U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

National Institute of Justice 

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: 

What Do We Know and What Do We Do About It? 

Special REPORT

DEC. 07 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij
U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

810 Seventh Street N.W. 

Washington, DC 20531 

Michael B. Mukasey 

Attorney General 

Cybele K. Daley 

Acting Assistant Attorney General 

David W. Hagy 

Acting Principal Deputy Director, National Institute of Justice 

This and other publications and products of the National Institute 

of Justice can be found at: 

National Institute of Justice 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij 

Office of Justice Programs 

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov 
DEC. 07 

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: 

What Do We Know and 

What Do We Do About It? 

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the 

authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. 

NCJ 215733 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

ABOUT THIS REPORT
 

Much investigation remains to 

be done regarding the commercial sexual exploitation of 

children (CSEC). As with other 

“low visibility” crimes, there is 

a lurking “dark figure” of unreported cases. Moreover, little 

reliable information exists 

about the types of people 

who exploit children in 

this way. 

Research has revealed that 

CSEC takes place at three levels: local exploitation by one or 

a few individuals, small regional networks involving multiple 

adults and children, and large 

national or international sex 

crime networks where children are traded and sold as 

commodities. 

What prevention and 

intervention programs 

exist? 

Current U.S. outreach programs include the National 

Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline and 40 regional task 

forces funded by the Office 

of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. There 

is also a Federal law that 

requires Internet service 

providers to report child 

pornography on their systems 

to NCMEC. Federal programs 

include the FBI’s Innocent 

Images National Initiative, 

which targets crimes conducted via the Internet, and a 

U.S. Postal Service program 

focusing on child obscenity 

sent through the mail. On an 

international level, the United 

States participates in World 

Congresses on CSEC and 

supports United Nations 

programs that attack CSEC 

on the global stage. 

What more can 

be done? 

■	 Keep pace with new technologies, such as those 

that create “virtual” images 

of children in pornographic 

situations. 

■	 Educate potential victims 

about the tactics used by 

recruiters. 

■	 Educate the public about 

the great harm caused by 

CSEC. 

■	 Improve parental supervision of vulnerable children. 

■	 Enhance the role of 

women and children in 

societies where they are 

treated as sex objects. 

ii 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

Jay Albanese 

Commercial Sexual Exploitation 

of Children: 

What Do We Know and 

What Do We Do About It? 

About the Author 

Jay Albanese, Ph.D., is a 

professor at Virginia 

Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder 

School of Government 

and Public Affairs and a 

previous director of NIJ’s 

International Center. 

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is 

sexual abuse of a minor for 

economic gain. It involves 

physical abuse, pornography, 

prostitution, and the smuggling of children for unlawful 

purposes. Although there 

have been efforts in recent 

years to better define CSEC, 

more needs to be done to 

publicize its existence and 

develop strategies to reduce 

its incidence. 

The number of known cases 

of CSEC is growing. Children 

are being kidnapped and sold 

into forced labor in the illegal 

sex industry. Some impoverished families are selling their 

children to traffickers in the 

hope of giving the children a 

better life. There are documented reports of children 

being held captive in basements and other slavelike 

conditions where they are 

beaten, malnourished, threatened, and sexually exploited. 

In the United States, it is 

more common for children to 

be sexually exploited for 

monetary gain by family and 

friends. Often, the cycle of 

exploitation begins when an 

adult family member or friend 

sexually abuses a minor child 

in his or her care. This can 

escalate to systematic sexual 

behavior involving multiple 

children, and to photographing or videotaping sexual 

abuse and distributing it 

through the Internet. 

The criminal justice system 

has a significant role to play 

in addressing commercial 

child sexual exploitation, 

especially in its more organized forms: serial victimization of multiple children; 

networks of adult exploiters; 

and the kidnapping, smuggling, and sale of children as 

commodities. As technology 

and communication become 

more advanced and global 

travel becomes easier, the 

effort to prevent CSEC must 

become more sophisticated. 

1 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

How extensive is the 

problem? 

To date, no concerted effort 

has been made to gather 

reliable data regarding the 

extent of the commercial 

sexual exploitation of children. As with other so-called 

“low visibility” crimes, the 

greatest challenge in assessing the prevalence of CSEC 

is the size of the “dark figure,” i.e., for every report of 

CSEC, how many cases go 

unreported? 

In 1996, the U.S. Congress 

established the Exploited 

Child Unit within the National 

Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Two 

years later, NCMEC launched 

a toll-free telephone line, 

CyberTipline (1–800–843–5678), 

and a Web site (www. 

cybertipline.com) to increase 

Exhibit 1. Calls to NCMEC CyberTipline 

Year Tips Increase 

1998	 4,578 — 

the public’s ability to report 

cases of child sexual exploitation. From 1998 to 2004, 

there were almost 300,000 

hotline tips regarding child 

sexual exploitation (see 

exhibit 1). 

Increases in CyberTipline 

calls may be due to a number 

of reasons: 

■	 Growing awareness of 

dedicated ways to report 

child sexual exploitation. 

■	 Rapid growth worldwide in 

the use of the Internet. 

■	 A Federal law requiring 

Internet service providers 

to report child pornography 

on their systems to NCMEC. 

■	 An increase in the 

prevalence of the sexual 

exploitation of children. 

NCMEC estimates that 1 in 

5 girls and 1 in 10 boys are 

sexually abused or assaulted 

before they reach adulthood; 

less than 35 percent of those 

cases are reported to authori1999 9,673 111%	 ties. Unfortunately, the data 

on which these estimates are 2000	 19,276 99% based are incomplete.

2001	 24,460 27% 

2002 43,097 76%	 Interviews with police officers, 

victim service providers, 2003	 81,987 90% 

and, if possible, victims and 2004 112,017 37% offenders may help develop 

Source: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children a better understanding of the 

2 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

problem. More accurate data 

on the commercial sexual 

exploitation of children is necessary before the success of 

prevention and intervention 

measures can be evaluated. 

Continuum of abuse, 

recruitment, and 

exploitation 

The case histories of child 

sexual exploitation victims 

often reveal a continuum of 

abuse, frequently starting 

with abuse by a family member (see exhibit 2). 

A study on recruitment, 

based on a survey of child 

and youth service providers 

and interviews with officials 

at governmental and nongovernmental organizations, 

estimated that pimps control 

about 50 percent of the girls 

engaged in prostitution in the 

United States.1 Pimps scout 

bus stations, arcades, and 

malls, focusing on girls who 

appear to be runaways without money or job skills. 

Pimps, or their procurers, 

befriend the children by 

showing affection and buying 

them meals, clothes, jewelry, 

or video games in exchange 

for sex. 

Eventually, pimps use the children’s emotional and financial 

dependency to coerce them 

into selling sex for money 

that is turned over to the 

pimp. In time, the relationship 

becomes less emotional and 

more “contractual” as the 

pimp sets a minimum on the 

child’s earnings. In one case, 

for example, a pimp recruited 

girls from Vancouver, British 

Columbia, and took them to 

Hawaii, withholding their 

papers so they could not 

leave. The girls were drugged, 

Exhibit 2. Continuum of abuse and commercial exploitation* 

Adult family member or friend sexually abuses the child. 

Adult abuses the child regularly. 

Abuser seeks other children. 

Photographs/videos shared via Internet. 

Photos/videos sold via Internet. 

Family members or friends pimp children. 

Children kidnapped, sold for prostitution and sex tourism. 

*Based on numerous case histories. 

3 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

handcuffed, and told that if 

they did not comply, photographs of them engaging in 

sex would be sent to magazines or to their families.2 

Traffickers also recruit children by convincing families— 

through “success” stories— 

that their children will be 

safer, better taken care of, 

and taught a useful skill or 

trade. Cash may be paid to 

families, to be “repaid” 

through their child’s earnings. 

(Sometimes a “contract” is 

created that implies a legal 

indebtedness, which provides 

even more leverage to force 

a child into prostitution.) 

One Mexican study revealed 

that, upon arriving in Tijuana, 14- to 17-year-old girls were 

recruited by “middlemen” 

(local exploiters), beaten, and 

threatened that their families 

would be harmed. Other 

means of maintaining control 

over the prostituted children 

included giving them drugs 

and keeping them in forced 

isolation. In addition to their 

sexual exploitation in brothels 

and on the streets, the girls in 

this study were forced to 

work in hotels, boarding 

houses, parks, bus stations, 

bars, nightclubs, beauty and 

massage parlors, modeling 

and escort agencies, and 

spas. Adults seeking sex with 

children obtained referrals 

from waiters, doormen, taxi 

drivers, receptionists, nightclub security guards, valet 

parking attendants, and street 

vendors.3 

How is CSEC 

organized? 

Little reliable information is 

available regarding the types 

of people and networks involved in CSEC. Existing 

data come from a small 

number of research studies 

and reports of nongovernmental organizations, none 

of which provide a complete 

picture of CSEC. 

Research based on interviews 

with pimps and sexually exploited children in several U.S. 

cities found that most pimps 

manage one to three girls at a 

time and operate along the following lines:4 ■	 At least half appear to operate at the local level only 

and are not part of a larger 

criminal network. 

■	 At least one-quarter may 

be tied to citywide crime 

rings (often engaged in 

drug sales as well as prostitution) and are constantly 

looking for new recruits. 

4 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

■	 About 15 percent are tied 

to regional or national 

networks that are well 

financed and organized, 

in which the pimps communicate easily with one 

another electronically (e.g., 

via cell phone); provide 

support services such as 

recruitment, selection, 

indoctrination, and movement of new girls; and 

occasionally assist in locating and disciplining girls 

who escape from other 

pimps. 

■	 About 10 percent appear 

to be tied to international 

sex crime networks and, 

through them, actively participate in the international 

trafficking of children. 

Some pimps also are part 

of international drug networks and may use children to move drugs into 

and across the United 

States. 

Exhibit 3, “Organization of 

commercial sexual exploitation of children,” illustrates 

the organizational structures 

of CSEC. 

Exhibit 3. Organization of commercial sexual exploitation of children 

Local exploitation by one 

person (or a few persons). 

Citywide or regional network National or international sex 

involving multiple children and crime network where children 

often other criminal activity, such are trafficked and marketed as 

as drugs. commodities. 

Common Features 

• Minors are exploited for monetary gain and the sexual gratification of the exploiters 

and their clients. 

• New “recruits” are constantly sought. 

• False promises of a “better life” are a central recruitment tool. 

• Once exploited, children are often threatened or assaulted to ensure obedience and 

prevent escape. 

5 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

Roles in organized 

trafficking 

The following roles exist in 

organized trafficking: ■	 Investors or “arrangers” 

who provide money for 

trafficking operations and 

oversee the criminal 

enterprise. 

■	 Recruiters who find the 

children and may collect 

fees from their families. 

■	 Transporters who move the 

children through the origin, 

transit, and destination 

countries. 

■	 Public officials who receive 

bribes to provide identity 

documents and facilitate 

exiting and entering 

countries. 

■	 Informers who gather 

information on border 

surveillance, law enforcement activities, and 

immigration and transit 

procedures. 

■	 Debt collectors in destination countries who collect 

trafficking fees, which can 

be $30,000 or more per 

person. 

■	 Money movers who launder trafficking proceeds. 

Researchers estimate that 

10–15 percent of children living on the streets in the United States are trafficked for 

sexual purposes.5 This figure 

includes U.S. residents trafficked inside and outside the 

country and children from 

other countries. 

Some foreign children trafficked into the United States 

work in sweatshops under 

coercive and sometimes 

slavelike conditions. Others 

become victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Traffickers are skilled in providing 

fake documents with false 

names and ages. Sometimes 

an easily acquired tourist visa 

suffices. Often traffickers tell 

children that if they escape or 

cooperate with law enforcement, previous cash advances 

to their families and other 

money “owed” will be collected from their parents, 

who may also be physically 

harmed.6 

“Sex tourism”—including 

Americans who travel to destinations in or outside of the 

United States to have sex 

with children—is also a significant problem in some locations. According to one study 

of the situation in Tijuana, 

Mexico, “Sex tourism is 

something that happens daily 

as Americans cross the border 

6 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

with the purpose of having 

a sexual exchange with 

minors.”7 Sex tourists usually 

frequent relatively poor countries that have well-developed 

commercial sex industries, 

although the travel pattern 

is also reversed, with sex 

tourists coming from poorer 

countries (for example, 

Argentina, India, and Mexico) 

to such affluent sex-tourist 

destinations as Amsterdam, 

Las Vegas, and New York.8 

Pornography 

Children also may be commercially sexually exploited 

for purposes of pornography. 

The producers of child 

pornography include members of organized crime, 

pedophiles, sex tourists, 

and family members. 

Organized crime. Organized 

crime pornographers have 

been reported to involve children under 9 years of age, 

sometimes portraying them 

in photos and videos as 

adults. Well-organized networks of pornographers in 

Mexico, for example, have 

bought girls and boys in poor 

regions and rotated them 

from place to place, keeping 

them under the influence of 

drugs. In another case, procurers told parents their children (girls and boys aged 6 to 

12) would be given an education and a job; parents 

received monthly payments 

but did not know that their 

children were the subject of 

pornography.9 

Child sex rings. Child 

pornography produced by 

sex rings is used in members’ personal collections 

and is often offered for publication, sale, or exchange via 

the Internet or e-mail.10 

Pedophiles. Child pornography may play a key role 

in molestation by pedophiles, 

helping them justify their 

conduct and assisting them 

in seducing victims and blackmailing children to avoid 

exposure. Some pedophiles 

have sold homemade videos 

and photographs of child 

pornography, using the profits 

to help finance trips to sex 

tourism destinations.11 

Parents and other family 

members. Children may be 

photographed by parents 

as part of intrafamilial child 

sexual abuse. A U.S.-focused 

study noted that although 

child prostitution primarily 

involves runaways, about 75 

percent of child pornography 

victims are living at home 

when they are exploited.12 

This suggests that a significant portion of commercial 

7 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

child sexual exploitation Social Security number. The 

begins in home settings. local sheriff, working with the 

FBI, secured warrants and 

Reducing commercial arrested the suspect, who 

pled guilty to distributing 

sexual exploitation of child pornography.13 

children Training community groups 

As with all borderless crimes, and law enforcement officials 

reducing the commercial also would help reduce the 

sexual exploitation of children incidence of CSEC. The 

requires a multipronged ap- Office of Juvenile Justice and 

proach aimed at increasing Delinquency Prevention, an 

public awareness, promoting agency within the U.S. Dethe public’s ability to report partment of Justice, funds 

incidents, and strengthening 40 regional task forces that 

national and international provide expertise in CSEC 

interdiction and prosecution. investigations. 

In Virginia, for example, an Public awareness of CSEC 

Internet service provider has also been greatly incalled the National Center creased in recent years 

for Missing & Exploited through legislation. Most 

Children’s CyberTipline to countries have laws—with 

report that a subscriber had substantial penalties—that 

posted pornographic photos prohibit the sexual exploitainvolving children to an online tion of children, including 

group. Analysts used Internet kidnapping, smuggling, and, 

search engines to find the more recently, trafficking in 

suspect’s name, address, and human beings. Despite this 

TEENAGE PROSTITUTES: VICTIMS, NOT OFFENDERS 

When child-victims of commercial sexual exploitation come to the attention of authorities, the 

public often regards them as teenage prostitutes, but this is not an accurate description. Rather, 

when a minor, with few visible choices, sells sex at the hands of an exploitative adult, it is generally 

a means of survival. The term ‘teenage prostitution’ also overlooks the legal status of minors who 

have greater legal protections regarding sexual conduct because of their emotional and physical 

immaturity and the need to protect them from exploitative adults. Therefore, it is important that 

victims of child sexual exploitation are not mistaken for offenders. 

8 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

progress, however, the globalization of crime, dramatically 

increased access to the Internet, and ease of travel have 

brought new challenges to 

the prevention of CSEC. 

Global agreements. One 

way to meet these challenges is through international agreements and treaties. 

The first World Congress 

Against Commercial Sexual 

Exploitation of Children—held 

in Stockholm in 1996—was 

attended by 122 nations and 

brought CSEC to light as a 

worldwide problem. Five 

years later, the second World 

Congress attracted three 

times as many participants. 

Another tool that promotes 

international cooperation is 

the United Nations Convention Against Transnational 

Organized Crime, which has 

an anti-human-trafficking 

“protocol” focused on 

women and children. As of 

the summer of 2007, 134 

countries had ratified the protocol and another 13 had 

signed but not yet ratified it. 

Law enforcement agencies in 

countries that ratify the protocol are required to cooperate 

in the identification of offenders and trafficked persons, 

share information about trafficking methods, and train 

investigators and victim support personnel. 

Signatory countries are also 

required to implement security and border controls and 

develop standards for passports, visas, and other travel 

documents. The protocol also 

calls for measures to prevent 

revictimization—that is, when 

victims are returned to their 

countries of origin only to be 

trafficked out again. Although 

the U.N. protocol represents 

an enormous step forward, 

some have argued for a separate international agreement 

to explicitly address the 

abduction of children for purposes of sex trafficking, 

pornography, or prostitution. 

U.S. initiatives. The FBI’s 

Innocent Images National 

Initiative is one example of a 

multiagency effort to combat 

child pornography and child 

sexual exploitation via the 

Internet. A component of the 

FBI’s Cyber Crimes Program, 

the Innocent Images initiative 

provides coordination and 

analysis of case information 

among agencies and governments in an effort to establish 

a law enforcement presence 

and deterrence on the Internet. From 1996 to 2006, the 

number of Innocent Images 

cases rose from 113 to 

2,135.14 The U.S. Postal 

9 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

Service has a program focusing on child pornography sent 

through the mail.15 Federal 

cases of CSEC are prosecuted by the Child Exploitation 

and Obscenity Section of the 

U.S. Department of Justice, 

which is also involved in training and policy development 

in the areas of child pornography, trafficking, and related 

crimes.16 

What can we do? 

In addition to supporting 

existing intervention and 

prevention measures, these 

actions could have a dramatic 

impact on reducing the commercial sexual exploitation of 

children: ■ Keep pace with technology. ■ Educate potential victims. ■ Educate the public. ■	 Improve parental 

supervision. 

■	 Enhance the role of 

women and children in 

society. 

Keep pace with technology. The U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security, in partnership with the National 

Center for Missing & 

Exploited Children, manages 

Operation Predator, a law 

enforcement initiative to 

protect children from pornographers, child prostitution 

rings, Internet predators, and 

human traffickers. Launched 

in 2003 and coordinated 

through the Department’s 

Bureau of Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement (ICE), 

Operation Predator uses 

the Internet to identify child 

predators. 

ICE also works with the FBI, 

the U.S. Postal Inspection 

Service, the U.S. Secret 

Service, and the Justice 

Department on the National 

Child Victim Identification 

Program, the Nation’s first 

comprehensive effort to help 

police around the world identify and rescue children who 

are being sexually exploited. 

The National Child Victim 

Identification Program has 

identified children in hundreds 

of pornographic images. In 

one case, for example, the 

New York State Police intercepted child pornography 

images and sent them to ICE 

agents who were able to 

match the images to children. 

The defendant in that case 

was convicted, despite his 

defense that the images were 

not photographs of actual children but, rather, were “virtual” or “morphed.”17 This 

issue—virtual versus “real” 

images—demonstrates how 

important it is for the criminal 

10 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

justice system to keep pace 

with evolving technologies. 

Educate potential victims. 

Children from poor communities in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia are especially 

vulnerable to sexual exploitation for commercial purposes.18 Innovative, creative 

approaches must be used to 

help educate these populations about the problem. 

For example, the International Organization for Migration, 

a nongovernmental organization, produced Shattered 

Dreams, an animated film 

that tells the story of two 

sisters who travel to the “big 

city” (Bangkok) for a better 

life, but end up in forced 

prostitution. When the film 

was shown to children in 

Thailand who had been rescued from forced labor in factories, 90 percent of them 

said that they would not have 

gone to Bangkok if they had 

known about the risk of 

forced prostitution depicted 

in the film.19 

The United Nations Office 

of Drugs and Crime has produced public service television announcements in six 

languages aimed at raising 

awareness of trafficking in 

women and children. 

Educate the public. The 

commercial sexual exploitation of children is a demanddriven crime. Although it is 

important to deter consumers 

through investigation and 

prosecution, it is also crucial 

to raise the perceptions of 

consumers about the harm 

that is caused. Highly publicized shutdowns of sex tour 

operators—through sting 

operations or undercover 

agents posing online as 

children, for example—also 

may improve deterrence. 

Improve parental supervision. Many children who 

become victims of commercial sexual exploitation have 

suffered from absent, negligent, or abusive parenting. 

A survey of adult prostitutes 

at an Atlanta jail, for example, 

revealed that nearly half had 

been sexually molested as 

children.20 Carefully planned 

and evaluated child abuse 

prevention programs, better 

treatment of victims, and 

more attention focused on 

abusive households would 

help address the issues that 

can underlie CSEC. 

Enhance the role of women 

and children in society. In 

some places, women and 

children are considered 

unworthy of respect and 

stereotyped as sex objects. 

11 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

Poverty, globalization, porous 

borders, aggressive sex 

tourism campaigns, Internet 

pornography, mail-order 

brides, intercountry adoption, 

and visiting foreign military 

forces: all of these factors 

can affect attitudes toward 

women and children.21 

Researchers in the U.S. have 

pointed out that some popular culture and music glorifies 

pimping and treating young 

women like property.22 

Changing these perceptions 

may help decrease CSEC. 

Directions for 

the future 

Additional research that 

investigates intervention 

and prevention measures— 

including an assessment of 

the risk factors for children— 

would be an important step 

toward reducing the commercial sexual exploitation of 

children. In particular, more 

research is needed to assess 

the impact of deterrence and 

education approaches. 

For more information 

Visit NIJ’s Web site at www. 

ojp.usdoj.gov/nij and enter 

“CSEC” or “Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children” 

in the search box. 

12 
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 

Notes 

1. Estes, Richard J., and Neil Alan 

Weiner, ”The Commercial Sexual 

Exploitation of Children in the U.S., 

Canada, and Mexico,” revised final 

report for National Institute of 

Justice, grant number 1999–IJ–CX– 

0030. Philadelphia: University of 

Pennsylvania, School of Social Work, 

Center for the Study of Youth Policy, 

2002: 110–111. Available online at 

www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/ 

CSEC.htm. Accessed November 1, 

2007. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Klain, Eva J., Prostitution 

of Children and Child-Sex Tourism: 

An Analysis of Domestic and 

International Responses, Washington, DC: National Center for Missing 

& Exploited Children, 1999. 

4. Estes and Weiner, “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children 

in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico” 

(see note 1). 

5. Ibid. 

6. U.S. Department of State, 

Trafficking in Persons Report, 

Washington, DC: U.S. Department 

of State, June 2003; Barnitz, Laura 

A., Commercial Sexual Exploitation 

of Children: Youth Involved in 

Prostitution, Pornography, and Sex 

Trafficking, Washington, DC: Youth 

Advocate Program International, 

1998; The Protection Project, 

Trafficking in Persons, Especially 

Women and Children in the 

Countries of the Americas, 

Washington, DC: Johns Hopkins 

University School of Advanced 

International Studies, 2000. 

7. Klain, Prostitution of Children and 

Child-Sex Tourism: An Analysis of 

Domestic and International 

Responses (see note 3). 

8. Ibid. 

9. Healy, Margaret A., “Child 

Pornography: An International 

Perspective,” a working document 

for the 1996 World Congress Against 

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of 

Children, Stockholm, Sweden, 

August 27–31, 1996; Azaola, Elena, 

Stolen Childhood: Girl and Boy 

Victims of Sexual Exploitation in 

Mexico, Mexico City: Comunicación 

Gráfica y Representaciones, 2001. 

10. Klain, Eva J., Heather J. Davies, 

and Molly A. Hicks, Child Pornography: The Criminal Justice System 

Response, Washington, DC: National 

Center for Missing & Exploited 

Children, 2001. 

11. Healy, “Child Pornography: An 

International Perspective” (see note 

9). 

12. Estes, “The Commercial Sexual 

Exploitation of Children in the U.S., 

Canada, and Mexico” (see note 1). 

13. National Center for Missing & 

Exploited Children, “Winchester Man 

Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography 

Charges,” US Fed News (October 19, 

2005). 

14. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

Innocent Images National Initiative. 

www.fbi.gov/publications/innocent. 

htm. Accessed November 1, 2007. 

13 
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL CRIME / DEC. 07 

15. U.S. Postal Inspection Service, 

Mailing of Child Pornography. 

www.usps.com/postalinspectors/ 

kid-porn.htm. Accessed November 1, 

2007. 

16. U.S. Department of Justice, Child 

Exploitation and Obscenity Section. 

www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos. 

Accessed November 1, 2007 

17. Seper, Jerry, “Initiative Targets 

Child Exploitation,” Washington 

Times (July 10, 2003). 

18. EchoHawk, Larry, “Child Sexual 

Abuse in Indian Country: Is the 

Guardian Keeping in Mind the 

Seventh Generation?,” New York 

University Journal of Legislation & 

Public Policy 5 (2001/2002): 83–128; 

Mora, José Eduardo, “Rights— 

Central America: Poverty Spurs 

Growth of Child Sex Rings,” Inter 

Press Service (October 14, 2003). 

19. “‘Shattered Dreams’ to Educate 

Migrants,” The Nation (Thailand) 

(November 12, 2003). 

20. Hansen, Jane O., “Child Prostitution: Where is Lloydia?” Atlanta 

Journal-Constitution (November 12, 

2000). 

21. Vilches, Judge Nimfa Cuesta 

“Commentary: Trafficking of Women 

and Children,” Businessworld 

(December 17, 2003); Media Institute 

of Southern Africa, “We Should All 

Be Ashamed by the Sexual Exploitation of Girls,” Africa News (November 25, 2003); see also Fernando, 

Jude L., “Children’s Rights: Beyond 

the Impasse,” The Annals of the 

American Academy of Political and 

Social Science 575 (May 2001): 

8–24. 

22. Thompson, Carla, “Hottest Hip 

Hop Glorifies Pimping,” Inter Press 

Service (November 11, 2003); 

Albanese, Jay S., “Looking for a New 

Approach to an Old Problem: The 

Future of Obscenity and Pornography,” in Visions for Change: Crime 

and Justice in the 21st Century (4th 

edition), ed. R. Muraskin and A. 

Roberts, Upper Saddle River, NJ: 

Prentice Hall, 2005. 

14 
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