SEX CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN: WHAT IS DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING?

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SEX CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN: WHAT IS DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING?

Posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2012 at 4:56 am.

Written by Holly Craw

Child sex trafficking leaves deep and devatasting scars on its victims. Credits: Stock Xchange-raatcc36

Child sex abuse is rampant. Every day dozens of headlines across the nation shout out that another, or another dozen, children have been sexually violated, usually by someone in their circle of family or acquaintances. But when does sexual assault of a child become known as sex trafficking?

In 2000, a federal law was enacted which gives definition to this growing criminal activity, and most states have followed suit with similar legislation. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) provides this wording for a severe form of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking:

“Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act” where the person is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident under the age of 18.”

The key factors are the age of the participant and the exchange of something of value (money, food, drugs, shelter, protection, etc). Sex trafficking of minors does not need to have an element of coercion in it, since children under 18 are legally assumed to not have ability to participate in consensual sex. ”Commercial sex act” means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. This includes:

• Prostitution
• Exotic dancing/stripping
• Pornography

The majority of children involved in commercial sex trades have previously been abused from a young age by parents, relatives or others close to them (Simons and Whitbeck, 1991). Often, they are runaways living on the streets. Some are considered “throwaways” by families who have rejected and abandoned them (Roe-Sepowitz, in press). They may engage in survival sex, exchange of sex for a place to stay and food, which at the basic level is a form of prostitution.

Within 48 hours of being on the streets, one-third of these children are picked up by a pimp who may start off with kindness and gifts, but soon will force the victims into selling their bodies to work off the “debt” incurred by the “kindness” of the new boyfriend. Compliance is ensured through drugs, threats, intimidation, beatings, psychological manipulation, or food and sleep deprivation. Pimps and customers can come from any walk of life and may often be unexpected people. They can be:

• Male
• Female
• Married
• Homosexual
• Heterosexual
• Single
• Parents
• Relatives
• Neighbors
• Strangers
• Church members (or not)
• Youth leaders
• Teachers
• Coaches
• Influential community leaders

Under the TVPA, children are to be treated as victims, not as criminals, even if they have engaged in illegal activity as part of the terms of their bondage to the pimp. However, when the teens or pre-teens are picked up by law enforcement, the needed appropriate accommodations are likely not available in most cities. Due to the dysfunctional home life, returning to their parents is not an option. Foster care is inadequate for the level of trauma the kids have experienced, and they are highly likely to run from placements. Additionally, they are not safe from the pimps and perpetrators, and their presence can be a risk factor for other children in the home. Often, the best choice for the child’s safety is a lock-up correctional facility, if there is not residential, therapeutic safehouse, such as StreetLightUSASM.

Best research estimates indicate the following:

• 450,000 children run away from home annually in the US
• Over 2 million minors are homeless–many living on the streets
• At least 100,000 and up to 300,000 US children are at risk to be coerced into prostitution or the sex trades
• Sex trafficked children service 10-20 customers every day (minimum of one to two million commercial sex crimes against minors every single night)
• The average age of entry into forced prostitution is 13-14
• Physical violence from the pimps and john, in addition to the sexual violations, is the most common adjunct to sex trafficking
• The average lifespan of the victims is seven years if they are not rescued
• After-effects for survivors include mental and emotional health issues (PTSD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, lack of trust, low self-esteem, mental illness, etc.), lifelong physical issues (more prone to cancers, reproductive maladies, fibromyalgia, stress manifestations), substance abuse, destructive lifestyles and a host of other disorders.
• The only way out for the vast majority is to be rescued from the life with adequate care and transition resources.

Sex trafficking of minors is a multi-billion dollar industry,(tie to research stats)  and is often tied in with gangs and underworld activities. Most Americans are not aware of the extent of the problem in the US, but awareness itself will do nothing to aid the victims, prevent further sexual exploitation of children, nor become a deterrent to the pimps and johns who are benefiting from the industry. It will take a commitment on the personal level of millions of people to know the individual acts which contribute to or set the groundwork for the continuance of the commercial profiteering and sexual violation of other human beings. With that knowledge, the next responsible step is to ameliorate our own behaviors that give others the idea they have a right to victimize people.

StreetLightUSA offers one piece of the multi-faceted solution that is needed for the immense issue of child sex trafficking in the US. Find out more about StreetLightUSA’s national movement, Campaign13, to create greater awareness of the plight of children who are trafficked.