Educating Youth About Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: a Systematic Review

• NCJ Number: 253889
• Journal: Global Social Welfare Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: 2019 Pages: 29-39
• Author(s): Cynthia F. Rizo; Lauren Bernstein Klein; Brittney R. Chesworth; Jennifer F. O'Brien; Rebecca J. Macy; Sandra L. Martin; Marlowe E. Crews; Brittany Leigh Love
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2016-VA-GX-0075
• Sponsoring Agency: Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the literature on educating youth about the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), including the peer-reviewed literature, to develop recommendations on this topic.

Abstract

There has been increasing attention to crimes involving the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), with many policymakers, practitioners, and anti-human trafficking advocates stressing the importance of educating youth about CSEC. Only 13 articles on educating youth about CSEC met the study's broad inclusion criteria (i.e., included some content on educating youth about CSEC and was published in English before or during April of 2017). In addition to identifying only a few articles on the topic, only five articles were empirically based (i.e., collected and/or analyzed data); of these, only one examined outcome following participation in a program focused on educating youth about CSEC. Based on the existing literature, educational strategies and recommendations are highlighted, including information on modality, content, target audience, content facilitator, and setting. Overall, this literature emphasizes that youth should receive education about CSEC, and that schoolsparticularly middle school, high school, and high-risk studentsmight be promising settings for such education; however, more research is needed to determine how best to educate youth about CSEC. 38 references (publisher abstract modified)