Technological advances have made it possible for commercial sexual exploitation of children to be exposed worldwide. Anyone can now use the internet to promote and arrange sexual encounters with children. This puts children at risk because the internet makes it possible for pimps to traffic children. Due to the advancement of technologies of the internet, children become easy victims of child prostitution and pornography. As a result, it increases the chance of children being physically, psychologically, and sexually harmed. There are federal laws and organizations that can help protect children from being sexually exploited. According to the United States Department of Justice, child prostitution is sexual exploitation that uses children for sexual activities in exchange for money or other compensations, such as food and clothing. These children are brought into prostitution to work in areas such as, bars, streets and brothels. Child pornography is also a type of child sexual exploitation (The United States Department of Justice, n.d). This paper will focus on the nature on child prostitution and pornography, in term of the victims and predators along with, what is being done with law enforcement to prevent the use of the internet to promote human trafficking also, private individuals attempting to the abusive acts. Since 1981, the General Accounting Office has estimated that there were around 600,000 children under the age of 16, who were working as prostitutes in the United States. According to Children of the Night, in 2000, Dr. Lee who is the founder of Children of the Night organization was required by government agencies and law enforcement to approximate how many children were working in the United States as prostitutes. ... ... middle of paper ... ...hey want, some individuals misuse the internet to make profit. The internet has shown that just about anyone can post what they want in order to make a quick buck. Technological advanced devices and social media networks, such as Facebook exposes explicit images of children in erotic positions that encourage sexual activities. In addition, it displays that anyone that owns advanced technology or has a social networking account, has easy access to see graphic portrayals of minors. Therefore, technological advancements make it possible for any one running child prostitution and pornography to conduct a business. Furthermore, the misuse of the internet permits predators and pedophiles to take advantage of children and cause them to be physically, psychologically, and sexually abused. This leads children to feel worthless, mistrust others, and fearful to ask for help.
The following contents will take a brief look at child sex trafficking in terms of age range, destructive outcome. Furthermore, it will provide an explanation on different causes and effects regarding the circumstances, or modes that encourage young populations into sexual trafficking. It will also touch up on prevention methods, research and studies in respect to the topic.
We have all watched television shows, we have heard the warnings, and have read numerous articles that expose internet predators and pedophiles. Most of us are aware of the dangers surrounding children and teenagers as they navigate the internet’s virtual world. There is no shortage of predators online. Chris Hanson has a very popular show called To Catch a Predator that has helped bring awareness to the public of this heinous crime against children, and while this is extremely important to know and prevent, there is another large segment of society that is at risk too. This paper will focus on this “other” population.
There are many reasons why women and children are in high demand in this kind of service. It is widely known that men are more likely to pay for such services. Most men feel more attracted to younger females and children, which creates a great demand for these two particular groups. The majority of those who pay to have sex with minors are males over the age of 30, which can be pedophiles, transient males (e.g. military, truck drivers, seasonal workers, conventioneers, and tourist), and opportunistic exploiters (Reid, 18).
Since their founding, computers and the Internet have become a tool that nearly every man, woman, and child in the World have been able to use. E-mail has become one of the Worlds fastest growing ways of communication and the Internet has become one, if not the largest source of information available today. You can find just about everything you wanted to know about anything with the stroke of a few keys on the keyboard. However, along with these positive aspects of the Internet, there lies much negativity surrounding the internet and its use. Access to teenage pornography, bestiality, brutal murder pictures, XXX stories, and other un-ethical sites is extremely easy. In fact, the pornography industry has grown 63% since the Internet was first available for use.(Bishop 91) It is one of the leading industries on the Internet and has become quite a controversy in the United States. Censorship of such sites has done very little due to the fact that most parents feel that these sites are not accessed by their children. We have currently found no solution that has worked and many government officials see the problem only getting worse. Pornography on the Internet though should not be banned, but rather better controlled and censored due to its availability and graphic nature.
Child prostitution in America is increasingly popular. It is necessary to change this situation, because it is immoral. Child prostitution is one of the most serious social problems in America.
Sexual trafficking of minors is an issue all over the world. The issue is not as talked about in the US as other countries. There are several factors that contribute to a child being a victim of this exploitation, from poverty, to previous abuse, or neglect. The main strategy in the US for shedding light onto this situation and trying to prevent it seems to be to inform the public or public service workers on how to spot a child at risk and be able to prevent it from happening.
This table was used the the study of Samuel Lee and Petra Persson. It mainly focuses on how countries view prostitution and which of them even consider it legal.
With the growing number of countries with child exploitation and young girls and women selling their bodies unwillingly, there becomes an issue when crossing country boarders and the laws that those countries have established. There are serious definitional and methodological differences within the worldwide studies. There is no sure way to measure and document the actual extend of sexual exploitation of children because research only can go so far, many children and women go unnoticed or fly under the radar. Many countries have differences in defining what constitutes as a minor and what constitutes as an adult in the separating figures on children from figures on adults within the sex trade industry. “There is also the issue of illegal versus legal uses of children for purposes of sexual exploitation. For example, in some countries, child prostitution is technically legal, making it difficult to separate what is outlawed from what is tolerated.”(Flowers) Another major limitation in the measure of international child exploitation is the lack of cooperation between countries and the researchers in those countries gathering information. The big question is where do we go from here? “The Demand for prostitution, both in the United States and abroad, creates one of the most profitable markets for organized crime in the world: global demand for human trafficking generates $32 billion annually, $27.8 billion of which is generated by sex trafficking alone.”(Makatche, 2013) There obviously is no sign of slowing down for the sex trafficking industry but there are major corporations that are getting involved. “In December 2011, Google made several grants totaling $11.5 million to anti-trafficking organizations to support new initiatives utilizing technology to combat human trafficking. These technology-focused initiatives include projects with Polaris Project, Slavery
Prostitution is said to be the world’s oldest profession. Often prostitutes are thought to be seductively dressed women standing on the street corner calling out offerings of a good time in exchange for payment. That is an accurate depiction however, it is just part of the massive sex industry’s variety of marketing tools used in prostitution. The women and young girls standing on the corner are but a small fraction of a much larger picture and harsher reality.
The internet is part of many minors’ daily lives in the USA. Though it can be a positive, and powerful experience where they can learn and socialize and find entertainment, it can expose them to online risks. They can be harassed, bullied, solicited for sex, and find themselves knee deep in illegal content that causes them problems. and bullying, sexual solicitation, and exposure to problematic and illegal content. The risks are similar to off-line risks, but there are more opportunities for at risk minors to encounter them, and makes it more difficult for adults to realize they need help.
"When Prostitution Wasn't a Crime: The Fascinating History of Sex Work in America." Alternet. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2014. .
The internet is seen as technological breakthrough for anyone how has used it. Shopping, News, entertainment, and access to instant knowledge, all at our finger tips. Although since the birth of the internet it has changed drastically. The internet now shows throngs of adult content with little to no regulation. There are predators searching through sites for victims. Tens of thousands of identities are a stolen monthly. Some argue that they don’t need the governments intervention on the web but if we as a people regulate tobacco, alcohol, and firearms with legislated laws applied by our governments to protect our youth and to assure responsible usage then the same should apply the internet.
The Internet is a global network of vast information. With a few clicks, an individual can have access to up to 200 million web-sites filled with educational and recreational information. The Internet is not regulated in anyway (Carnegie Library 1). It is accessible throughout the entire world from the North to the South, to the early morning sunrise and dark sunsets. Different ethnicity and backgrounds come together linked upon this network resembling a connection of one body in unity. Sadly, issues arise creating concern for users, focusing particularly on minors. Pornography is one of the inappropriate materials on the Internet for minors. This material is harmful to young impressionable minds. Pornography is tearing and disintegrating the foundations of our society can be described as follows, "what was available to a small number of people willing to drive to the bad side of town can now be viewed at any time in the privacy of one"s home" (Anderson 2). In order to understand how to aid in the critical decision of whether or not to censor child pornography, an individual has to first clearly understand a few terms. These terms will aid in a clear understanding throughout the case study.
The chief targets for sex traffickers are women and children (CITE). Traffickers target children for three main reasons. First off, sex traffickers target children because they are small in stature. Children’s small physique makes it easier to overpower and force the child into submission and compliance. Children are correspondingly naïve, and more likely to fall for the ruses of a sex trafficker. They have not established the concept that things that are too good to be true are. Finally, the most disturbing reason behind why children are sex trafficked is that many individuals will pay substantial amounts of money to have sex with a child because they beliebe they are less likely to have a sexually transmotted disease such as HIV (Farr 232). This notion is however far from the truth. Sexually exploited children are more likely than their older counterparts to contract and be infected with sexually transmitted diseases (Farr
Today, the child sex exploitation flourishes because of the high demand of young or virgin girls and the growing tolerance of sex with young teens in some Asian cultures. Once a girl enters the sex industry, she may be forced into porn or prostitution. The work a girl is succumbed to may be visible, such as street prostitution, or hidden in spas, massage parlors, or in another business (“Sex Slavery/Trafficking: Frequently Asked Questions”).