TPC Journal-Vol 9- Issue 4-FULL ISSUE

400 The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 4 early termination. Counselors must therefore understand how barriers to counseling sex trafficking survivors may negatively influence the success of client treatment (Wilson et al., 2017). Human Trafficking Myths Human trafficking myths are false beliefs about human trafficking and trafficking survivors that blame the victim, excuse the perpetrator, and deny or justify the sale or trade of human beings (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). For example, human trafficking victims in the media are portrayed as young, innocent, and vulnerable children, when in reality, victims of all ages are trafficked (U.S. Department of State, 2001). Another misconception is the belief that victims are kidnapped and then trafficked, when more often than not they are exploited by a loved one such as a family member or an intimate partner (Gerassi, 2015). A study conducted by Cunningham and Cromer (2016) was the first to identify the presence of human trafficking myths in an undergraduate sample. The results of the study found human trafficking myths in 36.5% of the participants with 31% attributing blame to the victim. Men who perceived the vignette as an instance of sex trafficking were more likely to engage in victim blaming and were more accepting of human trafficking myths than their female counterparts (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016). Purpose of the Study and Research Hypothesis The present study sought to examine whether counselors’ attitudes differed based on labels (i.e., prostitute and prostitution vs. sex trafficked women and sex trafficking ). Additionally, the study explored whether attitudes based on labels and counselor demographics predicted levels of empathy and rape myth acceptance in counselors. Three research questions were identified: (1) Does a significant difference exist between Attitudes Toward Prostitutes and Prostitution Scale (APPS) and Attitudes Toward Trafficked Women and Sex Trafficking Scale (ATTS) scores? (2) Do APPS and ATTS scores and counselor attributes predict empathy scores on the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI)? and (3) Do APPS and ATTS scores and counselor attributes predict rape myth acceptance scores on the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Short Form (IRMA-SF)? Method Participants Participants were licensed professional counselors and clinical counselors ( N = 396) in Ohio. The mean age was 42.1 years ( SD = 13.51). Participants self-identified as Caucasian/White ( n = 364, 91.9%), African American/Black ( n = 22, 5.6%), Hispanic/Latino(a) ( n = 6, 1.5%), American Indian/Alaskan Native ( n = 3, 0.8%), Asian American/Asian ( n = 3, 0.8%), Arab American ( n = 1, 0.3%), and Other ( n = 1, 0.3%). The participant who selected Other self-identified as European American; some participants selected multiple items. Of the total 396 participants, there were more females ( n = 341, 86.1%) than males ( n = 53, 13.4%). Two participants (0.5%) identified as transgender. Years of counseling experience spanned from less than 1 year to 46 years with a mean of 11.1 years ( SD = 10.43). The majority of participants had earned a master’s degree in counseling ( n = 354, 89.4%). A smaller percentage of individuals sampled had earned a doctoral degree ( n = 42, 10.6%). One participant indicated she or he had earned a master’s degree and an EdS degree ( n = 1, 0.3%). Instruments Demographics/background form. A demographics/background form was used to collect respondents’ age, race, ethnicity, gender, work experience, and level of education. The form also collected whether participants had previously received training on human trafficking and prostitution. Following the