Instances of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors have been reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These activities are not only illegal, but also result in immediate and long-term physical, mental, and emotional harm to victims and survivors.

With support from OJJDP, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) have released a guide for victim and support service providers who work with children who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing, commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. The guide highlights key terms, risk factors and consequences, emerging service strategies, challenges of providing services, and recommendations for how victim and support service providers can improve the prevention, identification, and response to these crimes.

The guide is derived from the OJJDP-commissioned report, Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States, which provides a comprehensive overview of the issues and recommendations for action. Because the report is broad in its reach, IOM and NRC have decided to develop a series of supplementary guides targeted to specific sectors that serve children. The recently released guide for victim and support service providers is the first in the series; future guides will focus on providing professionals in the legal and health care sectors with information and resources on commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors.

"The commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors should be understood as acts of abuse and violence against children and adolescents," said OJJDP Administrator Robert L. Listenbee. "It is my hope that this series of guides will assist professionals responsible for protecting and serving young people to more effectively prevent, identify, and respond to these problems."

Resources:

The guide for providers of victim and support services is available online.

The report, Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States, may be accessed on IOM’s Web site.

IOM and NRC have released an infographic illustrating how schools, police, victim services, businesses, the legal system, and health care providers can collaborate in preventing, identifying, and responding to the commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors.

Learn more about OJJDP’s programs and resources addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children.