This presentation provides an overview of the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), including what we know about CSEC victims and how children come to be exploited. Attendees will learn how to recognize and respond to CSEC victims, and what communities can do to protect children from exploitation. This file is for educational purposes only and is not meant for reproduction.

1. 2nd Annual Conference
September 4, 2013

2. Protecting Commercially
Sexually Exploited Children
Prevent Child Abuse Georgia
Conference
September 4, 2013
Presented by Kirsten Widner

3. What We’ll Cover
• Introduction to CSEC
▫ What CSEC is
▫ What we know about exploited children
▫ How children come into CSEC
▫ How children stay in CSEC
• Recognizing exploited children
• Advocating for exploited children
• Preventing CSEC

4. What is CSEC?
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children is:
▫ Sexual abuse of a child accompanied by
remuneration in cash or in kind to the child or a
third person or persons.
▫ Sometimes also used to refer to child pornography

5. What is CSEC?
• You don’t need a pimp to have exploitation
▫ Runaway and homeless youth may engage in “survival sex,”
where opportunistic adults takes advantage of their need for food,
shelter, etc.
▫ Buyers of commercial sex can be guilty of trafficking
• Some talk in terms of “supply” and “demand”
▫ These terms can help make certain dynamics seem clear to policy
makers but are problematic

6. Why Do We Use the Term CSEC?
• Words matter
• Most descriptive of what’s actually going on
• Prostitution is a simpler term but problematic
• Domestic minor sex trafficking sounds sterile and removed
from the human trauma involved
• Federal and state law recognizes these youth as victims
of child abuse and human trafficking

7. Comparing CSEC and Human Trafficking
CSEC Human Trafficking
• Focus is on children
• Focus is on sexual exploitation
• More domestic than
international victims
• Can be charged as pimping
and pandering or human
trafficking
• Involves both children and
adults
• Involves both labor and sexual
exploitation
• Often associated with
international exploitation,
though there are also domestic
victims

8. Questions About Extent of the Problem
• Recent Atlanta Journal Constitution
Headlines:
▫ Despite millions spent, human trafficking’s scope is
unknown
(http://www.ajc.com/news/news/despite-millions-spent-
human-traffickings-scope-is/nTjRn/)
▫ Trafficking victims fall through cracks of programs built on
guesses, distortions
(http://www.ajc.com/news/news/trafficking-victims-fall-through-
cracks-of-program/nTjRf/)
• But:
▫ 105 rescued in sex trafficking sting
(http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2013/07/29/
vo-sex-trafficking-ring-busted.cnn.html)

9. What Do We Know?
• Exploited children exist, and their exploitation is an
egregious crime / human rights violation
• Rescue efforts have led to services provided to far
more girls than boys
▫ Children found tend to be around 15 -16, and usually
have been exploited for a few years
• Rescue efforts have led to services provided to more
domestic victims than international victims
• Homeless and runaway shelters report high levels of
exploitation of LGBT youth
• Often these children do not self-identify as
victims, at least not for some time after rescue

10. What Do We Know?
• Rescued children frequently have:
▫ History of physical and sexual abuse in the home
▫ History of running away
▫ History of STIs
▫ History of school issues and truancy
▫ Tattoos with a person’s name or that signal possessive
relationships
▫ Romantic relationships with their primary exploiters
 These relationships follow many of the patterns of
intimate partner violence situations, with the additional
elements of exploitation
▫ A tendency to run away from service programs
▫ An active distrust of authority / law enforcement

11. How Children Come Into CSEC
• Vulnerable youth are:
▫ Recruited by peers/victims
▫ Lured by false ads for modeling, acting, dancing
▫ Enticed via internet chat rooms
▫ Preyed on by pimps/traffickers
▫ Offered a place to stay or food

12. How Children Come into CSEC
• Pimps and traffickers are experts at
identifying & seducing troubled young girls.
▫ First: Grooming
 Shower the child with attention
 Provide food, shelter, clothes, beauty treatments, drugs
 Offer romance & sex
 Become the child’s “daddy” or “boyfriend.”
▫ Then: Seasoning
 Exploit public’s glamorization of pimp culture
 Violence and abuse used to break the child’s will
and maintain control.

13. How Children Stay in CSEC
• Victims don’t “choose” to stay in prostitution:
▫ Dependent on pimp financially & emotionally
▫ Physically confined, isolated, stripped of ID
▫ Beaten, raped and threatened
▫ Often blame themselves, feel ashamed, and see no way
out of the situation
▫ Held in “debt bondage”
▫ Distrustful of law enforcement
▫ Don’t know where to seek help
• Victims are reluctant to ask for help
▫ Dependent, afraid, ashamed, distrustful, hopeless

14. Identifying CSEC Victims
• Red flags include:
▫ History of one or more of the following:
 Physical or sexual abuse
 Running away, unexplained, or inadequately
explained absences from home
 Incidents at school:
 Truancy
 Falling grades
 School suspensions
▫ Having an adult “boyfriend”
▫ Presence of “gifts” of unknown origin

15. Identifying CSEC Victims
• Red flags continued:
▫ Gang signs / affiliation
▫ More than one cell phone
▫ Physical signs such as:
 Unexplained bruises
 Cigarette burns
 Tattoos of someone’s name or nickname
▫ Reproductive health issues
▫ Substance abuse

16. Key Questions if You See Signs
• Where do you live, eat and sleep?
• Where did you get your phone / gift / tattoo?
• Do you owe someone money?
• Describe your relationship with your boyfriend:
▫ Were you threatened if you tried to leave?
▫ Were you ever physically abused?
▫ Were you ever forced to stay in one place?
• Who are you afraid of?

17. When Talking to the Child, Keep in
Mind
• The child’s mental and physical state
▫ Is she sleep deprived, hungry, on drugs?
• The child’s sense of loyalty to the exploiter
▫ Don’t expect a clear disclosure
• The child’s sense of safety
▫ The child may have been threatened not to
disclose.
• The child may not act like a victim
▫ Attitude or tough exterior are common coping
techniques

18. Once You’ve Identified a Potential
Victim
• Call the Georgia Care Connection Office
▫ 404.602.0068
▫ gaconnection@cacga.org
• They can:
▫ Assess whether the child is a victim or at risk
▫ Provide a peer support counselor who can talk to
the child
▫ Connect the child to appropriate services
▫ Help convince the court of an appropriate plan

19. Once You’ve Identified a Potential
Victim
• Report the exploitation to DFCS
▫ If you work for an organization that serves kids,
you’re a mandatory reporter, and sexual
exploitation is a form of child abuse
▫ DFCS is in the process of rolling out trainings to
their staff, but not everyone you talk to may have
been trained
 If you are having trouble getting an appropriate
response from the case manager, go up the chain of
supervision

20. Once You’ve Identified a Potential
Victim
• Work with DFCS and GCCO to:
▫ Determine whether a placement change is needed
▫ Take other necessary protective action
 Law enforcement involvement
 Advocate for treatment as a victim rather than as an
offender
 Protective orders
 Increased monitoring to prevent running away

21. If the Child is Prosecuted
• Connect with the defense attorney and share
what you know
• Make sure the defense attorney is knowledgeable
about:
▫ Services available through GCCO
▫ The affirmative defense for trafficking victims
▫ Options for vacating, modifying, or sealing the
delinquency

22. Once the Child Is In Services
• You’ll need patience
▫ Running away or failed treatment attempts are
common
• Make sure that aggressive efforts are made to
find the child if he or she runs
▫ Ensure that police reports are filed and NCMEC is
notified
• Provide consistent support and connection
▫ Acceptance and lack of judgment are key

23. Once the Child Is In Services
• Keep the focus on permanency
▫ Where will the child go after treatment?
 How can he or she be kept safe in the community?
 How will family members
▫ What type of aftercare or support will the child
need?
▫ What life skills is he or she building for long-term
success?

24. If a Child is At Risk But Not Yet
Exploited
• Ensure trauma and abuse are being addressed
▫ Appropriate services are primary prevention for
exploitation
• Identify and address reasons the child may run away
▫ If the child has run away in the past or has talked about
running away, find out why
▫ If you think the child may run, talk to the child about safety
strategies
• Engage the child in learning and school
▫ Identify barriers to learning such as learning disabilities
and distractions, and develop a plan to address these
▫ Engage the child in extracurricular activities and after-
school programs

25. If a Child is At Risk But Not Yet
Exploited
• Help children become more media literate
▫ Encourage children to question images they see in the
media
▫ Talk with children about things that are normalized on tv
and in movies and music and about why those things might
not be the same in real life
• Build children’s understanding of legal consequences
▫ Children need to know that even though they are young,
their actions can carry serious penalties for them
▫ Criminal activity and/or arrests could impact public
housing for the whole family
▫ Sex with older “boyfriend” could get him arrested on a
range of charges with long sentences
▫ Acts other than intercourse (e.g. oral sex) can sometimes
carry even greater penalties than “normal” sex

26. If a Child is At Risk But Not Yet
Exploited
• Develop relationships with trustworthy adults
▫ Help identify / create availability of trustworthy adults
▫ Find a safe person with whom the child can discuss
sexual issues and other problems
• Teach about good relationships
▫ Model respect for appropriate boundaries
▫ Talk with the child about respect and why it matters
▫ Encourage the child to examine the pros and cons of
his or her relationships
• See if the child is eligible for the Voices program
through Youth-Spark

27. For additional information
kwidner@emory.edu
www.bartoncenter.net

28. This project was supported in part by the Governor’s Office for
Children and Families through the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Community Based Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CFDA
93.590). Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those
of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position
or policies of the Governor’s Office for Children and Families or the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for
Children and Families, Community Based Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act (CFDA 93.590).