Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act of 2013

Background: Early research estimates that up to 340,000 minors in the United States are at risk of domestic sex trafficking through prostitution or pornography. In response, several states have passed Safe Harbor laws which decriminalize prostitution for victims of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and provide provisions for appropriate social services. Studies indicate that the majority of CSEC victims have encountered significant family instability and interpersonal trauma with the most common risk factor being sexual and physical abuse. Research also confirms runaway and homeless youth are at greater risk of being targeted by traffickers. These experiences and vulnerabilities increase the likelihood that CSEC victims have had contact with state child welfare systems for example; a report conducted by the California Child Welfare Council found that 50 to 80 percent of CSEC victims had been involved with child welfare.

Legislation and service efforts are moving in the right direction but more must be done. While working in a specialized safe house for adolescent victims of sexual exploitation I met the girls that slipped through the cracks of the foster care system. They were chronic runaways shuffled in and out of facilities and group homes. They were lost in system that could not comprehend the complexities of their needs and were instead deemed ungovernable. These girls do not typically identify as victims but are undoubtedly looking for safety and belonging which is why they usually run back to their pimps. We must acknowledge and understand why they run and meet them where they are, without judgment, and welcome them back every time they return.

Legislation: Strengthening the Child Welfare Respons...

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... legal responses to the commercial sexual exploitaion of minors. New Haven, CT: Yale Law & Policy Review, 45-56.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children, Youth and Families. (2013) Guidance to states and services on addressing human trafficking of children and youth in the United States. Washington, DC

Clawson, H. J., Dutch, N., Solomon, A., & Grace, L. G. (2009). Human trafficking into and within the United States: A review of the literature. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/HumanTrafficking/LitRev/index.shtml#Trafficking

Walker, Kate. (2013). California Child Welfare Council. . Ending the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California. Available at: http://www.youthlaw.org/fileadmin/ncyl/youthlaw/publications/Ending-CSEC-A-Call-for-Multi-System_Collaboration-in-CA.pdf