Abstract
The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) conceptually encompasses any form of abuse that exploits children in a sexual nature, including child sex trafficking, child pornography, and sex tourism. This chapter will begin by discussing the organized crime model fueling the global CSEC crisis and theories aimed at the disruption of this enterprise. This will be followed by a review of the state of the literature regarding the historical context, definitions, and victim and offender characteristics of child sex trafficking, child pornography, and sex tourism. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of the role of the family and cultural considerations including race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status in prevention and intervention efforts to end the exploitation of children.
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Williams, J., Lim, C., Trull, V., Higgins, M. (2022). The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89999-2_182
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