Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz

Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, MSW, Ph.D., is a social scientist focused on developing innovative and impactful research on emerging social issues, especially those affecting girls and women.  Her scholarship is grounded in theories and methods exploring relationship dynamics, the impact of trauma, and intervention development.  She is a Professor at the ASU of Social Work and the founder and director of the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research.  In 2018, Dr. Roe-Sepowitz presented a TedX entitled Hidden in Plain Sight: Sex Trafficking Next Door at Perryville Prison.  She leads numerous initiatives working with community partners including law enforcement, social service providers, and survivor support organizations in multiple states. Dr. Roe-Sepowitz is also the co-creator and Clinical Director of Phoenix Starfish Place, a HUD funded supportive permanent housing program for sex trafficking women and their children that opened in 2017.  She is an appointed member of the Arizona Governor’s Human Trafficking Council and the City of Phoenix Human Trafficking Task Force. She is the Principal Investigator on a numerous state and federal grants and is the Principal Investigator on a five-year NSF Grant exploring illicit networks that facilitate human trafficking.  Dr. Roe-Sepowitz has diverse research and service funding from contracts, foundation grants, and federal and state grants. Dr. Roe-Sepowitz was selected by the Arizona Department of Public Safety to open and operate the first Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline beginning in February 2023.  Dr. Roe-Sepowitz is on the editorial board of the Journal of Human Trafficking and has more than 50 peer review publications. Dr. Roe-Sepowitz was interviewed in the 2019 PBS Frontline documentary Sex Trafficking in America.  Dominique has been twice invited to the White House (under the Obama administration) to participate in national gatherings of policy-makers/advocacy groups/researchers on combatting human trafficking.