In the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, “’Sex trafficking’ means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.” In sex trafficking, there is always a third party.
The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is defined as sexual abuse of a minor for economic gain. It involves physical abuse, pornography, prostitution, and the smuggling of children for unlawful purposes.
IN CHICAGO:
*The average age of entry into regular involvement in the sex trade is 16.4 years.[1]
*Other studies from around the country cite a much lower average age of entry, such as 12 years old.
*Regardless of the type of prostitution activity, high percentages of women experience violence while engaged in prostitution from customers, pimps, intimate partners, managers, police officers, and neighbors.[2]
*70% of domestically trafficked women interviewed stated that they were recruited into the sex trade,the remaining 30% started on their own but ended up with pimps at the time of the interview. [2]
*Half the women in escort services gave a “cut” to someone else; three- fourths of these women believed they would be harmed if they stopped.[2]
*41% of women on the street and 44% of women in drug houses gave money to someone else; most believed they would be harmed if they stopped (75% and 80%, respectively).[2]
*There is a high rate of incarceration among women in the sex trade, especially women of color, and especially those on the street.
*Of 235 women surveyed in Cook County jail, 54% reported that they had been homeless within 30 days of entry. Of those women, 58% were regularly involved in prostitution. 34% of the overall sample of women interviewed that day were regularly involved in prostitution. [3]
[1] Jody Raphael and Jessica Ashley, “Domestic sex trafficking of Chicago women and girls,” (report, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, Chicago 2008) [2] Jody Raphael & Deborah L. Shapiro, “Sisters Speak Out; The Lives and Needs of Prostituted Women in Chicago” (report, Center for Impact Research, Chicago 2002) [3]“Unlocking the Options for Women: A survey of women in Cook County Jail” Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago 2002.
