09.10.2023

Every Two Minutes, a Child is being Prepared for Sexual Exploitation and Child Sex Trafficking

Child trafficking affects every country in the world, and children make up 37% of all human trafficking victims worldwide, which two out of every three identified child victims are girls. A majority of the time, victims are trafficked by someone they know, such as a friend, family member or romantic partner. Inducing a child under age 18 to perform a commercial sex act, with or without force, fraud, or coercion, is child sex trafficking. Sex trafficking can have devastating consequences for children, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, sexually transmitted infections, substance use disorders, unplanned pregnancy, and mental health problems, such as depression and suicidal ideation. While everyone experiences trauma differently, survivors’ stories share the common threads of manipulation and abuse. Traffickers target vulnerable children, secure their trust, fulfill their needs, isolate them from potential support, and eventually exert total control over them, all the while working to normalize the abuse. Recruitment can and does occur everywhere—in school; at home, malls, sporting events, and parties; and in shelters and detention facilities—and is conducted both in person and online, where traffickers lure young people with the offer of friendship, romance, or jobs. When the trafficker has established sufficient control, children are sold at private parties, illicit massage businesses, hotel and motel rooms, strip clubs, trade shows, truck stops, and other venues. Sex trafficking is inherently traumatic; at a minimum, survivors require educational and therapeutic aftercare services that are trauma informed.
Credit: unicef