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Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and the Emergence of Safe Harbor Legislation: Implications for Policy and Practice

  • Sexual Disorders (G Dwyer, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is an enduring social problem that has recently become the focus of numerous legislative initiatives. In particular, recent federal- and state-level legislation have sought to reclassify youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation as victims rather than as offenders. So-called Safe Harbor laws have been developed and centered on decriminalization of “juvenile prostitution.” In addition to or instead of decriminalization, Safe Harbor policies also include diversion, law enforcement training, and increased penalties for adults seeking sexual contact with minors. The purpose of this paper is to review the underlying rationale of Safe Harbor laws, examine specific policy responses currently enacted by the states, and consider the effects of policy variations. Directions for future research and policy are addressed.

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Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

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Conflict of Interest

Ryan T. Shields and Elizabeth J. Letourneau declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 415 N. Washington Street Room 519, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA

    Ryan T. Shields & Elizabeth J. Letourneau

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  1. Ryan T. Shields
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  2. Elizabeth J. Letourneau
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Correspondence to Ryan T. Shields.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sexual Disorders

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Shields, R.T., Letourneau, E.J. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and the Emergence of Safe Harbor Legislation: Implications for Policy and Practice. Curr Psychiatry Rep 17, 11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0553-5

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