Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, MSW, PhD

Arizona State University

Dominique Roe-Sepowitz is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University, and she is the director of the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research. Roe-Sepowitz has her master’s degree and doctorate in social work and is a researcher, professor and a forensic social work practitioner. 

Dominique teaches in the clinical track of the masters of social work program as well as provides clinical intervention groups focused on abuse and trauma in the community to women and men exiting prostitution.  Dominique's research focus is on women and violence with a focus on prostitution and the therapeutic needs for exiting.  Her expertise includes sex trafficker profiles, establishing a prevalence of sex buyers, and sex trafficking victim prevention and intervention design.  Dominique works very closely with community groups including the Phoenix Police Department, the Phoenix Prosecutor's Office and Catholic Charities DIGNITY programs.  Her research work spans the prevention, detection, identification and trauma-focused treatment of sex trafficking victims. 

Recent projects include estimations of online sex buying demand, estimating the prevalence of sex trafficking victims within the juvenile delinquency and adult probation systems in Arizona, surveying Arizona’s homeless young adults about their sex trafficking experiences (Youth Experiences Survey), studying patterns within arrest cases of traffickers, exploring sex ads and demand response around the Super Bowl in 2014 and 2015, and evaluating interventions for sex trafficking victims.  Community partnerships for developing new knowledge about sex trafficking include the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Phoenix Police Department, and the Tucson Police Departments.  Dominique has conducted research with partners including Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, Shared Hope International, and Demand Abolition.  Community interventions that Dominique has helped to develop includes Project ROSE,  the Phoenix 1st Step Drop-in Center, and Project STARFISH education.  Dominique also co-created an eleven-week psychoeducation group provided at ten locations around Arizona entitled Sex Trafficking Awareness and Recovery. 

Dr. Roe-Sepowitz has no disclosures.