On Nov. 21, 2011, then-Governor Deval Patrick signed House Bill
3808, An Act Relative to the Commercial Exploitation of People,
into law. The human trafficking and sexual servitude law added a
fifth category of Child In Need of Services petitions (now called
Child Requiring Assistance or CRA petitions following the 2012
legislative overhaul) for a "sexually exploited child." On February
19, 2012, the law went into effect. The following year, from Jan.
1, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2013, over 5,000 CRA applications were filed
statewide. None were for a child alleged to be sexually exploited.
And yet, across the United States, nearly 300,000 children are
trafficked for sex each year.
In Massachusetts, the numbers are no less dire. Since 2005, at
least 480 children from Suffolk County alone have received services
related to commercial sexual exploitation. There are likely many
more statewide, but the clandestine nature of sexual exploitation
leaves these children in the shadows of society, unidentified and
unaccounted for. Survivors sharing their history and other
anecdotal evidence demonstrate that commercial sexual exploitation
is an issue confronting communities from Worcester to Lowell and
Allston/Brighton to East Boston. Research shows that almost 98
percent of these children are girls and more than half are girls of
color. The median age of these girls is 15 years old, although the
mean age is 13 years old and the youngest was age 11. Over 75
percent of these girls are U.S. citizens or permanent
residents.
Many risk factors increase a child's vulnerability to entering
the commercial sex trade. Previous abuse or neglect; poverty;
homelessness; running away; living in high crime neighborhoods or
violent communities; being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender;
having mental health issues or having parents who do; using
substances or having parents who do; and living in cities with
international or large airports all increase a child's likelihood
of becoming sexually exploited. Many live double lives, attending
school and living with their families or in state-run group homes
during the day and being exploited by night. The trauma associated
with sexual exploitation includes not only a higher incidence of
sexually-transmitted diseases, but also depression, anxiety,
post-traumatic stress disorder, and long-lasting emotional and
psychological scars.
A relatively untapped but potentially powerful link to services
is the addition of a sexually exploited child CRA category. This
addition reflects an evolution in understanding that these children
are not offenders, but victims. A CRA child alleged to be a
'sexually exploited child' is any person under the age of 18 who
has been subjected to sexual exploitation as a result of being a
victim of a crime of sexual servitude, sex trafficking or
inducement of a minor; engages in common night walking/street
walking; or engages in sexual conduct with another person in return
for a fee or in exchange for food, shelter, clothing, education or
care. A parent or police officer may file a petition in the
juvenile court requesting assistance for a sexually exploited
child. Parents and police officers are doing so more now than ever,
but many children still suffer undetected by the criminal justice
and child welfare systems. Contributing to this problem are the
many forms that sexual exploitation can take. No longer is this
crime limited to mail-order brides, brothels, and pornography. The
proliferation of the internet and electronic technology has created
a sexual tourism industry, generating millions of dollars each
year. One study estimated that one child sex trafficker can
generate as much as $650,000 annually by exploiting four
children.
Solutions for increasing awareness and interventions for these
youth require a multidisciplinary approach. The most successful
laws treat these girls as victims of crimes, not criminals.
Historically, prostituted females were arrested ten times more
frequently for selling sex than males were for buying sex.
Extricating these youth from exploitation requires decreasing
criminalization of victims while increasing access to
interventions. The "safe harbor" provisions included in section 39L
of Chapter 119 of the Massachusetts General Laws as amended by
Chapter 178 of the Acts of 2011 takes important steps in
actualizing this goal, but critical gaps remain. This section of
the law provides the district attorney or the judge the discretion
to stay an arraignment of a juvenile charged with common night
walking and hold a hearing on whether a care and protection
petition or child requiring assistance petition should be filed,
thus diverting a delinquency case to a child welfare case. Many
times, however, sexually exploited children are arrested not for
common night walking but for street crimes (such as drug use,
loitering and trespassing) or survival crimes (such as shoplifting
and evading public fares). The law has yet to create any
opportunity for sexually exploited youth charged with these crimes
to be diverted from delinquency proceedings to supportive
services.
Juvenile and child welfare practitioners should be vigilant in
recognizing and supporting the youth in their caseloads that are
sexually exploited or are at risk for becoming exploited.
Identification is not always obvious. Youth who wear clothing
inconsistent with the season, wear designer label clothing or
shoes, present with drug use, are homeless or experience state
agency removal from the home, have bruising, or who have certain
tattooing may all be at risk for being commercially exploited.
Children charged with lesser crimes such as those noted above are
also at risk, but even some normative adolescent non-criminal
behavior, such as running away, also increases the risk for
becoming sexually exploited. Traffickers regularly target these
runaway children by offering to meet their needs in ways their
current custodian, including the Department of Children and
Families, does not.
Unfortunately, the traumatic history that makes these young
people vulnerable to sexual exploitation creates a mistrust of
adults that can impede a successful attorney-client relationship.
Success in engaging these youth routinely requires a patient and
non-judgmental approach. Adopting the language of the child
("boyfriend" versus "pimp"), awareness of the child's physical
stance (threatened or at ease), preparedness for discussion of
sexual topics, maintaining appropriate boundaries, utilization of
open ended questions, and positive reinforcement (celebration of
small successes, giving credit for surviving difficult
circumstances, etc.) are all recognized as ways to connect with
this population. Chief among these considerations is the need to be
consistent and supportive in accessing the right services at the
right time, as dictated by the child's position.
Moving forward, communities should employ evidence based models
of engaging this population. An empowerment paradigm fueled by
community support and the strength of survivors has successfully
lead to the extrication of many of these girls. Increasing access
to safe housing, a trauma informed continuum of care, street
outreach, and a pathway to safety and stability are essential.
Attention to youth aging out of the child welfare system is also
critical, as this population is at risk of becoming homeless,
losing social supports as their cases close, and thus increasing
their vulnerability.
Although creation of multidisciplinary teams to address the
issues uniquely faced by this population improves outcomes, defense
attorneys for children are often not included in these task forces
and committees. As treatment of these youth moves away from
criminal prosecution to supportive interventions, inclusion of
children's attorneys is critical to reaching some of the most
vulnerable and least likely to be identified children. These youth
often form strong and trusting relationships with their long-term
attorneys bound by attorney-client privilege, and these attorneys
must be involved in service provider meetings and task forces in
order to reach these children and link them to the right services,
consistent with their client's position. While much progress has
been made in implementing supportive services in lieu of criminal
prosecution for this unique population in Massachusetts and
utilizing the "sexually exploited child" CRA is an important part
of that progress, several known risk pathways remain unaddressed,
leaving many children vulnerable.