edia coverage of police investigations into the crimes of Jimmy Savile and other prominent figures have brought child sexual abuse and exploitation to public attention.
But while police tackle the problem, child sexual exploitation continues to happen every day. It 's important to understand what child sexual exploitation is and to be aware of warning signs that may indicate a child you know is being exploited.
What is child sexual exploitation?
Before explaining child sexual exploitation, it is helpful to understand what is meant by the age of consent (the age at which it is legal to have sex). This is 16 for everyone in the UK. Under the age of 16, any sort of sexual touching is illegal.
It is illegal to take, show or distribute indecent
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Sexual abuse covers penetrative sexual acts, sexual touching, masturbation and the misuse of sexual images – such as on the internet or by mobile phone.
Part of the challenge of tackling child sexual exploitation is that the children and young people involved may not understand that non-consensual sex (sex they haven 't agreed to) or forced sex – including oral sex – is rape.
Which children are affected?
Any child or young person can be a victim of sexual exploitation, but children are believed to be at greater risk of being sexually exploited if they: are homeless have feelings of low self-esteem have had a recent bereavement or loss are in care are a young carer
However, there are many more ways that a child may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, and these are outlined in a report by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.
The signs of child sexual exploitation may be hard to spot, particularly if a child is being threatened. To make sure that children are protected, it’s worth being aware of the signs that might suggest a child is being sexually exploited.
Signs of grooming and child sexual exploitation
Signs of child sexual exploitation include the child or young person: going missing for periods of time or regularly returning home late skipping school or being disruptive in class appearing with unexplained gifts or possessions that can’t be accounted for experiencing health
Sexual abuse can be hard to define because of the many different forms it can take on, the different levels of frequency, the variation of circumstances that can occur. Until a child is fit to function as a self-supporting and informed adult, we have an obligation not to take advantage of their lack of power or protection to inflict damage, or demand submission to acts that are not in their own best interests within. Children are being abused every day in different countries. While commonly accepted wisdom had been that childhood sexual abuse results in long lasting negative outcomes.
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse, this also includes via the internet. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males, Women and other children can also commit acts of sexual abuse. This type of abuse is usually committed by someone known to the victim not just by sexual predators. It is important to remember that boys as well as girls can also be the victim of sexual abuse. The signs of sexual abuse as with emotional abuse may not be outwardly visible, because of the shame and self-blame a child will have if this is happening or has happened to them, makes it very difficult for a child
As awareness towards the problem of child sexual abuse has increased, the opportunity for abuse has decreased and the consequences has increased. Prof. Des Cahill (2012b) states:
Child sexual abuse involves a wide range of sexual activity. It may include fondling of the
This article explores the issues around the child sexual exploitation, through the life experiences of vulnerable teenagers and how the ‘care’ system fails to support or understand their needs, leaving them vulnerable and at risk.
The research conducted by this particular NGO identifies the shocking nature of this criminal activity. The most common forms of exploitation are prostitution, slavery, criminal activity, slavery, forced marriage, and forced labour services. In regards to forced labour, six indicators of this activity include: threats/physical harm, confinement, debt bondage, withholding of wages or excessive wage reductions, retention of identity documents, and threat of denunciation to the authorities. In 2003, statistics reveal that, at any given time, there were 4,000 estimated victims of sex trafficking, forced into prostitution. Children as young as three have been trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.
An estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today (Darness2Light, 2009a ). This figure continues to grow daily as perpetrators of this crime continue in this destructive path. The definition of child sexual abuse is the force, coercion, or cajoling of children into sexual activities by a dominant adult or adolescent. Sexual abuse of children includes touching (physical) sexually including: fondling; penetration (vaginal or anal using fingers, foreign objects or offenders organs; oral sex, or non-physical contact including: sexual comments; indecent exposures; masturbating in a child’s presence; child prostitution or child pornography (Child Welfare, 2009a).
The PROTECT Act of 2003 makes it illegal for any person or persons to engage in the act of child exploitation. This includes the making, distributing, and viewing of child pornography; the act of kidnapping a child; and taking advantage of a child in any sexual way (GPO, 2003). The law
The caseload is not representative of the victims of child sexual exploitation in z, the caseloads reflects public perception influenced by the media, that suggested that child sexual exploitation only involves Asian males and white British females, of the 80 cases open the majority of the case are white British females, this has been a reoccurring theme through past cases as well, the operation update for X revealed out of 130 referral only 15 were male and 105 were identified being white British, therefore this doesn’t represent the all the victims of child sexual exploitation, however the outreach work and work within schools undertaken by X gives a better representation of the child sexual exploitation happing in Z. X practises multidisciplinary working in all aspects of its work. This can be shown through its work within E youth centre, X project worker work now have a partnerships with E youth club, at the end of the youth
In 2005, the State Department surveyed that there are approximately 100,000-300,000 children who are being sexually exploited in the United States. In 2013, the FBI had decided to do a three day bust on sexually exploited children. They managed to arrest 150 pimps across the U.S. and save 105 children trapped in sexual exploitation. Child pornography can be described as the same thing as prostitution but in this situation, children are being photographed and filmed doing sexual things against their will. After the photographers and film makers are satisfied with their work the then, proceed to send it to paying clients and post it on the internet for all to see for a small price. The United States are one of the largest producers and consumers of child pornography. In 2005, “study revealed that 83 percent of arrested child pornography offenders had images involving children between the ages 6 and 12; 39 percent had images of children between ages 3 and 5; and 19 percent had images of infants and toddlers under age 3.” In the book, Girls Like Us, Rachel Lloyd interviews a young girl by the name of Danielle who is only eleven and she was controlled by a pimp. It tells of her experience and how her pimp was beating her. She was only eleven. In fact, most of the children who are sex trafficked in the United States are
Youngsters find out about it in the news and see what happens around them. It is frequent to the point that it gets to be typical to them. In an overview of 11 to 14-year-olds, 51% of the young men and 41% of the young ladies said that assault was OK if the kid "spent a ton of cash" on the young lady. 31% of the young men and 31% of the young ladies said that it was alright if the victimized person was not a virgin. 81% of the young men and 79% of the young ladies said it was alright if the victimized person and assailant were hitched. 65% of the young men and 57% of the young ladies said it was OK if the exploited person and assailant had been dating for over 6 months. (UIC) The quantity of kids reviewed was not determined, but rather there is a reasonable issue with any number of youngsters (or anybody by any stretch of the imagination, so far as that is concerned) seeing assault as "alright" in any circumstance. A large number of the circumstances examined in the study examine sex as if it is something that is owed from instead of something to be imparted between two consenting individuals. This in itself is an immense issue. Showing a young lady that she will one day "owe" sex to a critical other is the same as showing her that her body does not fit in with her. The issue does not end with youngsters. In a review of 6,159 school matured guys, 25% of the men overviewed admitted to some level of sexual savagery the length of "assault" was not utilized as a part of the inquiry and 35% of them conceded that they would confer assault on the off chance that they were certain they would escape with it, which they no doubt would. Regardless of the fact that they were a piece of the "unfortunate" 3% of attackers who do prison time, they would undoubtedly be excused, pretty much the same number of different attackers are.
Children are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse, and there are risk factors to consider that would make one child more of a target compared to another child. The three risk factors that are related to sexual abuse are: 1) the age of the child, 2) socioeconomic status and 3) how well the child knows his/her abuser. Child abuse is reported about 80,000 times per year, but the most alarming fact is how many reports of child abuse goes unreported due to the child being afraid to talk about the sexual abuse, and they do not want to get their offender in trouble.
Across the world each day, there are hundreds of cases of children unwillingly partaking in prostitution. In 2002, research by Willis and Levy stated, "Child Prostitution involves offering the sexual services of a child or inducing a child to perform sexual acts for any form of compensation, financial or otherwise." (Willis & Levy 2002) Children who encounter such sexual activities under the age of eighteen are considered children, and is seen as illegal. Individuals who are older than eighteen are no longer a child in the government 's eyes. For the past decade, or so, the world has done their best to look at childhood prostitution as an illegal act-- shutting down facilities and speaking up for children whose voices are not always heard. Through prostitution, trafficking, and the black market of trade have been of recent concern for all parties due to the illegal acts of using, selling, and purchasing children. The new millennial has brought forth many issues with these particular means because of the unforeseen futures of these innocent children.
Most of the children involved with prostitution are girls, despite an increase in the number of young boys in the trade. Over 100,000 children have been forced into prostitution or pornography every year, as part of the $9.8 billion U.S. sex trafficking industry. “Child sex trafficking has been a severe problem. According to the Department of Justice, forty percent of all human trafficking cases opened for investigation between January 2008 and June 2010 were for the sexual trafficking of a child. Victims on average are between the
"Sexual exploitation preys on women and children made vulnerable by poverty, by economic development policies and practices, and by traffickers who capitalize on restricted migration policies." (Janice G. Raymond, Co-executive director of Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW))