Child Exploitation and Trafficking


Book Description

Each year, more than two million children around the world fall victim to commercial sexual exploitation. The numbers of children sexually abused for non-commercial purposes are even higher. Put simply, the growing, increasingly-organized epidemic of child exploitation demands a coordinated response. The aim of this book is to bring some fresh thinking to this complicated area of the law, and to help erase some of its counterproductive mythology. The book provides the first comprehensive, practical introduction to the history and present-day reality of child sexual exploitation, as well as to the interconnected web of domestic and transnational federal laws and law enforcement efforts launched in response thereto. It is written from the distinctive perspective of those who have spent their careers in the trenches investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating these intricate and commonly emotional cases. Relying on real-world examples, the authors offer proscriptive and descriptive practical advice and reform proposals aimed at those involved at all levels in this difficult area. Serving as a “first-line” resource for clear, practical thinking on the range of complex, and often misunderstood, investigative, prosecutorial, and rehabilitative issues surrounding child exploitation cases, this work is a must-have for anyone with interest in the protection of children from sexual exploitation and trafficking.




Responding to Human Trafficking


Book Description

Signed into law in 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) defined the crime of human trafficking and brought attention to an issue previously unknown to most Americans. But while human trafficking is widely considered a serious and despicable crime, there has been far less consensus as to how to approach the problem—owing in part to a pervasive emphasis on forced prostitution that overshadows repugnant practices in other labor sectors affecting vulnerable populations. Responding to Human Trafficking examines the ways in which cultural perceptions of sexual exploitation and victimhood inform the drafting, interpretation, and implementation of U.S. antitrafficking law, as well as the law's effects on trafficking victims. Drawing from interviews with social workers and case managers, attorneys, investigators, and government administrators as well as trafficked persons, Alicia W. Peters explores how cultural and symbolic frameworks regarding sex, gender, and victimization were incorporated into the drafting of the TVPA and have been replicated through the interpretation and implementation of the law. Tracing the path of the TVPA over the course of nearly a decade, Responding to Human Trafficking reveals the profound gaps in understanding that pervade implementation as service providers and criminal justice authorities strive to collaborate and perform their duties. Ultimately, this sensitive ethnography sheds light on the complex and wide-ranging effects of the TVPA on the victims it was designed to protect.




Preventing Child Trafficking


Book Description

How can a public health approach advance efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to child trafficking? Child trafficking is widely recognized as one of the critical issues of our day, prompting calls to action at the global, national, and local levels. Yet it is unclear whether the strategies and tools used to counter this exploitation—most of which involve law enforcement and social services—have actually reduced the prevalence of trafficking. In Preventing Child Trafficking, Jonathan Todres and Angela Diaz explore how the public health field can play a comprehensive, integrated role in preventing, identifying, and responding to child trafficking. Describing the depth and breadth of trafficking's impact on children while exploring the limitations in current responses, Todres and Diaz argue that public health frameworks offer important insights into the problem, with detailed chapters on how professionals and organizations can identify and respond effectively to at-risk and trafficked children. Drawing on the authors' years of experience working on this issue—Diaz is a doctor at a frontline medical center serving at-risk youth, victims, and survivors; Todres is a legal expert on legislative and policy initiatives to address child trafficking—the book maps out a public health approach to child trafficking, the role of the health care sector, and the prospects for building a comprehensive response. Providing readers with advice geared toward better understanding trafficking's root causes, this revelatory book concludes by mapping out a "public health toolkit" that can be used by anyone who is interested in preventing child trafficking, from policymakers to professionals who work with children.




Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons


Book Description

In the light of the urgent need for cooperative and collaborative action against trafficking, this publication presents examples of promising practice from around the world relating to trafficking interventions. It is hoped that the guidance offered, the practices showcased and the resources recommended in this Toolkit will inspire and assist policymakers, law enforcers, judges, prosecutors, victim service providers and members of civil society in playing their role in the global effort against trafficking in persons. The present edition is an updated and expanded version of the Toolkit published in 2006.




Sex Trafficking


Book Description

Trafficking in persons, particularly the trafficking of women into sexual servitude (sex trafficking) has generated much attention over the past decade. This book provides a critical examination of the international and national frameworks developed to respond to this issue - focused both on the design of policy responses and their implementation. Uniquely it brings together, and brings to life, the voices of policymakers, non-government agencies and trafficked women. The analysis is grounded in rich empirical work and research in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. This book examines how sex trafficking has been mobilized within anti-trafficking policies across the globe and offers a close examination of the dominant international framework, drawing upon a rich and diverse set of case studies: Australia, Serbia and Thailand. This analysis draws upon over 100 interviews with trafficking 'experts' across the three nations-including policymakers, police, immigration authorities, socialworkers, lawyers, UN agencies, local and international NGOs, activists. Critically, it also draws upon the voices of women who have been trafficked.




Sex Trafficking in the United States


Book Description

Sex Trafficking in the United States is a unique exploration of the underlying dynamics of sex trafficking. This comprehensive volume examines the common risk factors for those who become victims, and the barriers they face when they try to leave. It also looks at how and why sex traffickers enter the industry. A chapter on buyers presents what we know about their motivations, the prevalence of bought sex, and criminal justice policies that target them. Sex Trafficking in the United States describes how the justice system, activists, and individuals can engage in advocating for victims of sex trafficking. It also offers recommendations for practice and policy and suggestions for cultural change. Andrea J. Nichols approaches sex-trafficking-related theories, research, policies, and practice from neoliberal, abolitionist, feminist, criminological, and sociological perspectives. She confronts competing views of the relationship between pornography, prostitution, and sex trafficking, as well as the contribution of weak social institutions and safety nets to the spread of sex trafficking. She also explores the link between identity-based oppression, societal marginalization, and the risk of victimization. She clearly accounts for the role of race, ethnicity, immigrant status, LGBTQ identities, age, sex, and intellectual disability in heightening the risk of trafficking and how social services and the criminal justice and healthcare systems can best respond. This textbook is essential for understanding the mechanics of a pervasive industry and curbing its spread among at-risk populations. Please visit our supplemental materials page (https://cup.columbia.edu/extras/supplement/sex-trafficking-united-states) to find teaching aids, including PowerPoints, access to a test bank, and a sample syllabus.




Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States


Book Description

Every day in the United States, children and adolescents are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Despite the serious and long-term consequences for victims as well as their families, communities, and society, efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes are largely under supported, inefficient, uncoordinated, and unevaluated. Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States examines commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States under age 18. According to this report, efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes require better collaborative approaches that build upon the capabilities of people and entities from a range of sectors. In addition, such efforts need to confront demand and the individuals who commit and benefit from these crimes. The report recommends increased awareness and understanding, strengthening of the law's response, strengthening of research to advance understanding and to support the development of prevention and intervention strategies, support for multi-sector and interagency collaboration, and creation of a digital information-sharing platform. A nation that is unaware of these problems or disengaged from solutions unwittingly contributes to the ongoing abuse of minors. If acted upon in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, the recommendations of Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States can help advance and strengthen the nation's emerging efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the United States.




Human Trafficking


Book Description

What is human trafficking? This volume critically examines the competing discourses surrounding human trafficking, the conceptual basis of global responses and the impact of these horrific acts worldwide.




Strengthening School Counselor Advocacy and Practice for Important Populations and Difficult Topics


Book Description

School counselors often struggle to feel confident in delivering effective assistance to students due to a variety of reasons that currently do not have enough research or information developed. This leads to a struggle for counselors to adequately address tough and relevant issues. With these issues remaining unaddressed, or addressed less effectively, there is a concern that school counselors cannot mitigate these issues due to not being adequately informed. This can lead to a lifetime of consequences for students. Strengthening School Counselor Advocacy and Practice for Important Populations and Difficult Topics presents emerging research that seek to answer the tough and often unaddressed questions, target present-day issues of student populations, and prepare school counselors to feel confident and competent in their counseling and advocacy practice. These chapters, using the newest information available, will address these concerns and provide the best counseling work possible for underserved populations. While covering research on counseling for students with chronic illnesses, mixed-statuses, family issues, minority students, LGBTQ+ youth, and more, this book is ideal for school counselors, counseling educators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in school counseling and meeting the needs of diverse and important populations of students.




Human Trafficking in Ohio


Book Description

Wilson and Dalton explore the extent and characteristics of human trafficking in Ohio through both a content analysis of newspaper accounts and interviews with criminal justice officials and social service providers. The authors identify and discuss sex-trafficking cases in Toledo and forced-labor cases in Columbus, and compare the two cities' responses to human trafficking. They conclude with suggestions on how these responses might be improved.