Because sex trafficking is a global phenomenon, the United Nations placed a call to action to its member nations to develop a comprehensive sex trafficking policy. As might be anticipated, variation occurred among nations in developing policy initiatives. The literature points to this variation but little has been published on understanding the underlying components of the variation. In this article, the characteristics of innovators, the environmental context, and the innovation of comprehensive sex trafficking policy, categorized into nodality, authority, organization, and treasure, are conceptualized, using a diffusion of innovations theoretical framework. Additionally, international indices of the Human Development Index, the Gender Disparity Index, and the Gender Empowerment Measurement are operationalized within the proposed diffusion of innovations model for anti-sex trafficking policy adoption. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

sex trafficking Gender Empowerment Measurement Human Development Index policy instruments Diffusion Gender Disparity Index

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