Child Sexual Exploitation

Question 1

Child Sexual Exploitation

Answer 1

children or young people under the age of 18 are involved in sexual acts or a ‘reward’ (money, accommodation, food, affection, drugs etc). Use of violence, coercion and intimidation is common, and it is commonly characterized by the victims vulnerability/ lack of choice.

The exploiter has power over them in some way, whether it be age, gender, intellect, physical strength, economic resources.
(National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People)

Question 2

Includes..

Answer 2

• Child pornography
• Child prostitution
• Child Trafficking
• Child abuse rings

Question 3

Happens by…

Answer 3

• Force by family or community
• Coercion
• Deceit
• As a solution to poverty
• Attraction to the ‘street life’ or ‘easy money’
• Abuse of power
• Entrapped by exploiters

Question 4

It is a conducive context

Answer 4

Child sexual exploitation is more likely to happen because of:

• the sexualisation/ objectification of females
• normalisation of the sex industry

Question 5

Is a form of child abuse

Answer 5

recognised similarities between child sexual exploitation and child abuse but also distinct differences. Including:

• organisations and strangers may be involved in their exploitation, rather than people they may know
• Sex industry blames the victim and excuses the offender (Kelly and Regan)

Question 6

Impact on victims

Answer 6

Stigma of being part of the sex industry - undermines their credibility when seeking helping and/or redess via the legal system (Kelly and Regan)

Question 7

Influence of Gender

Answer 7

• Most victims are female and those who exploit them tend to be male
• Males are victims too but stereotypes of masculinity can lead to a lack of recognition

Question 8

Influence of Ethnicity

Answer 8

• Victims and offenders come from all ethnic backgrounds but ethnicity does increase vulnerability
• evidence of ‘othering’ among women and children from non-white ethnicities

Question 9

Influence of Poverty and Homelessness

Answer 9

• Adds vulnerability- survival, desperation, easy target

* Significant difference in prevalence for more and less affluent countries

Question 10

Influence of Disability

Answer 10

• Adds vulnerability- lack of information/ understanding of sex and relationships among the disabled. Ambiguous to what is healthy (Fox)
• Higher prevalence among the disabled