Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

3213 Words7 Pages

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.

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