"Accurate information, leads to effective solutions"
- Jessica, Executive Director A.C.T. United
- Jessica, Executive Director A.C.T. United
THE ISSUE
The sexual exploitation of children and teens is the fastest growing crime in the world. These crimes include: sextortion (using fraud, coercion or threats to obtain sexual photos or videos) and sex trafficking (to induce or force a person under age 18 into commercial sex acts). There are an estimated 11 million people under age 18 globally, including hundreds of thousands in the United States, at risk of sex trafficking every year (ILO 2016). Cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 US states and Washington D.C. (Polaris.org). In 2018, The National Center for missing and exploited Children (NCMEC) reported that 1 in 7 missing children, in the United States, are victims of sex trafficking.
NCMEC also found a 90% increase in online predator solicitation of minors for sexually explicit photos, videos, or luring them to meet in person since 2013. The internet has expanded the reach of predators and traffickers into all communities, from urban to rural, with predators reaching children and teens both online as well as in person.
NCMEC also found a 90% increase in online predator solicitation of minors for sexually explicit photos, videos, or luring them to meet in person since 2013. The internet has expanded the reach of predators and traffickers into all communities, from urban to rural, with predators reaching children and teens both online as well as in person.
Definitions
Sexual Exploitation: when someone with more power, or perceived power, benefits from the commercial sexual exploitation of another person
Commercial sex: engaged in commerce for the purpose of making a profit. The exchange of a sex act for something of value.
Something of value: anything of value including money, payment of rent or housing, payment of utility bills, food, clothing, critical medications, or baby formula and diapers
Sex acts include: all forms of sex, sexual contact, erotic massage, exotic dancing, nude or sexually explicit photos or videos
Sexual exploitation crimes targeting children, youth, and vulnerable populations:
Sex trafficking, cyber sex trafficking, sextortion
Commercial sex: engaged in commerce for the purpose of making a profit. The exchange of a sex act for something of value.
Something of value: anything of value including money, payment of rent or housing, payment of utility bills, food, clothing, critical medications, or baby formula and diapers
Sex acts include: all forms of sex, sexual contact, erotic massage, exotic dancing, nude or sexually explicit photos or videos
Sexual exploitation crimes targeting children, youth, and vulnerable populations:
Sex trafficking, cyber sex trafficking, sextortion
Juvenile sex trafficking
Legal definition: The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act.
(US Department of Justice)
In other words: anyone, who does anything, to help facilitate the commercial sexual exploitation of a person under age 18
Traffickers: are predators who receive profit, from buyers, for the sexual exploitation of a minor. Traffickers can be boy/girlfriends, peers, gang or occult members, persons with position of authority, and family members including biological parent(s).
Buyers: patrons who pay to sexually exploit / sexually assault, minor children, teens, or adults. Buyers can be males or females, strangers or someone known to the minor. Studies show the average buyer is a middle aged male, with full time employment, above average financial means, no criminal background, married, and with children of his own.
Minors impacted by sex trafficking: are all ethnicities, genders, and come from every community urban to rural.
Common vulnerabilities that increase risk: youth who are experiencing shelter or food instability, missing from home, history of sexual abuse, struggling with drug or alcohol use/abuse, financial poverty, or emotional poverty including feelings of isolation, depression.
The #1 pathway into sex trafficking for minors: is relationships. Traffickers/predators use grooming tactics to build relationships with youth that gain trust, dependence, and secrecy, leading to control, violent abuse, and exploitation. They create the kind of relationships children and teens run to, not from. Kidnapping does happen for the purpose of entry into sex trafficking, but is not common.
(US Department of Justice)
In other words: anyone, who does anything, to help facilitate the commercial sexual exploitation of a person under age 18
Traffickers: are predators who receive profit, from buyers, for the sexual exploitation of a minor. Traffickers can be boy/girlfriends, peers, gang or occult members, persons with position of authority, and family members including biological parent(s).
Buyers: patrons who pay to sexually exploit / sexually assault, minor children, teens, or adults. Buyers can be males or females, strangers or someone known to the minor. Studies show the average buyer is a middle aged male, with full time employment, above average financial means, no criminal background, married, and with children of his own.
Minors impacted by sex trafficking: are all ethnicities, genders, and come from every community urban to rural.
Common vulnerabilities that increase risk: youth who are experiencing shelter or food instability, missing from home, history of sexual abuse, struggling with drug or alcohol use/abuse, financial poverty, or emotional poverty including feelings of isolation, depression.
The #1 pathway into sex trafficking for minors: is relationships. Traffickers/predators use grooming tactics to build relationships with youth that gain trust, dependence, and secrecy, leading to control, violent abuse, and exploitation. They create the kind of relationships children and teens run to, not from. Kidnapping does happen for the purpose of entry into sex trafficking, but is not common.
Cyber Sex TraffickingCybersex trafficking: the live-streaming sexual abuse and exploitation of children viewed over the internet. Children are abused and assaulted from any location with an internet connection and a webcam, or a mobile phone.
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Sextortion
Sexting: sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images, on a cell phone, tablet, computer, or other digital device.
Sextortion: Online sexual exploitation in which forms of coercion, like blackmail, force, or threats, are used to get sexually explicit material, money, or to meet in person for sexual acts.
Perpetrators: there are two common offenders exploiting youth through control of sexually explicit photos and videos. The first is people, authority figures, or peers that youth know in real life. They use their relationship to pressure, persuade, or simply ask youth for an explicit photo or video. The second is online strangers who groom youth into relationships via social media platforms, texting, or gaming, to obtain that first explicit photo or video. In both scenarios, that first explicit image is used as collateral to extort the youth for more explicit material, for money, or to meet in person for sex acts, under fear of exposure or physical harm.
Sextortion: Online sexual exploitation in which forms of coercion, like blackmail, force, or threats, are used to get sexually explicit material, money, or to meet in person for sexual acts.
Perpetrators: there are two common offenders exploiting youth through control of sexually explicit photos and videos. The first is people, authority figures, or peers that youth know in real life. They use their relationship to pressure, persuade, or simply ask youth for an explicit photo or video. The second is online strangers who groom youth into relationships via social media platforms, texting, or gaming, to obtain that first explicit photo or video. In both scenarios, that first explicit image is used as collateral to extort the youth for more explicit material, for money, or to meet in person for sex acts, under fear of exposure or physical harm.
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The effects/ impact of sextortion on youth: is devastating! As people who love and care for them, when there is a disclosure, or discovery, our emotions can be high, but this is not the time for anger or judgement. It is the time to give immediate support, gather information, and be their advocate to get legal and emotional help. Youth who have experienced online sexual exploitation report high anxiety, depression, isolation, fear, and 1 in 3 youth have committed a form of self-harm including cutting and attempts at suicide due to the stress, harassment, shame, and fear caused by this crime.
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