THE ISSUE

The commercial sexual exploitation of children is one of the greatest evils of our day. But it may not look like what you think.

What is the Commercial Exploitation of Children (CSEC)?

Commercial sexual exploitation occurs when anything of value is given in exchange for a sex act (Furlong & Hinnant, 2023). Anything of value can be money, food, clothing, housing, and even drugs. A sex act can be sexual touch, stripping, pornography, webcamming, or escorting, along with other acts.

What is Sex Trafficking?

Sex trafficking involves the commercial sexual exploitation of people by force, fraud, or coercion (22 U.S.C. §§ 7101). People who are under the age of 18 who are manipulated into performing a sex act are considered victims of sex trafficking without proof of force, fraud, or coercion.

Key Stats

14 years old

Average age of minor victims of commercial sexual exploitation at the onset of exploitation¹

26%

of minor victims were exploited online²

¹(min = 2, max = 19; Street Grace, 2023); ²(Street Grace, 2023)

Key Vulnerabilities of Commercial Sexual Exploitation*

Children of all ages, races, and social classes can fall prey to exploiters and traffickers. However, survivors typically share characteristics that place them at higher risk for being exploited.

*(Cronley et al., 2016; Farley et al., 2004; Farley & Kelly, 2000; Fedina et al., 2019; Furlong & Hinnant, 2023; McClain & Garrity, 2011; Norton-Hawk, 2001; Saphira & Herbert, 2004; Silbert & Pines, 1981; United States Department of State, 2020).

Poverty
Family Violence
Neglect
Academic Failure
Time in the Foster Care System
Mental Health Disorders
History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Sexual Exploitation and Sextortion

As stated in a federal statute, sexual exploitation is the persuasion, enticement, or coercion of any minor to participate in any act of “sexually explicit conduct by or with any minor for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.”¹

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (n.d.), “sextortion” is when someone threatens or coerces another person into sending explicit images.² This crime is a form of sexual exploitation that came with the Digital Age and is non-physical in nature because it relies on emotional manipulation.

While sextortion and sexual exploitation may bring to mind images of brown paper envelopes with compromising photos or even a video emailed anonymously with a list of demands, that isn’t always the case. One of the trickier aspects of sexual exploitation is that teens and children may seem active, or even compliant, in these acts.

Because children’s brains aren’t fully developed, they do not have an internal “warning system” or life experiences to draw from, which makes them more vulnerable. Therefore, they may be more easily persuaded or manipulated into believing the exploiter cares about them. This is often done through what is referred to as grooming.

51%

of victims of sextortion did not tell their parents, family members, or friends about their victimization**

Names have been changed to protect identities.
Daniel used social media to document his life and built a small local following. He wasn’t totally sure who even followed him, but there was one person in particular who replied to his posts in a really flirtatious way.
His curiosity was piqued, and they began messaging back and forth. It soon became very clear they were into each other. They started sexting through the app. It started with photos but quickly escalated to videos. He was so caught up in the thrill of it all that he didn’t even really think about it or read into his hesitations.
This went on for months before he was asked to meet up. He didn’t really want to, which made his “friend” angry. Daniel stopped responding.
One day, he received a video from the stranger he’d been sexting. It was an explicit video Daniel had shared. Apparently, the person he had been talking to had been recording the screen of their device. The person told him if he didn’t do what was asked of him, the video would be released on social media for all to see. It wasn’t fun anymore, but he was so ashamed he couldn’t tell anyone.
He was forced to video chat and do whatever he was told while they recorded it. He felt disgusting and helpless. He wanted to die. His parents noticed his jumpiness with his phone and frequent withdrawing behind the locked door of his room.
Daniel was so relieved when his mom figured out what was going on that he wasn’t even upset with her snooping. In fact, crying together was healing. The darkness coming to light through his mom ended the isolation and allowed him to live again.

¹ 18 U.S. Code § 2251 ²Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Sextortion: An Online Threat to Kids and Teens. Retrieved from FBI: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/sextortion.

**Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Walsh, W., & Treitman, L. (2017). Sextortion of Minors: Characteristics and Dynamics. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72-9.

Sexting

Sexting, or sending explicit messages or pictures via phone, has become its own form of communication in the Digital Age. Statistics show it is becoming increasingly popular among teens, who are sending sexually explicit photos and messages through texts, apps, emails, and instant messaging.

Most kids do not understand that sending or receiving a sexual suggestive text or image of someone under the age of 18 is considered child pornography and can result in criminal charges. It is a felony, and if convicted, can result in seven to 10 years of jail time as well as the requirement of being registered as a sex offender.

27.4%

of adolescents sexted because they were in or wanted a romantic or sexual relationship²

70%

of youth received a sext¹

3X

Adolescents who sext are 3 times more likely to be sexually active³

Names have been changed to protect identities.
It had been two weeks of back and forth social media flirting during school break, liking each other’s posts, commenting and messaging each other.
Jess really liked Michael, and she enjoyed staying up late to talk. They were sending photos and videos back and forth when suddenly Michael sent a photo of his shirt pulled up to show his abs. Jess responded with a silly photo, and Michael wrote back with a heart eye emoji and asked her to pull her tank top down more.
She complied to keep things going, not thinking it was a big deal. They went back and forth all night, with things growing more and more sensual by the minute.
Fast-forward a few months, and the two were officially dating. They never really had the chance to get physically intimate, but they frequently sexted each other. The photo requests grew more and more explicit until Jess grew uncomfortable. She started ignoring Michael’s requests, and things fizzled out.
A week later, a girl she knew from school said something that made her panic. She texted the girl and asked for an explanation. Michael was sharing the photos with all of his guy friends. She was horrified and texted Michael right away. He didn’t respond at first, but after a few rounds of blowing up his phone, he told her it wasn’t a big deal and all the guys do it.
Apparently, the boys frequently showed off who they could convince to share explicit photos. It was like a competition to them. Jess became increasingly depressed and avoidant of her parents. They finally confronted her and found out what had gone on. They were devastated and tried to do everything in their power to somehow bring some sort of justice to the situation. But because everything was done through apps or deleted from Jess’ messages, there was no proof.
They took away her phone for months and put her in counseling, but things were never the same. The thoughts of who all had seen the photos kept her up at night. All the possibilities of where her photo could be made her depressed. She wanted to move or be homeschooled because she felt so humiliated. It would be a long journey before she overcame what happened.
It could have been much worse. What if Michael was an Internet predator who was selling her photos? What if she made Michael so angry he wanted to seek revenge by posting or forwarding her photos to everyone they knew? What if he took advantage of her and began coercing her through the threat of blackmail? Those story endings are all too common and frequently lead victims of the situation into very dark places.

¹ Madigan, S., Ly, A., Rash, C., Ouystel, J., & Temple, J. (2018). Prevalence of Multiple Forms of Sexting Behavior Among Youth. JAMA Pediatr, 327-335. ²Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Walsh, W., & Treitman, L. (2017). Sextortion of Minors: Characteristics and Dynamics. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72-9. ³Mori, C., Temple, J., Browne, D., & Madigan, S. (2019). Association of Sexting With Sexual Behaviors and Mental Health Among Adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 700-779

The Dangers of Social Media

Unfortunately, social media has become a tool that exploiters use to entice children into harm and exploitation. We must absolutely do what we can to protect kids from online predators, but we must also educate kids about safe online behavior so when they make a decision, it is one they can be proud of, both now and later.

Kids (and many adults) still tend to believe that if they delete photos and downloads or erase browser history, then the information is gone. For some apps (like Snapchat), there’s no way to prevent the receiving party from taking a screen shot or making a screen recording to capture everything. Sexual predators have been known to hack into databases and manipulate “deleted” data, and they may even distribute it to third-party sources like pornography sites.

35.5%

of teens (age 13-17) go online daily, 24% of them reporting constant activity¹

92%

of girls reported receiving unwanted online sexual exploitation²

19.9%

of boys reported receiving unwanted online sexual exploitation²

Names have been changed to protect identities.
Abby was a normal girl. She decided one day to post a photo of her favorite stuffed animal from her tablet. Her friends all liked it, and a few commented, which made her feel really good. She got a message from someone she hadn’t met who liked her photo too and wanted to share a photo of their favorite stuffed animal. She didn’t think anything of the interaction.
A few days later, she got another photo sent to her, this time of her house. She got really scared when the person gave her address and details about her family. Apparently, they had been watching after figuring out where she lived from the geotag in her photo. They started threatening her family if she didn’t send them the photos they wanted. She was so scared that she did.
One night after being tucked in, her mom picked up her tablet to check it. Abby had been acting strange, but things seemed fine at school. She found the messages and called the police, but there was nothing anyone could do to remove the photos or pinpoint who the person was behind the fake profile talking to Abby.
It could have gone much farther than it did if her mom hadn’t checked her tablet. We can only imagine how devastating this was, but thankfully Abby wasn’t physically harmed.

¹ Lenhart, A. (2015, August). Teens, social media & technology overview 2015 (internet American life project). Pew research center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet. org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/; ²(Zetterstrom Dahlqvist, H., & Gadin, K. (2018). Online sexual victimization in youth: predictors and cross-sectional associations with depressive symptoms. The European Journal of Public Health.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

Why does sexual exploitation happen?

Often, exploiters use tactics such as shame, addiction, or embarrassment. Also, the pressure to fit in plays a role, especially in cases where a child has been manipulated by someone they believe cares about them. They may not even understand a crime has taken place.

Sexual predators also take advantage of the fact that a child’s prefrontal cortex, which is essentially the brain’s decision center, isn’t finished developing until our early 20s. Consequently, mature reasoning, self-control and wise decision-making are the last things to develop.

Regardless of how the exploitation happens, abuse is never the fault of the child.