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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:27 pm
Time: 10:27 pm
Results for child prostitution (u.s.)
2 results foundAuthor: Zurita, Brenda Title: Children in Prostitution: What to Do? Summary: Most people can agree that children caught up in the commercial sex industry need help. How to help those children trapped in the sex industry - and even knowing how many child victims are involved - is often the point at which radically differing opinions enter the conversation. In the past four years, several states - Illinois, Tennessee, Vermont and Connecticut - have passed legislation, commonly called Safe Harbor laws, to decriminalize prostitution for minors. New York and Washington State have laws that divert minors arrested for prostitution into services and rehabilitation programs at the discretion of the judge in New York and at the discretion of the prosecutor in Washington. Massachusetts has the best model for legislation in HB 3808, signed into law in November 2011. In Massachusetts, the law diverts minors found in prostitution into services and treatment but keeps the charges pending against them in place until they successfully complete the rehabilitation programs after which the charges are dropped. Those who push legislation that decriminalizes prostitution for minors contend that arresting these minors further traumatizes them. Proponents of decriminalization want to remove the possibility of arrest. They argue that what the children need are services directed towards restoring their dignity and rehabilitating them out of a life of selling sex. They want this accomplished outside the juvenile justice system. Others strenuously argue that removing the discretion of law enforcement, district attorneys, and judges from the process takes away one of the most effective means of rescuing children; they say that taking law enforcement out of the picture is not the answer. These children's advocates argue that a comprehensive approach is necessary and accomplished by leaving every available option on the table to help these children, including arrest and detention to ensure the evaluation and handling of their situations on a case-by-case basis. Those who advocate the decriminalization of prostitution for minors claim that thousands of minors are arrested every year. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report shows though that less than two percent of all arrests for prostitution are minors, averaging 1,117 a year. The Human Trafficking Reporting System identified 248 minors 17 years old and younger as victims of sex trafficking during the January 2008-June 2010 reporting period. According to the FBI's Innocence Lost National Initiative, as of April 2011, more than 1,600 children have been rescued since 2003. So how many children are victims of sex trafficking in the United States? It depends on who you ask. There are estimates, all based on guesses, that range from 100,000 to 2.4 million children. The United States Department of Justice uses the number 293,000 as the estimate for youth "at risk" of being commercially sexually exploited. The only hard data available are from the government sources listed above. It is very difficult to make good policy relying on estimates based on questionable methodologies. In 2006, the Government Accounting Office said, "The U.S. government has not yet established an effective mechanism for estimating the number of victims or for conducting ongoing analysis of trafficking related data that resides within government entities." With states moving in the direction of decriminalizing prostitution for minors, are there sufficient shelters to house the minors? According to a 2007 study done for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, there were only four residential facilities in the United States, with thirty-five beds between them. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Acts of 2005 and 2008 authorized funding for shelters for minors, but the money has never been appropriated. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Arresting minors in prostitution and sex trafficking, but not making counseling and support services available to them, will leave them without help to create a better future. Decriminalizing prostitution for minors will leave them at the mercy of pimps and johns and without the judicial system to advocate for their treatment and rehabilitation. The collaborative program in Oakland, California, run by the Alameda County District Attorney's office shows that, with proper training, law enforcement can be compassionate, understanding, and provide resources to help; the District Attorney's office can use its discretion as to which cases to charge and which to send to support services outside of the juvenile detention system; and the juvenile detention system can provide counseling and support services for the minors in it. Concerned Women for America (CWA) believes keeping all the tools in place to assist minors found in prostitution and holding the government accountable to fulfill the TVPRA mandates to fund shelters for minors and find out how many minors are involved in prostitution are important steps for eradicating the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. Details: Washington, DC: Concerned Women for America, 2012. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: http://www.cwfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CWA_Decriminalization-of-Prostitution-for-Minors2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.cwfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CWA_Decriminalization-of-Prostitution-for-Minors2012.pdf Shelf Number: 132655 Keywords: Child Prostitution (U.S.)Child Sex TraffickingChild Sexual AbuseChild Sexual Exploitation |
Author: Finklea, Kristin Title: Sex Trafficking of Children in the United States: Overview and Issues for Congress Summary: The trafficking of individuals within U.S borders is commonly referred to as domestic human trafficking, and it occurs in every state of the nation. One form of domestic human trafficking is sex trafficking. Research indicates that most victims of sex trafficking into and within the United States are women and children, and the victims include U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike. Recently, Congress has focused attention on domestic sex trafficking, including the prostitution of children, which is the focus of this report. Federal law does not define sex trafficking per se. However, the term "severe forms of trafficking in persons," as defined in the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, P.L. 106-386) encompasses sex trafficking. "Severe forms of trafficking in persons" refers, in part, to "[s]ex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.... " Experts generally agree that the trafficking term applies to minors whether the child's actions were forced or appear to be voluntary. The exact number of child victims of sex trafficking in the United States is unknown because comprehensive research and scientific data are lacking. Sex trafficking of children appears to be fueled by a variety of environmental and situational variables ranging from poverty or the use of prostitution by runaway and "thrown-away" children to provide for their subsistence needs to the recruitment of children by organized crime units for prostitution. The TVPA has been the primary vehicle authorizing services to victims of trafficking. Several agencies have programs or administer grants to other entities to provide specific services to trafficking victims. Despite language that authorizes services for citizen, lawful permanent resident, and noncitizen victims, appropriations for trafficking victims' services have primarily been used to serve noncitizen victims. U.S. citizen victims are also eligible for certain crime victim benefits and public benefit entitlement programs, though these services are not tailored to trafficking victims. Of note, specialized services and support for minor victims of sex trafficking are limited. Organizations specializing in support for these victims may have fewer beds than might be needed to serve all victims. Other facilities, such as runaway and homeless youth shelters and foster care homes, may not be able to adequately meet the needs of victims or keep them from pimps/traffickers and other abusers. In addition, it has been suggested that minor victims of sex trafficking-while too young to consent to sexual activity with adults-may at times be labeled as prostitutes or juvenile delinquents and treated as criminals rather than being identified and treated as trafficking victims. These children who are arrested may be placed in juvenile detention facilities instead of environments where they can receive needed social and protective services. Finally, experts widely agree that any efforts to reduce the prevalence of child sex trafficking - as well as other forms of trafficking-should address not only the supply, but also the demand. Congress may consider demand reduction strategies such as increasing public awareness and prevention as well as bolstering investigations and prosecutions of those who buy illegal commercial sex ("johns"). In addition, policy makers may deliberate enhancing services for victims of trafficking. The most recent reauthorization of the TVPA, in March 2013, reauthorized some existing provisions, created a new grant program to combat child sex trafficking, and authorized appropriations through FY2017. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2015. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: CRS Report No. R41878: Accessed February 19, 2015 at: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41878.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41878.pdf Shelf Number: 134660 Keywords: Child Prostitution (U.S.)Child Sex TraffickingChild Trafficking (U.S.)Human TraffickingJuvenile RunawaysSex Trafficking |