Criminal Justice
2.Discuss how child sexual abuse, both online and in person, contribute to child sex trafficking. What steps can be taken to reduce each of these types of crimes and how perpetrators are similar and different in each of the crime typologies?
3. in-text citations and references
Child Sex Trafficking
Child sexual abuse is a common occurrence that harms millions of boys, girls, and children in small and large societies and across a variety of cultures as well as socioeconomic backgrounds (Greenbaum, 2018). These acts have been perpetrated by many types of individuals, including women and men, strangers, family and trusted friends, and people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. For instance, a father allows his drug dealer to have sex with his six-year-old daughter for drugs. Child sexual abuse involves sexually abusive actions towards children such as rape, sexual assault, commercial sexual exploitation, and incest to children.
Child sex trafficking is a severe practice of child sexual abuse. The sex trafficking of minors entails harboring, recruitment, provision, transportation, patronizing, and solicitation of a person under 18 years for a commercial sex act or any other sex act for anything of value (Barnert et al., 2017). Children and teenagers have been involved in pornography and sex performances and materials without their consent. According to Goldberg and Moore (2018) they are lured into trading sex acts for anything of value. This may including providing an abandoned child with food, money, drugs, gifts, and a place to stay and engaging in sexual exploitation. Vulnerable girls have been lured into pornography and prostitution through promises, threats of violence, and psychological manipulations (Moore, Kaplan, and Barron, 2017). For instance, a 15-year-old girl comes across a friend on social media and gets into a relationship with them. The new friend demands the girl to engage in sex with his associates to get him money to clear her rent.
The strategies for preventing child sex trafficking should be based on norms and values, law enforcement, parent support, economic strengthening, support services, safe environments, and educational and life skills. Creating protecting environments through programs and teaching skills to prevent sexual abuse will facilitate prevention strategies for child sexual abuse and sex trafficking. Social-emotional learning, teaching safe, healthy dating, and intimate relationship skills will promote healthy sexuality. The programs will focus on empowerment-based training to prevent physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in children.
References
Barnert, E., Iqbal, Z., Bruce, J., Anoshiravani, A., Kolhatkar, G., & Greenbaum, J. (2017). Commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of children and adolescents: A narrative review. Academic pediatrics, 17(8), 825-829.
Goldberg, A., & Moore, J. (2018). Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking. Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America, 27(1), 77-92.
Greenbaum, J. (2018). Child sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Advances in pediatrics, 65(1), 55-70.
Moore, J. L., Kaplan, D. M., & Barron, C. E. (2017). Sex Trafficking of Minors. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 64(2), 413-421.
