Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Children in Prostitution

In developed countries, teens enter the sex trade industry, which depends on young girls free of AIDS infection, in various ways. Forced to leave home early, some sell sex to earn money for survival. The overwhelming majority of girls in prostitution state they were sexually molested as children and, as a result, they may have come to view their bodies as valuable commodities. Pimps and procurers have a way of targeting these needy girls. After providing material support, they will coerce them to earn money in the sex trade in exchange. Frequently, the pimp or manager keeps the girls in the industry against their will through violence and threats of violence. All too often, alcohol and drug addiction results from attempts to ameliorate their pain through disassociation. And the girls are certainly subject to violence from some of their customers.

In underdeveloped countries, it is not uncommon for poor families to sell their girls to managers in the sex trade, and some youth have been raised to see the industry as a viable means of earning money for their families. Escape from brothel owners, who employ violence to control the teens, is difficult. However, research has documented that this practice also occurs in poor communities in North America, where some families view their young girls as money-making commodities.

Estimates of the number of youth involved in prostitution are only guesses; one report estimates that there are 300,000 girls involved in the United States alone. Experts have found that 60% to 70% of all homeless youth in the United States regularly sell sex to meet their survival needs.

Sex Tourism

Although most exploitation of children takes place after they are integrated into the adult sex trade, there are locales worldwide that have developed as destinations for those seeking sexual experiences with children. The customers are not only pedophiles, who are said to organize tours abroad for this purpose, but also other adults who may believe that the sexual use of children in a particular country's culture is acceptable, that the youth have freely chosen prostitution, or are more sexually experienced at earlier ages; they may excuse their behavior as benevolent since the youth so clearly need the money. Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Cambodia, and India are believed to be among the main centers of child sex tourism. Most of the countries with child sex tourism have passed laws making the trade illegal, but without enforcement these laws have not had an impact. In addition, collusion of police, hotels, and travel agencies with traffickers makes this practice difficult to root out.

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