Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Overview
The commercial sexual exploitation of children consists of criminal practices that demean, degrade and threaten the physical and psychosocial integrity of children. There are three primary and interrelated forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children: prostitution, pornography and trafficking for sexual purposes. Other forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children include child sex tourism, child marriages and forced marriages.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children is distinguished from sexual abuse of a child because it includes a commercial transaction. But there is a clear link between non-commercial sexual abuse of a child and the increased vulnerability of an abused child to commercial sexual exploitation.
The definition and understanding of commercial sexual exploitation of children has evolved in recent years.
It is increasingly seen to apply to many situations, such as child marriage, where there may have been a failure in the past to focus on the contractual or commercial exchange that takes place in these relationships. Also, the concept of the exploiter has been sharpened, highlighting the wide variety of people who contribute to the exploitation of a child: parents and other family members, friends, peers and teachers, as well as procurers, brothel managers, traffickers and those who engage in sex with a child.
ECPAT-USA undertakes research, training, awareness raising and policy development and advocacy to protect children sexually exploited by Americans who travel abroad to participate in the practice of child sex tourism; children trafficked to the United States; and American children trafficked and exploited within the United States.
The Protect Children in Tourism Project proudly work with the Cancun and the Riviera Maya communities in Mexico to prevent child sex tourism. Click here to read the press release.
