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Monday September 10 2:12 PM ET
Study Says Child Sex Trade Reaches Epidemic in U.S.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As many as 400,000 children in the United States are victims of the
sex trade each year, from juvenile pornography and street prostitution to selling sex at
school, a study released on Monday said. ``We project one out of every 100 American
children is involved in sexually exploitative activities. This is an epidemic,'' said
Richard Estes, a University of Pennsylvania professor of social work and co-author of the
report on the sexual exploitation of children.
Estes told a news conference on Monday that 90 percent of children involved in the sex
trade were U.S. nationals, with the remainder smuggled into the country.
Based on field research and surveys from 288 federal and local agencies, the two-year
study estimated between 300,000 and 400,000 children in America were victims of sexual
exploitation each year.
``That figure just blew our minds. We never at the beginning of the study thought we would
encounter so many children in this predicament,'' Estes told Reuters.
Estes and his team visited 17 U.S. cities, which amounted for 40 percent of the U.S.
population, meeting with federal and local law enforcement agencies, human services
departments and hundreds of children both living at home and on the streets. The cities
included ``sun and sand'' spots such as Miami and Los Angeles and ``convention'' cities
Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Washington.
As many boys as girls were affected, but Estes said boys got less attention both from law
enforcement and social services because of the view that they could look after themselves.
``Every place we went, we found for every girl there was a boy involved too.
People feel a need to protect girls and for boys it's thought of as sowing their oats,''
said Estes, adding some boys graduated from sexual servitude to becoming pimps.
Juveniles involved in commercial sex could earn $200 to $1,500 a day, amounting to $50,000
to $100,000 a year if they worked only 250 days a year, Estes said.
The study found 95 percent of the commercial sex engaged in by boys was with men and that
at least 25 percent of girls in gangs had sex with other members as part of the gang
rites. Many of the male exploiters of boys were married men with children.
SOME SELL SEX AT HIGH SCHOOLS
The largest groups of children affected were runaway, ''throwaway'' and homeless youths,
many of whom used ``survival sex'' to acquire food, shelter, clothing and other things
needed to eke out a living on America's streets, Estes said. ``Like other groups of
sexually exploited persons, street children are exposed to violence, drug abuse, rape and,
sometimes, even murder at the hands of the pimps, 'customers' and traffickers that make up
their world,'' he said.
Estes said some children sold themselves for sex to high school students while living at home and used the money to buy more expensive clothes and other consumer goods. Many of these children lived in secure middle-class homes and few parents were aware of what was going on. This group also included American youths who crossed into Canada or Mexico in search of cheaper drugs, alcohol and sex, Estes said. The sexual exploitation of children affected all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, although children from poorer families appeared to be at a higher risk. Estes said a disproportionate number of street youths had histories of recurrent physical or sexual abuse at home and took to the streets in a bid to stop this.
``It is ironic that running away from home increases their risk of physical violence and sexual abuse,'' he said. Sexual predators also came from all parts of society and included relatives and other adults known and trusted by the children. Despite popular notions to the contrary, Estes said strangers committed fewer than 4 percent of all the sexual assaults against children.
Estes said a ``patchwork'' of laws existed to deal with perpetrators of child sex crimes and that national and state efforts had been inadequate to tackle the problem. ``There is no national plan for dealing with sexually exploited children in America, no lead agency, no resources and this is one of the great tragedies in American society,'' he He said.