Jones, L., O'Brien, J., Colburn, D., McKinney, K., & Martin, L. (2024). Youth attitudes toward commercial sexual exploitation and help-seeking: An analysis of data collected by the Not a Number Trafficking Prevention Program. Research in Human Development, 21(2-3), 159-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2024.2412427 

Martin, L., McMorris, B. J., & Rider, G. N. (2023). Sex trading among adolescent cisgender boys. Pediatrics, 151(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-058729 

Martin, L., Matthias, C., Abeyta, S., Kafafian, M., Barrick, K., & Farrell, A. (2023). Mechanisms of recruitment into sex trafficking operations: A systematic review to support prevention. Global Crime, 24(4), 239–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/17440572.2023.2237423 

Barrick, K., Maass, K. L., Sharkey, T., Song, Y., & Martin, L. (2023). Expanding our understanding of traffickers and their operations: A review of the literature and path forward. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 25(3), 2348-2362.  https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231210937 

Kosmas, D., Sharkey, T., Mitchell, J. E., Maass, K. L., & Martin, L. (2023). Interdicting restructuring networks with applications in illicit trafficking. European Journal of Operational Research, 308(2), 832-851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2022.11.048 

Martin, L., Gupta, M., Maass, K. L., Melander, C., Singerhouse, E., Barrick, K., Samad, T., Sharkey, T. C., Ayler, T., Forliti, T., Friedman, J., Nelson, C., & Sortillion, D. (2022). Learning each other’s language and building trust: Community-engaged transdisciplinary team building for research on human trafficking operations and disruption. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221101966 

Rider, N. G., McMorris, B., Brown, C., Eisenberg, M., Gower, A., & Martin, L. (2022). Mental health and protective factors for transgender and gender diverse youth who trade sex: A Minnesota, statewide school-based study, 2019. American Journal of Public Health, 112(3).  https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306623 

Mariotti, M., Forliti, T., Martin, L. E. "Engaging Lived Experts in Research Leadership: Lessons from our Transdisciplinary Team," Shared Hope International Juvenile Sex Trafficking Conference, Phoenix, AZ. (October 2024).

Ayler, T., Friedman, J., Martin, L. E., Maass, K. L., Nelson, C. "Multidisciplinary Research Teams and Dynamic Survivor Engagement in Human Trafficking Research," National Institute of Justice National Research Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. (September 2024). Invited.

Brightly-Brown, S., Rider, G. N., Filoteo, M., Martin, L. E., McMorris, B. J. "Supporting the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Youth Who Trade Sex," American Psychological Association Conference, Seattle, WA. (August 2024).

Martin, L. E., Maass, K. L., Mariotte, M., Forlitit, T. "Highlights and Lessons from a Recent Project: Strategies to Disrupt Recruitment of Victims in Human Trafficking: Qualitative Data, Systems Modeling, Survivors, and Law Enforcement," Research and Data Subcommittee for the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOC) US Federal Government. (June 2024). Invited.

Lotspeich, R. H., Martin, L. E., Barrick, K. "Analyzing the Social Cost of Human Trafficking: An Economic Framework," International Human Trafficking & Social Justice Conference, Virtual. (September 2023). 

Martin, L. E. "The Silo between Youth and Systems: Help Seeking among Youth Who Trade Sex in Minnesota, USA," International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Edinburgh, Scotland. (September 2023).

Martin, L. E., Brown, C. A., McMorris, B. J., Filoteo, M., Johnston-Goodstar, K., Rider, G. N. "Trading Sex and Sexual Exploitation among High School Students: Data from the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey," Human Trafficking Prevention & Response Network, St. Paul, MN. (July 2023). Invited.

Johnston-Goodstar, K., Martin, L. E., Hayes, L., LaFrinier-Richie, A., Matthews, N., Perrote, N., O'Keefe, B., Eagle, K., Rider, G. N., McMorris, B. "Native+ Students Involved in Trading Sex: New Data and Indigenous Approaches to Healing," Minnesota Department of Health Safe Harbor Conference, Virtual. (May 2022). 

Brown, C., McMorris, B. J., Piescher, K., LaLiberte, T., Filoteo, M., Martin, L. "Emotional Distress and Sexual Exploitation among Minnesota’s High School Age Youth Involved in Foster Care," Midwest Nursing Research Society Annual Meeting, Schaumberg, IL. (March 2022).

Martin, L. E., Rider, G. N. "The Importance of Accurate Data about Youth Sex Trading: Prevalence Rates from a Public Health Survey to Guide Prevention," Minnesota House of Representatives Education Policy Committee. (February 2022). Invited.

Award: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of the Not a Number Program
Principal Investigator: Martin, Lauren
Sponsoring Organization: University of New Hampshire, CDC
Award Dates: 2022 - 2027

Award: D-ISN: Track 1: Modeling Effective Network Disruptions (MEND) for Human Trafficking
Principal Investigator: Martin, Lauren
Sponsoring Organization: Clemson University, National Science Foundation
Award Dates: 2021 - 2026

Award: Planning CRISES: Human-Centered Action Research to Disrupt Trafficking (HART)
Principal Investigator: Martin, Lauren
Sponsoring Organization: National Science Foundation
Award Dates: 2024 - 2025

Award: Prevention Research to Disrupt Sexual Exploitation of Youth in Minnesota
Principal Investigator: Martin, Lauren
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota Foundation, Carlson Foundation
Award Dates: 2023 - 2025

Sex Trading in the African-American Community
Principal Investigator: Martin, Lauren
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota Foundation, World Childhood Foundation
Award Dates: 2024 - 2024

Award: Disrupting Sex Trading among LGBTQ+ Youth: An Intersectional Approach
Principal Investigator: McMorris, Barbara
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota Foundation, World Childhood Foundation
Award Dates: 2023 - 2024