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Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States A Guide for the Legal Sector (2014) / Chapter Skim
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7 Recommended Strategies
Pages 35-40

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From page 35...
... INCREASE AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING A lack of training among professionals who interact with children and adolescents -- especially those who are vulnerable -- is a barrier to timely and appropriate action to assist victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking and prevent these crimes among youth at risk. These professionals are often dismayed to learn that they have missed opportunities to help these youth, and want to know more about how to identify and assist them.
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From page 36...
... Public Awareness Campaigns A lack of public awareness is a significant barrier to preventing, identifying, and responding to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the United States. To address this gap, existing public awareness initiatives could be expanded to encompass these crimes.
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From page 37...
... In addition, despite laws in every state that enable the prosecution of individuals who purchase sex with a minor, function as exploiters and traffickers, or otherwise sexually exploit children and adolescents, and despite the hard work of prosecutors and law enforcement in many jurisdictions, individuals who sexually exploit children and adolescents have largely escaped accountability. RECOMMENDATIONS TO STRENGTHEN THE LAW'S RESPONSE Develop laws and policies that redirect young victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking from arrest and prosecution to systems, agencies, and services that are equipped to meet their needs.
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From page 38...
... RECOMMENDATION TO SUPPORT COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION Develop guidelines on and provide technical assistance to support multisector collaboration and coordination. SUPPORT INFORMATION SHARING "The difficulty of locating services and programs available to vic tims is a very real obstacle for children and adolescents seeking to access services and for professionals and caregivers trying to help them." One of the most significant barriers to preventing, identifying, and responding to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors is a lack of reliable, timely information.
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From page 39...
... FINAL THOUGHTS Efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the United States are in the same developmental stage that efforts to deal with physical and sexual abuse of children were in during the 1970s, when a handful of multidisciplinary approaches for addressing those problems were emerging around the country. Approaches to domestic and interpersonal violence were at a similar stage in the early 1980s.
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Key Terms

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  • support collaboration
  • view themselves
  • caregivers trying
  • support multisector
  • organizations maintain

  • adolescents child
  • appropriate action
  • individual risk
  • current noteworthy
  • extremely limited

  • significant barrier
  • purchase sex
  • despite laws
  • legal sector
  • increase awareness

  • hard work
  • awareness initiatives
  • status quo
  • support services
  • training activities


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