According to a study by the University of Pennsylvania, a child is defined as any male or female under the age of 18, and with that, they have detailed there are approximately 300,000 youth currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial and sexual exploitation. Other organizations have estimated this number is as high as 800,000.
We do not currently have a definitive number for the serious problem of child prostitution itself, although judges, police, and outreach workers report both the increase in the numbers and a decrease in the ages of the children involved. Unfortunately, we know of no studies to date that specifically and primarily address juvenile prostitution. Accurately quantifying the existing problem of victimized children (as opposed to “at risk”) is difficult for a variety of reasons. For example, in the case of children exploited through prostitution, many of the prostituted youth are charged with some other offenses such as substance abuse; thus data that relies on crime reports masks the true prevalence of the problem.
According to the 2002 National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children (NISMART II), 1.6 million children are estimated to run away from home each year, and it is estimated that approximately 40,000 of those children will have some type of involvement in or brush with sexual trafficking. Many of these victims are abandoned or neglected children who are usually not reported as missing to law enforcement or are runaways from their homes or the foster care system. Also, when arrested, many juvenile prostitutes have fraudulent identification and social security cards and are reluctant to help authorities determine their true age and identity. In addition, sexual trafficking, particularly of children, continues to move even further underground. With the increasing use of pagers, cell phones, and the Internet, victims are even less visible today than they were in the past.
So, in my estimation, the idea that there might be 100,000 children who are trafficked in this way in 2005-2006 numbers could be reasonable. Even if the numbers aren't as high as 100,000, it is a deplorable situation, and one that we must guard against.
1) I don’t care about “at risk”. That’s vague. And it is a classic trick that is used to inflate numbers.
2) Number of victimized children is hard to know. BINGO!
3) 40,000 will have some brush with sexual trafficking. Again, too vague to be useful. I’m reminded of the astronomical numbers of college girls who are raped each year. Rape being defined so broadly that a girl who is kissed by a boy she doesn’t like has been “raped”.
4) Again, the number is hard to know. BINGO!
At most – AT MOST! – this citation allows one to speculate about 40,000 victims. Yet you read this and conclude that the concerns about 100,00 victims may be reasonable.
IMO, it’s all crap and free-mongering. No offense meant to you.
There are between 4 and 4.5 million births in the U.S. each year. If 1.6 million children run away each year, that works out to more than one child in three running away. Does that strike you as credible? Does it make you wonder about the definition of "running away"? Does it make you wonder how many come back home? There are lies, damned lies, and statistics, and we need to be skeptical of statistical claims, especially when they originate from someone with an agenda.
Thank you. Yes people, bad stuff happens in this country too, whether you see it or not (or choose to believe it).