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Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)
CSEC involves the sexual exploitation of minors for economic profit. It includes "any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by an person" (Clayton, Krugman, and Simon, 2013).
As established by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) CSEC activities include:
- trafficking for sexual purposes
- prostitution
- sex tourism
- mail-order bride trade and early marriage
- pornography
- stripping
- performing in sexual venues such as peep shows or clubs
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified 3 of 13 U.S. High Intensity Child Prostitution areas in California: the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego metropolitan areas (Walker, 2013).
The average age of onset for commercial sexual exploitation is 11 to 13 for boys and 12 to 15 for girls. Alarmingly, the life expectancy of a child involved in commercial sexual exploitation is seven years from the first date of his/her exploitation with the leading causes of death being HIV/AIDS or homicide (Walker, 2013).
Recent legislation (SB 855, Chapter 29, Statutes of 2014) amended the Welfare and Institution Code (WIC) section 300 to clarify that under existing law, commercially sexually exploited children (SEC) whose parents or guardians failed or were unable to protect them may fall within the descriptions of 300(b) and be adjudged as dependents of juvenile court. The Legislature also amended the WIC (commencing with section 16524.6) to establish a state-funded county CSEC Program to be administered by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) that counties may opt to participate in.
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