- Between 300,000 and 400,000 U.S. children are victims
of the sex trade each year, from juvenile pornography and street
prostitution
to selling sex at school, according to a university study released Monday
that tracked children in 17 major U.S. cities.
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- 'We never, at the beginning of the study, thought we
would encounter so many children in this predicament.' - RICHARD ESTES
University of Pennsylvania
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- "CHILD SEXUAL exploitation is the most hidden form
of child abuse in the U.S. and North America today. It is the nation's
least recognized epidemic," Richard Estes, a University of
Pennsylvania
professor of social work and co-author of the report, said in a statement
announcing the study.
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- Based on field research, interviews and surveys from
288 federal and local agencies, the study estimated that 300,000 to 400,000
children in America were victims of sexual exploitation each year. That's
1 of every 100 children in the country.
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- "That figure just blew our minds. We never, at the
beginning of the study, thought we would encounter so many children in
this predicament," Estes told Reuters.
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- AS MANY BOYS AS GIRLS
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- Estes and his team visited 17 U.S. cities over two years,
meeting with federal and local law enforcement agencies, human services
departments and hundreds of children both living at home and on the
streets.
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- Contrary to popular belief, as many boys as girls were
affected, but Estes said boys got less attention both from law enforcement
and social services because of the view that they could look after
themselves.
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- "Every place we went, we found for every girl there
was a boy involved too. People feel a need to protect girls, and for boys
it's thought of as sowing their oats," said Estes, adding some boys
graduated from their years of sexual servitude to become pimps.
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- Most of the children in the study were white youths who
had run away from middle-class homes. Less than a quarter of the children
in the report were from impoverished homes, Estes said.
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- SURVIVAL SEX ON THE
STREETS
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- The largest groups of children affected were runaway,
"throwaway" and homeless youths, many of whom used "survival
sex" to acquire food, shelter, clothing and other things needed to
eke out a living on America's streets, Estes said.
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- "Like other groups of sexually exploited persons,
street children are exposed to violence, drug abuse, rape and, sometimes,
even murder at the hands of the pimps, 'customers' and traffickers that
make up their world."
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- Estes said some children sold themselves for sex to high
school students while living at home and used the money to buy drugs,
expensive
clothes and other consumer goods.
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- Many of these children lived in secure middle-class
homes,
and few parents were aware of what was going on. This group also included
U.S. youths who crossed into Canada or Mexico in search of cheaper drugs,
alcohol and sex, Estes said.
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- OTHER FINDINGS
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- The study pointed out other trends as well, among them:
95 percent of the commercial sex that boys engaged in was with men.
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- At least 25 percent of girls in gangs had sex with other
members as part of the gang rites.
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- Married men who have children of their own are one of
the most common customers who pay children for sex.
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- The sexual exploitation of children affected all racial,
ethnic and socioeconomic groups, although children from poorer families
appeared to be at a higher risk.
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- Strangers committed fewer than 4 percent of all the
sexual
assaults against children.
-
- Estes said a disproportionate number of street youths
had histories of recurrent physical or sexual abuse at home and took to
the streets in a bid to stop this.
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- "It is ironic that running away from home increases
their risk of physical violence and sexual abuse," he said.
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- MEXICO, CANADA ALSO
STUDIED
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- The study - titled "The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation
of Children in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico" - was undertaken by the
Center for the Study of Youth Policy, part of the University of
Pennsylvania's
School of Social Work.
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- The results for Canada were not yet available, while
the section on Mexico, compiled last year, concluded that at least 16,000
children in the country are sexually exploited.
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- The study noted that some exploitation was among
immigrant
communities, with both organized gangs and individuals bringing children
illegally into the country.
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- "The situation in the U.S. must be understood within
the broader content of child sexual exploitation occurring throughout both
the North American region and the rest of the world," Estes said.
"Only through such understanding will the U.S. be able to act
decisively
in protecting her children from such heinous abuse."
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- The U.S. and Mexican studies are online at caster.ssw.upenn.edu/~restes/CSEC.h
tm
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