Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City, Volume One: The CSEC Population in New York City: Size, Characteristics, and Needs

Ric Curtis, Karen Terry, Meredith Dank, Kirk Dombrowski, Bilal Khan

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City, Volume One: The CSEC Population in New York City: Size, Characteristics, and Needs

Sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. 2008.

Description:

For the purposes of this study, commercially sexually exploited children are defined as juveniles (18 and under) who perform sexual acts in exchange for money, drugs, food or shelter. According to researchers and child advocates, the CSEC issue mostly affects: runaway and homeless youth who trade sex as a means of survival; children who have been sexually, physically and emotionally abused; juveniles with minimum education who are unable to find legitimate employment; and children who are vulnerable and easily controlled and manipulated by an adult looking to make a profit. This study of commercially sexually exploited children in New York City, and the City’s response to the problem, conducted by the Center for Court Innovation and John Jay College of Criminal Justice (see Volume Two for the background to the project), hopes to provide an empirical foundation that will better inform policy makers, professionals, researchers and advocates about the extent and nature of the problem.