Rhonda Sciortino:
It appears to be human nature to ignore a problem that doesn’t involve us or members of our immediate families. We’re busy, with lots on our plates, and taking on the challenges of orphans in Haiti, unrest in the Middle East, or child sex trafficking is just too much. These problems are too large and overwhelming to think that we can even make a dent. So if we’re honest, most of us think, “How very sad,” and some of us say a prayer, and then we turn our attentions toward the things that we can control or at least influence.
It’s not until someone or some group comes along and breaks the big problems down into more manageable pieces that most of us say, “Now here’s something I can do.” That’s what Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice did when they brought together various stakeholders in the problem of child sex trafficking.
By breaking down the silos between the various stakeholders, GCWJ got everyone talking, comparing notes and, to put it in terms even I can understand, got everyone rowing in the same direction. Of course, they all want the same things, but the ways that juvenile justice professionals look at and approach the challenges are different from the ways school administrators look at it all. By bringing people together and encouraging collaboration, we can all do more to save kids from commercial sexual exploitation.
Sandie Morgan:
Last November Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice hosted a “Frontline Summit” to Combat Child Sexual Exploitation. Included at the summit were juvenile dependency and delinquency judges, minors’ attorneys, child welfare social workers, probation officers, sheriffs, school administrators, behavioral health professionals, and CASA volunteers from California and Nevada.
Participants identified the predominant root factors for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in their regions as
(1) generational poverty;
(2) dysfunctional family life;
(3) media’s negative influence on culture;
(4) demand for commercial sex as a contributing factor (identified by four out of five counties)
First, at the roots of CSEC lay generational poverty and homelessness, factors contributing to a culture of transient street youth who are increasingly vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.
Second, a dysfunctional family life often exposes children to emotional and physical trauma while simultaneously contributing to low self-esteem. Families were deemed “dysfunctional” if the home life consisted of drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, divorce, or a lack of parental oversight. Many at-risk children and youth live in detached communities, meaning there is an unwillingness or inability to fill the role of the family. As a result, children are increasingly vulnerable to the false promises of predators who lure them into a life of commercial sexual exploitation.
Third, the media influences cultural norms and the self-worth of youth. In recent decades, the media has glorified teenage sex, pimping, and violence through television shows, movies, music videos and lyrics, pornographic images, video games, and the news. This normalization of children’s objectified sexuality is reported by participants in television, movies, Internet content, and video games which children often have unrestrained access to without parental guidance and oversight.
Fourth, demand is a tremendous cause of the proliferation of CSEC. Participants suggested that demand for commercial sex may be reduced through community education, John Schools (First Offender Program for soliciting a commercial sex act), and increased sentencing for buyers. Pimping teenagers would not be lucrative and children would not be so prevalently preyed upon.
Participants were also asked to identify the most prevalent systemic gaps in addressing the CSEC. The top five gaps included: (1) information sharing; (2) sustainable funding; (3) school and community involvement in early identification and education; (4) services and placement; (5) identification of male victims, pimps, and purchasers. Four of the categories were determined predominant gaps by participants in the previous 2011 Summit, with the exception of male identification.
The first gap, information sharing, was thoroughly discussed by all counties. The lack of information sharing has caused a segregated team approach amongst agencies and organizations, often resulting in duplication of work. Due to a lack of resources for coordinating personnel, shared databases, data tracking protocol, training on legalities of information sharing, and unwillingness to share, this gap is an ongoing issue and increasingly frustrating for participants.
In terms of personnel, participants recognized the need for a primary county coordinator to maintain updated information on programs, protocol, statistics, and available resources in that county. In terms of data, the use of a unified website database was suggested, where agencies would be responsible for updating information on current projects, resources, and cases. However, participants recognized this might necessitate legislation mandating such database updates.
As another option, participants suggested special access to existing databases amongst agencies. However, the issue of confidentiality was identified as a potential barrier. In addition, the absence of protocol for tracking data and the use of differing terminology amongst agencies and counties has created problems with information sharing.
A lack of agency willingness to partner in mutual information sharing agreements has caused roadblocks to unencumbered information sharing. This issue is extremely important, as sharing information will help eliminate the duplication of tasks, thereby reducing the funding crisis as well as harmful repetitive agency screenings of victims.
The second gap was the lack of sustainable funding for programs. This translated into inadequate pay scales for trained service providers, giving rise to high turnover of staff and ongoing abandonment issues for the children. The problem with funding derives from a lack of understanding. Often grants are awarded based solely upon merits of statistical evidence showing continuous receipt of new victims, thus failing to appreciate the ceaseless costs associated with care for victims already rescued. Participants recognized the need for allocation of funds from a common pool.
The third gap in addressing CSEC was the lack of school and community involvement in identification and education. To receive School Board and Superintendent approval of staff training, student curriculum, and funding, statistical data is necessary to prove CSEC is an important issue, especially in higher-income school districts.
Upon convincing schools of the problem, participants identified the next step to create a training program for school staff and parents on prostitution recruitment, early identification, and available county resources. In addition to training the adults, curriculum such as My Life My Choice was suggested for younger children and Deceptions: Exposing the Lures of Child Sex Trafficking and Internet Dangers for high school age children. Such coursework could be incorporated into health classes; however, they will require School Board approval. In addition, participants determined there was a lack of appropriate afterschool recreation for children in high crime neighborhoods, which would serve as a buffer to protect children from exposure to recruitment.
Next, participants recognized a deficiency in teacher-reported truancy and suspected child abuse to social services. A number of reasons for teacher reluctance were identified, such as ongoing relations with the families throughout the school year and a lack of social worker responsiveness to the calls. As a result, it may be necessary to redefine and clarify the role of teachers as mandated reporters and improve upon social worker responsiveness to school calls.
The fourth gap identified was the lack of placement and services for child survivors of sex trafficking. To begin, children have no access to services unless they are within the juvenile justice system. For juveniles who do enter the system, there is a lack of protocol for emergency responsiveness when new victims are rescued. The lack of such protocol could be attributed to the noted lack of coordination amongst juvenile court and law enforcement personnel. Moreover, victims of CSEC are initially taken to juvenile hall, thus somewhat treated as criminals, due to a lack of placement or holding centers specifically tailored for victims of CSEC.
Beyond placement centers, there is an absence of aftercare treatment homes specifically for victims of CSEC. Rather, CSEC children are placed in homeless shelters, women’s shelters, or other centers based upon availability, most often with staff untrained to deal with the sexual trauma and behavioral side effects specific to the CSEC population. Specifically, the lack of trauma-informed care results in misunderstanding behaviors of this population.
Participants identified a need for traumainformed training for staff, universal mental health assessments and identification of children at-risk of CSEC, and a better understanding of different cultural issues facing CSEC victims. Finally, the CSEC population’s lack of stable mentorship and support has dire effects on the child’s healing process and sense of security. The lack of CSEC-specific aftercare placement and treatment is so problematic that some children ask to stay in Juvenile Hall for the consistency, structure, and safety.
The final gap discussed was the inadequate identification of boy victims, pimps, and purchasers. Participants stressed the importance of creating identification assessments specifically for male victims, although some participants suggested male risk factors are fairly identical to female risk factors. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of resources and restoration programs specifically for male victims. Additionally, there are no universal mechanisms in place for identifying boys being groomed for pimping. Participants recommended that communities must address demand from a prevention perspective by educating boys and men. Finally, participants suggested purchasers of sex be more consistently prosecuted and offer more first offender programs.
CONCLUSION:
Hopefully this summary has given you the information you need to go into your community to encourage everyone who cares about kids to come together to help save kids from child sex trafficking in your area. If you would like a complete copy of the Summary Findings from the 2013 Frontline Summit to Combat Child Sexual Exploitation, contact gcwj@vanguard.edu.
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