Evidence in Action

A quarterly research brief from the Center on Trauma and Children

Volume 1, Issue 4
October 2013 

The Center on Trauma and Children (CTAC) is dedicated to the enhancement of the health and well-being of children and their families through research, service and dissemination of information about child abuse and trauma.


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www.uky.edu/CTAC

 

  

 

 

 

 
































Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Sex Trafficking of Minors: An Overlooked Problem

  

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is not a new social problem, but our understanding of it has changed in the past decade. CSEC is defined as "sexual abuse by an adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons" (Mutarbhorn, 1996). Examples of CSEC include exploitation of minors (younger than 18 years old) in prostitution, strip clubs, massage parlors, internet sex sites, or through pornography. CSEC is sometimes termed "sex trafficking of minors" (STM) which is defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 as "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex acts... in which a  commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age." Unlike other forms of human trafficking, no proof of force, fraud, or coercion is needed when the person in commercial sex is under age 18 because children cannot consent to commercial sex (Boxill & Richardson, 2005).

 

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) Core Data Set Study on CSEC

 

Before exploited youth can receive appropriate services they must be identified as victims, and behavioral health providers are in a critical position to identify exploited youth. CTAC Faculty Jennifer Cole and Ginny Sprang conducted an analysis of youth (ages 10-20) who were referred for assessment and treatment at an NCTSN center for several purposes; one of which was to better understand the trauma exposure and trauma symptomatology of youth who were reported as being exploited in commercial sex (i.e., involved in prostitution, n = 47) as compared to a matched comparison group of youth who had experienced sexual maltreatment/assault (n = 172) (Cole, Sprang, Lee & Cohen, under review). 

 

The CSEC group had statistically significant, higher standardized scores on the UCLA PTSD-RI, for both the overall score and the subscales measuring avoidance and hyperarousal, even though they had similar types of trauma exposure (with the exception of sexual abuse/maltreatment by a caregiver, which was reported by more youth in the comparison group). This finding suggests that exploitation in commercial sex may have unique effects on a youth's trauma symptoms. More research is needed on the manifestation of trauma symptoms of these youth, particularly in terms of differences that may be attributable to the nature of their exploitation in commercial sex.

 

Sex Trafficking of Minors in Kentucky*

 

The majority of research conducted on STM has focused on large urban communities, such as New York City, New Orleans, Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, and Portland, OR (Curtis, Terry, Dank, Dombrowski & Khan, 2008; Raphael & Ashley, 2010; Smith, Vardaman & Snow, 2009). Larger metropolitan communities typically have more commercial sex venues than smaller communities and thus a greater likelihood for sex trafficking. Nonetheless, the exploitation of minors in commercial sex does occur in micropolitan communities and rural communities (Bletzer, 2005; Bortel, Ellingen, Ellison, Phillips & Thomas, 2008; Short, 2004). The primary purpose of a project conducted by CTAC faculty was to examine professionals' awareness, knowledge, protocols, and experiences working with individuals who were trafficked in commercial sex as minors in Kentucky, a largely rural state. Some of the findings included in the Executive Summary are presented here (Cole & Anderson, 2013).

 

Personnel in agencies that provide services to at-risk youth or crime victims (e.g., juvenile justice, juvenile court, victim services, behavioral health, schools, outreach and shelters for at-risk youth) were recruited to complete telephone surveys in 2012 and 2013. The sample included 323 professionals working across Kentucky: all 120 counties, including metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural counties in all five geographic regions. About one in five (19.8%) respondents stated their agency had a protocol for screening for human trafficking in general. Half of the respondents (49.8%, n = 161) had worked with definite or suspected victims of STM, with half of these 161 estimating they had worked with 1 to 6 victims (M = 17.7).   The majority of the 161 who had worked with victims of STM had worked with female victims (91.3%) and half had worked with at least one male victim (55.9%). Almost all had worked with victims who were U.S. citizens/permanent residents (96.3%) and 26.7% had worked with foreign born victims. About 7 in 10 professionals stated at least one victim lived in a non-metropolitan community when they were trafficked. Most of the respondents stated that at least one of the three most recent victims with whom they had worked was trafficked by a family member (61.9%). The most commonly mentioned tactics traffickers used to maintain control over victims were force or coercion (61.5%), emotional manipulation (30.4%), alcohol and drugs (25.5%), and dependency on the trafficker (19.9%). The majority of respondents (71.4%) mentioned mental health care as the greatest need of victims. The most commonly recommended change to Kentucky's human trafficking law was to include Safe Harbor Law provisions (e.g., decriminalizing victims, providing services to victims, increasing penalties to traffickers), which are included in Kentucky's Human Trafficking Victims' Rights Act (HTVRA) that was implemented in June 2013 (for more information go to  http://www.kasap.org/images/files/News/HouseBill%203_KentuckyHumanTraffickingVictimsRightsActSummary.pdf ).     

 

*Supported by a Research Support Grant from the University of Kentucky Office of the Vice President for Research

 

   

Prevention & Intervention Strategies for Addressing Commerical Sexual Exploitation of Minors

  1. Agencies that serve at-risk youth should consider incorporating a screening tool in their intake or assessment process and improve data collection of STM cases to begin collecting epidemiological data.
  2. There is a great need for education and training to raise awareness and to improve professionals' knowledge and capabilities to respond effectively to minors trafficked in commercial sex.
  3. Training in trauma-informed care is needed for professionals who are most likely to encounter at-risk youth.
  4. Even though a variety of trauma-focused therapies have had success with treating youth who have been exposed to multiple and complex traumatic events, more research is needed to better understand if modifications to trauma therapies are needed for this special population of sexually exploited individuals.
      

References

Bletzer, K. (2005). Sex workers in agricultural areas: Their drugs, their    
    children. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 7 (6), 543-555.
Bortel, A., Ellingen, M., Ellison, M. C., Phillips, R., & Thomas, C. (2008).
    Sex trafficking needs assessment for the state of Minnesota.
    Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights.
Boxill, N. A., & Richardson, D. J. (2005). A community's response to the
    sex trafficking of children. The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and
    Child Welfare, 3, 1, 3, 9.
Cole, J., & Anderson, E. (2013). Sex trafficking of minors in Kentucky.
    Lexington, KY: Center on Trauma & Children, and Center on Drug &
   20Trafficking%20of%20Minors%20in%20KY.pdf jk
Cole, J., Sprang, G., Lee, R., & Cohen, J. (under review). The trauma of
    commercial sexual exploitation of children Cole(CSEC): A comparison of
    CSEC victims and child sexual abuse victims in a clinical sample.
Curtis, R., Terry, K., Dank, M., Dombrowski, K., & Khan, B. (2008).
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children in New York City, volume one:
    The CSEC population in New York City: Size, characteristics, and 
    needs (NIJ Doc. No. 225083). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
    Justice.
Mutarbhorn, V. (1996). Final Congress Report, World Congress Against
    Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Stockholm, Sweden (Aug.
    27-31).
Raphael, J., & Ashley, J. (2010). Domestic sex trafficking of Chicago 
     women and girls. Chicago, IL: Illinois Criminal Justice Information
    Authority.
Short, L. S. (2004). Making hay while the sun shines: The dynamics of
    strip clubs in the Upper Midwest and the community response (pp. ). In
    C. Stark & R. Whisnant (Eds.), Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting
    Prostitution and Pornography. Melbourne: Spinifex Press.
Smith, L., Vardaman, S.H., & Snow, M. (2009). The national report on
    domestic minor sex trafficking: America's prostituted children. Arlington,
    VA: Shared Hope International.