What Is Human Trafficking?
According to the U.S. Department of State, the United States is a destination country for thousands of men, women, and children trafficked from all areas of the world. These victims are trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Many of these victims are lured from their homes with false promises of well-paying jobs; instead, they are forced or coerced into prostitution, domestic servitude, farm or factory labor or other types of forced labor.
Under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act 1, any child under 18 years of age, who is exploited through commercial sex where something of value – such as money, drugs or a place to stay – is given for sexual activity, is a victim of child sex trafficking. Child sex trafficking is a high priority issue at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, especially because these children are often currently missing and actively being exploited.
Even if a child believes that he or she chose to engage in his or her exploitation, it’s important to remember that the child is a victim, and an adult or perpetrator is exploiting the child’s vulnerabilities.
As such, there is no such thing as child prostitution, and that phrase should never be used when referring to child sex trafficking