Linked Data Explorer
Effects of federal legislation on the commercial sexual exploitation of children
In the United States, estimates suggest that as many as 300,000 children may become victims of commercial sexual exploitation each year (Estes and Weiner, 2001). This bulletin describes the findings of a study that the Urban Institute conducted to examine the effects of the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) on the federal prosecution of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) cases. It discusses U.S. enforcement of TVPA and succeeding laws enacted to strengthen penalties against CSEC, describes features of successful prosecutions, and examines how the legislation has affected court penalties and service providers. The authors also discuss recommendations for policymakers and practitioners who work with children and youth who have been the victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The 1996 Declaration and Agenda for Action for the First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children provided the first working definition of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth: [CSEC] comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery. TVPA (Public Law 106-386) is considered to be the seminal piece of U.S. legislation in the fight against CSEC. As the first comprehensive law to combat human trafficking, TVPA criminalizes human trafficking on a federal level. Section 112 of TVPA states that sex trafficking of children involves a commercial sex act in which the victim is younger than 18 years old. Traffickers who exploit children younger than age 14 for the purposes of a commercial sex act can be sentenced to up to life in prison (18 U.S.C. 1591(b)(1)). If the victim is between 14 and 18 years old, the trafficker is eligible for as much as 20 years in prison under TVPA (18 U.S.C. 1591(b)(2)); subsequent federal legislation has increased this penalty to life imprisonment (pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act of 2006).
- "In the United States, estimates suggest that as many as 300,000 children may become victims of commercial sexual exploitation each year (Estes and Weiner, 2001). This bulletin describes the findings of a study that the Urban Institute conducted to examine the effects of the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) on the federal prosecution of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) cases. It discusses U.S. enforcement of TVPA and succeeding laws enacted to strengthen penalties against CSEC, describes features of successful prosecutions, and examines how the legislation has affected court penalties and service providers. The authors also discuss recommendations for policymakers and practitioners who work with children and youth who have been the victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The 1996 Declaration and Agenda for Action for the First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children provided the first working definition of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth: [CSEC] comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery. TVPA (Public Law 106-386) is considered to be the seminal piece of U.S. legislation in the fight against CSEC. As the first comprehensive law to combat human trafficking, TVPA criminalizes human trafficking on a federal level. Section 112 of TVPA states that sex trafficking of children involves a commercial sex act in which the victim is younger than 18 years old. Traffickers who exploit children younger than age 14 for the purposes of a commercial sex act can be sentenced to up to life in prison (18 U.S.C. 1591(b)(1)). If the victim is between 14 and 18 years old, the trafficker is eligible for as much as 20 years in prison under TVPA (18 U.S.C. 1591(b)(2)); subsequent federal legislation has increased this penalty to life imprisonment (pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act of 2006)."@en
- "Effects of federal legislation on the commercial sexual exploitation of children"@en
- "Effects of federal legislation on the commercial sexual exploitation of children"