Child sex trafficking

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person under 18 for commercial sex acts.

• Legal Status

  Illegal in all 50 U.S. states and prohibited by all United Nations member countries.

• Key Risk Factors

  Poverty, family dysfunction, homelessness, lack of parental care, and social marginalization.

• Primary Demographic

  Predominantly girls, though the number of boys in the trade is increasing.

• Estimated Global Victims

  As many as 10 million children worldwide.

• Common Recruitment Methods

  Grooming, false promises of jobs or education, and familial exploitation; kidnapping is estimated to occur in only 0.45% of US cases.

Timeline

• Jeffrey Epstein enters a controversial non-prosecution agreement regarding sexual offenses. (Source: Document 7f81c1c7-1e8b-40e7-a538-3ea6083eee78)

  2007-01-01

• Nearly 20,000 children worldwide are identified as trafficking victims within a single year. (Source: UNODC Explainer)

  2020-12-31

• The Human Trafficking Institute reports that kidnapping occurs in less than 1% of U.S. trafficking cases. (Source: State Department Home)

  2023-01-01

• UNODC releases an updated explainer on child trafficking, noting that children account for one-third of detected trafficking victims. (Source: UNODC Explainer)

  2024-07-01

Child prostitution

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of a general prohibition on prostitution and child sexual abuse. Child prostitution usually manifests in the form of sex trafficking, in which a child is kidnapped or tricked into becoming involved in the sex trade, or survival sex, in which the child engages in sexual activities to procure basic essentials such as food and shelter. Prostitution of children is commonly associated with child pornography, and they often overlap. Some people travel to foreign countries to engage in child sex tourism. Research suggests that there may be as many as 10 million children involved in prostitution worldwide. The practice is most widespread in South America and Asia, but prostitution of children exists globally, in undeveloped countries as well as developed. Most of the children involved with prostitution are girls, despite an increase in the number of young boys in the trade. All member countries of the United Nations have committed to prohibiting child prostitution, either under the Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. Various campaigns and organizations have been created to try to stop the practice.

Web Search Results

• About Child Sex Trafficking

  Caregivers engaging with traffickers who fraudulently promise to obtain jobs or other opportunities for their children, and instead force the children into commercial sex, strip club involvement, production of child sexual abuse materials (formerly called, ‘child pornography’), etc. Caregivers providing inadequate supervision leaving children/youth vulnerable to those who sexually exploit them. Family members not otherwise engaged in trafficking allowing traffickers to exploit their children/youth in exchange for drugs, money, or something else of value. Family members exploiting/trafficking their own children and potentially others. [...] Child Sex Trafficking is a severe form of child sexual abuse that is illegal in all 50 states. According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the sex trafficking of minors is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or solicitation of a person under the age of 18 for the purposes of a commercial sex act, defined as any sex act for which anything of value is given to or received by any person. In simple terms, it is the exchanging of something of value for sex with a child/minor. While proof of force, fraud, or coercion is required for adult sex trafficking victims, these elements are NOT required when the victim is a minor, nor is it a requirement that a 3rd party benefit from or facilitate the exchange. That is, the youth does not have to have [...] Youth with unstable housing or experiencing homelessness may feel they have no choice but to exchange sex acts for items and conditions necessary for survival like shelter or food. This is referred to as “survival sex.” They may not perceive their situation to be one of exploitation, but instead view it as engaging in voluntary acts that meet their needs and preserve their independence and freedom. However, under the age of 18, any exchange of sex acts for goods, is child sex trafficking. Due to youth’s needs and vulnerabilities, they may view those who seek to manipulate them as “friends,” benefactors, or intimate partners, as well as a source of help, support, or care.

• Child Sex Trafficking - MissingKids.org

  forms of child sex trafficking and indicators can create opportunities for prevention, identification, and response. Most importantly NCMEC embraces and encourages all efforts on this issue to be survivor-informed, child-centered, and trauma-informed. [...] While any child can be targeted by a trafficker, research, data and survivor lived experience and expertise have revealed traffickers and buyers often target youth who lack strong support networks, have experienced violence in the past, are experiencing homelessness, or are marginalized by society. When youth feel like they are not loved, supported, or like they don’t belong they become ever more vulnerable to unsafe situations. Traffickers are masters of manipulation and prey upon vulnerabilities using psychological pressure, false promises actions of perceived love/support and intimidation to control and sexually exploit the child for their benefit. The issue of child sex trafficking is complex. Understanding the various forms of child sex trafficking and indicators can create [...] Below are some examples of child sex trafficking: Familial Trafficking Child is trafficked by a family member established by blood, marriage, or adoption. This includes, but is not limited to, biological mother and/or father, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, in-laws, and adoptive, foster, or stepparents. Buyer-Perpetrated Trafficking Child is being trafficked but does not have a trafficker. Instead, the buyer is directly exploiting the child’s vulnerabilities by offering money, food, and/or shelter in exchange for the sexual exploitation. Nonfamilial Trafficking Child is trafficked by an unrelated individual, male or female, who often develops an intentional relationship with the child which is later used as leverage in the exploitation. Gang-Controlled Trafficking

• The Misconceptions of Child Trafficking - State Department Home

  Child trafficking includes both sex trafficking and forced labor and frequently occurs around the world in sectors such as agriculture, domestic work, construction, fishing, manufacturing, and in competitive sports. In addition, children have been forced to work in begging/peddling, street vending, door-to-door sales, and forced criminality, including drug trafficking. Child trafficking can also include some forms of child marriage, child soldiering, and be present in illegal adoptions for the purpose of exploitation. Of course, children are also exploited in sex trafficking. Child sex trafficking victims may be exploited in many ways and settings, including sexual servitude, some forms of child marriage, sex tourism, escort services, illicit massage businesses, brothels, sextortion, [...] Often, labor and sex traffickers groom victims through befriending them, providing education or job opportunities or promising that their needs will be met, giving access to drugs and/or alcohol to develop addictions, alienating a child from their caregivers, isolating them from friends and family, and desensitizing their moral compass. Grooming can happen online and offline, including within families. Traffickers can take advantage of a child’s desperation to feel close to someone or of their relationship challenges with a caregiver. Other examples of recruitment methods include providing a job offer, a place to sleep, access to food, payment for school supplies and fees, or transportation to a loved one who lives in another city. Labor and sex trafficking recruitment commonly takes [...] Another belief is that children are commonly kidnapped for both sex and labor trafficking. According to the Human Trafficking Institute’s 2023 report, in the United States, kidnapping of children occurs in only an estimated 0.45 percentof trafficking cases; which means that, while it does happen, it is rare. More commonly, according to the International Office on Migration’s (IOM) Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC), findings indicate family members recruit children into trafficking due to generational exploitation, financial need, or the belief that they are contributing to the family. In addition, CTDC data indicates that intimate partners recruit minors, often with promises of love, belonging, and protection. The CTDC indicates that children are also recruited through

• Criminal Division | Child Sex Trafficking

  Child sex trafficking victims are often not recognized as victims and may be arrested and jailed. The dangers faced by these children—from the traffickers, their associates, and from customers—are severe. These children become hardened by the treacherous environment in which they must learn to survive. As such, they do not always outwardly present as sympathetic victims. They also frequently suffer from short–term and long–term psychological effects such as depression, self-hatred, and feelings of hopelessness. These child victims also need specialized services that are not widely available given they often have illnesses, drug addictions, physical and sexual trauma, lack of viable family and community ties, and total dependence—physical and psychological—on their abusers. [...] Child sex trafficking investigations present unique challenges to law enforcement and require a robust multijurisdictional response, with multiple agencies playing a critical role in ensuring the protection of victims and effective prosecution of offenders. The method by which most traffickers identify, recruit, market, and maintain their victims results in a unique combination of sustained violent criminal behavior with reluctant victims and witnesses. Although interviews of sex trafficking victims frequently identify traffickers and other accomplices, some child victims may resist identifying their traffickers because of fear or other means of manipulation that the pimp has exercised over them. Furthermore, the victim may only know their traffickers’ street name and cannot [...] right caret Child Sex Trafficking Child sex trafficking refers to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act. Offenders of this crime who are commonly referred to as traffickers, or pimps, target vulnerable children and gain control over them using a variety of manipulative methods. Victims frequently fall prey to traffickers who lure them in with an offer of food, clothes, attention, friendship, love, and a seemingly safe place to sleep. No child is immune to becoming a victim of child sex trafficking, regardless of the child’s race, age, socioeconomic status, or location, and every child involved in this form of commercial sexual exploitation is a victim.

• Explainer: Understanding Child Trafficking

  Over the past 15 years, the proportion of children among detected victims has tripled. Approximately one in every three trafficking victims detected is a child. While both girls and boys are affected overall, human trafficking impacts children differently depending on their gender and location. Girls are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation, while boys are mostly trafficked for forced labour. ### Where does child trafficking occur? Child trafficking occurs globally, with significant regional variations: In North and Sub-Saharan Africa, children account for the majority of trafficking victims, with forced labour most common in Sub-Saharan Africa. [...] Sometimes victims of child trafficking are exposed to multiple forms of exploitation at once. For example, a child made to beg on the streets may also be exploited sexually. ### How prevalent is child trafficking? In 2020, nearly 20,000 children worldwide were identified as trafficking victims globally. However, due to significant challenges affecting detection and reporting, the actual number may be significantly higher. [...] In Central America and the Caribbean, meanwhile, most victims detected are girls, mainly teenagers trafficked for sexual exploitation, and in South Asia, nearly half of the victims are children, exploited for labour or forced into marriage. . © UNODC / Alejandra Silva A children’s park in North Macedonia ### How do children become vulnerable to exploitation? Child trafficking thrives in environments of family dysfunction, lack of parental care, poverty, inequality and inadequate child protection. Traffickers often target children from extremely poor households or those who have been abandoned. Conflict, economic challenges and environmental disasters make children, especially unaccompanied and separated migrant children, increasingly vulnerable to trafficking.