Resources for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Resources for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

CSEC FACTS:

The issue of sex trafficking is global and growing. Current statistics estimate that there are an estimated 27 million human trafficking victims worldwide at any time. There are approximately 4.5 million sex trafficking victims around the world; 98% of those victims are women and girls. Trafficking is a $32 billion dollar a year industry.(2)
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry — just behind drug trafficking — with children accounting for roughly half of all victims.(3)
According to a report from the United States Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) eighty-three percent of sex trafficking victims in the United States were identified as U.S. citizens.(4)
“Driven by demand and fueled by the ease and secrecy of the internet, we are facing a crisis of child exploitation in this nation.” –Congressman Chris Smith, Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus Chair
Due to the hidden nature of the crime of sex trafficking, the exact number of domestic children being trafficked in the United States is unknown, but a University of Pennsylvania study estimated nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses. The Justice Department’s National Incidence Study reported that 1.7 million children run away or are thrown away each year, with just 357,600 (21%) of them reported as missing to the police. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimates that at least 100,000 children are caught up in the insidious world of child prostitution each year: 55% of street girls engage in prostitution; at least 75% of those work for a pimp.(5)
Though statistics vary, experts agree that the numbers grossly understate the problem, as this is such a hidden crime.
Demand for prostitution (and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation) of children is steady, and profit to sex traffickers, or pimps, has increased. Together, these factors have helped fuel sex trafficking of children. Pimps/traffickers prey on vulnerable youth (primarily girls) and groom their victims to enter “the life” of prostitution. They manipulate and abuse—physically, mentally, and emotionally—their victims to maintain control. Additionally, technological advances such as cellular telephones and the Internet have facilitated the demand for child sex trafficking. These technologies can rapidly connect buyers of commercial sex with trafficking victims while simultaneously distancing the perpetrator from the criminal transactions.(6)
Children exploited through prostitution report they typically are given a quota by their trafficker/pimp of 10 to 15 buyers per night…Utilizing a conservative estimate, a domestic minor sex trafficking victim …would be raped by 6,000 buyers during the course of her victimization through prostitution.(7)
The average age of U.S. children being forced into child prostitution (i.e. sex trafficking) is 12–14 years old.(8)
As late as 2009, there were only three homes for minor victims of sex trafficking in the United States with a total of 32 beds, none of them Christian homes. Today, that number has grown to approximately ten homes totaling over 150 available beds, which isn’t even enough beds for the children rescued in just the Sacramento area.(9)
Domestic sex trafficking of minors is a prominent and growing issue in the greater Sacramento area. In the last several years, a local FBI task force has recovered over 300 girls being sold for sex; the youngest was eleven years old. Of the 300 girls rescued in the Sacramento area, a large percentage of them have no home, no family, and no services to support them.(10)
Nearly one- third of Tanzanian girls experience sexual violence before they turn 18, a UNICEF survey recently found.(11)
There are no homes for victims in the entire country of Tanzania for minor children being trafficked for sex. Courage House Tanzania is the first home of its kind.(12)
Child sex trafficking is a big problem in the State of Hawaii. There are no homes for children rescued out of trafficking in Hawaii.(13)

 Sex trafficking is not just happening in big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston; it is happening in smaller cities like Toledo, Sacramento, and Jackson. While law enforcement at the state and federal level is pleased with the increased arrests and prosecution (including stiff jail sentences) for the individuals that traffic these young girls, these same law enforcement officers express frustration and are broken-hearted at the lack of resources for the young victims that are rescued.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s Family Advocacy Division assists children and families cope with traumatic experiences of abduction or sexual exploitation. Our master-level trained social-service professionals work proactively with families, law enforcement, social-service agencies, and mental-health agencies to provide a support network for child victims and their families.

If you or your family would like to speak with a Family Service Liaison, please call our call center at 1-800-THE-LOST
National Human Trafficking Resource Center- NHTRC is a national, 24-hour, toll-free, anti-trafficking hotline operated and implemented by Polaris Project and funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Breaking Free
PO Box 4366
St. Paul, MN 55104
Telephone: 651-645-6557
www.breakingfree.net

Children of the Night
14530 Sylvan Street
Van Nuys, CA 91411
Toll-Free: 1-800-551-1300
Telephone: 818-908-4474
www.childrenofthenight.org

Courtney’s House
PO Box 26240
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: 202-525-1426
Hotline: 1-888-261-3665
www.courtneyshouse.org

Covenant House Georgia
1559 Johnson Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
Toll-Free: 1-800-388-3888
Telephone: 404-589-0163
National Line: 1800RUNAWAY.org
www.covenanthouse.org

Georgia Cares
PO BOX 724197
Atlanta, GA 31139
Hotline:1-844-8GA-DMST
Office: 404-602-0068
www.gacares.org

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)
New, York, NY
Telephone: 212-926-8089
www.gems-girls.org

National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse
National District Attorneys Association
99 Canal Center Plaza
Suite 330
Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone: 703-519-1648
www.nsvrc.org

National Center for Victims of Crime
2000 M Street, NW, Suite 480
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: 202-467-8700
www.ncvc.org

National Runaway Switchboard
3080 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657
Toll-Free: 1-800-RUNAWAY
Telephone: 773-880-9860
www.1800runaway.org

Paul & Lisa Program, Inc.
PO Box 348
Westbrook, CT 06498
Telephone: 1-800-518-2238
www.paulandlisa.org

Polaris Project
P.O. Box 65323
Washington, DC 20035
Telephone: 202-745-1001
www.polarisproject.org

Shared Hope International
P.O. Box 65337
Vancouver, WA 98665
Telephone: 1-866-HER-LIFE
www.sharedhope.org

Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE)
68 12th Street
Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: 415-905-5050
24 Hour Crisis Line: (877) 336-SAGE
www.sagesf.org
www.sf4tay.org

Streetlight USA
PO Box 6178
Peoria, AZ 83385
Telephone: 623-435-0900
www.streetlightusa.org

The Salvation Army, STOP-IT Program
Central Administrative Office
4800 North Marine Drive
Chicago, IL 60640
24 hr line: 1-877-606-3158
Office:773-275-6233
www.salarmychicago.org
www.sa-stopit.org

youthSpark, Inc.
395 Pryor St., SW
Suite 2117
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-612-4628
www.youth-spark.org

Please note that we provide this list as a public service. Delivered Vessels Inc does not sponsor or endorse any group listed.