The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Dr. Richard Estes and Dr. Neil Alan Weiner
School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania. (2/20/02)
Drs. Estes and Weiner’s team interviewed many organizations, law enforcement, and child advocacy and protective services. Seventeen U.S., four Canadian, and seven Mexican cities, were the basis for the three year, 238 page research resource “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico”.
The 17 U.S. cities used for the research project were: Chicago, IL ; Dallas - Fort Worth, TX,; Detroit, MI,; El Paso, TX; Honolulu, HI; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New York, NY; New Orleans, LA; Oakland, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Atlantic City, PA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Jose, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA.” 1
Estimated number of Sexually Exploited Children in the U.S. (December, 2000)
- Reliable estimates of the number of commercially sexually exploited children in the United States do not exist. This is due to: 1) the highly secretive and illegal nature of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), 2) gross under-reporting of known cases by law enforcement and human service authorities, 3) the absence of national or local registries of confirmed cases of CSEC. 2.
- Even the very lowest calculation is that more than 244,000 American children are estimated to have been at risk of CSEC during the calendar year ending December 2000. 3
Poverty and Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).
“Both children and public officials with whom we met across the country indicated that a ”higher” than expected number of children living in poverty were victims of sexual exploitation-- initially through sexual assaults at home(e.g., by fathers, step fathers or boyfriends of single partners of mothers) and subsequently, through prostitution (sometimes as part of organized gang activity).
“Among the majority of children we encountered, however, poverty was not the primary factor that contributed to their exploitation. Rather, family dysfunction (eg. violence, mental illness, sexual and other intimacy boundary issues), family sexual assaults, familial or personal drug dependency, and recurrent school and other social failure were identified more often as the factors that contributed to the sexual exploitation of these children”. 4
The Role of Organized Crime CSE and the CSEC:
“Children and youth older than 12 years are the prime targets for sexual exploitation by organized crime units. Most of these children are recruited from runaway and homeless youth. Most are recruited by same sex peers but many adults- including women-also recruit for organized prostitution (Claffey & Siemaszko, 1997; Hohl, 2000; McPhee, 1999; Scott, 1999).
“As an incentive for recruiting new children, peers often are promised financial rewards, nice clothes, a good place to live, and always, protection from the violence to which homeless and street children routinely are exposed. The majority of children associated with organized crime units have liberal access to drugs and other substances that increase the dependency on the crime unit. Not infrequently, the children of girls who become pregnant are removed and raised either by members of the organizer’s extended family or by others within the criminal network. Once taken away from their mothers, these babies are used to exert even greater control over the prostituted youth”. 5
Enforcement of CSE Laws and Policies (by Law Enforcement and Human Services Authorities)
“Many factors have troubled us as we moved across the country in the conduct of this investigation. None proved more disturbing that the comparative laxity we encountered in some communities with respect to the enforcement of laws pertaining to CSE. We observed this phenomenon among both law enforcement and human service agencies and even health care providers who were treating sexually exploited children for their injuries, sexual diseases and pregnancies.
“In general, the absence of adequate enforcement of existing CSE laws and policies is manifested through:
- Incomplete or inaccurate information concerning the nature, extent and seriousness of CSE in local communities;
- Highly negative attitudes held by some law enforcement and human service professionals toward children involved in prostitution;
- A focus on children as the source of the CSE ‘problem’ rather than on the adults that prey upon them and profit financially from the exploitation of these children-pimps, traffickers, customers, hotel operators, purveyors of false identity papers and transporters;
- Inadequate systems for responding to the needs of sexually exploited children--particularly those of street and other groups of transient children-- (including food, shelter, drug treatment, emergency services and job training);
- Unstated policies on the part of the police and child protective service departments to not open closed doors–behind which a vast majority of commercial sexually exploited children are to be found, e.g., in topless bars, nightclubs, massage parlors, and photographic studios;
- As evidenced by the shockingly low juvenile and adult arrest records for prostitution, inadequate policing of the neighborhoods, bars, clubs and other places where children are regularly exploited;
- The absence of cooperative agreements (and financial resources) in nearly all communities for dealing with both the immediate and near-term needs of out-of-state and out-of-country sexually exploited children who take up residence in the local community;
- Inadequate systems for identifying and monitoring the activities of convicted sexual offenders living in the community-78% of whom have been convicted of sexual crimes against children younger than 18 years of age (Greenfeld, 1997:25);
- In all but a few communities, the absence of coordinating mechanisms for dealing with the complex legal (including forensic) and human service issues associated with CSE, and;
- Severe personnel and equipment shortages in local police and human service units responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases-including Crimes Against Children, Special Investigative, Child Protective, and similar types of units”. 6
Recommendations:
- Protect the Children;
- Target Adult Sexual Exploiters for Punishment, Not the Children;
- Fully Enforce Existing National and State Laws Related to Child Sexual Exploitation;
- Increase the Penalties Associated With Sexual Crimes Against Children;
- Support Local Communities in Their Efforts to Strengthen Local and State Laws Pertaining to Child Sexual Exploitation.
- Establish a National Child Sexual Exploitation Intelligence Center (NCSEIC).
- Expand Federally-Funded Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force on Child Sexual Exploitation into All Major Federal and State Jurisdictions.
- Expand Federally-Funded Internet ‘Crimes Against Child’ Units Into All Major Federal and State Jurisdictions.
- Enlarge the National Pool of Child Sexual Exploitation Experts and Specialists.
- Promote Effective Public/Private Partnerships for Combating Child Exploitation.
- Address the Need for More Specialized Studies of Perpetrators of Child Sexual Exploitation and Their Victims. 7
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Dr. Richard Estes, Professor of Social Work,
Richard J. Estes is Professor of Social Work in the School of Social Policy & Practice of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a A.B. degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia and graduate degrees in social work from the University of Pennsylvania (Masters of Social Work) and the University of California at Berkeley (Doctor of Social Welfare). He also holds a post-master's Certificate in Psychiatric Social Work from the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas.
Dr. Estes has been the recipient of many awards and grants for his research on international social work and comparative social development including two Fulbright-Hays Senior Research Awards (Iran, 1978 and Norway, 1979) and a Distinguished Fulbright Scholar Award to Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. He, with his colleague, Neil Weiner, has conducted pioneering research on the causes, nature, and extent of child sexual exploitation in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Dr.Estes' books include:
2007 Advancing Quality of Life in a Turbulent World (Dordrecht NL & Berlin: Springer, Inc.), ISBN: 1-4020-5099-2.
2007 Child Sexual Exploitation: Quick Reference for Healthcare, Social Services, and Law Enforcement Professionals (with Cooper, Sharon W., Angelo P. Giardino, Nancy D. Kellogg & Victor I. Vieth). (350 pages). St. Louis MO: GW Medical Publishing, IBSN: 1-878060-21-x.
2005 Medical, Legal & Social Science Aspects of Child Sexual Exploitation: A Comprehensive Review of Child Pornography, Child Prostitution, and Internet Crimes Against Children (with Cooper, Sharon W., Richard J. Estes, Angelo P. Giardino, Nancy D. Kellogg & Victor I. Vieth (Editors)). (Two volumes, 1100 pages and 55 contributors). St. Louis MO: GW Medical Publishing, [IBSN: 10-878060-71-6 & IBSN: 13-978-1-878060-71-6].
2005 Social Development in Hong Kong: The Unfinished Agenda (London & New York: Oxford University Press), ISBN #019-592745-1.
2003 La Infancia Como Mercancia Sexual: México, Canadá y Estados Unidos (The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Mexico, Canada and the United States), with Elena Azaola. (Mexico City: CIEASAS & Siglo XXI Veintiuno Editores), ISBN #968-23-2450-5.