CSEC Toolkit Menu
Overview
The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Toolkit serves to support the methodical gathering of information on CSEC by the general audience and, specifically, the development of CSEC 101 trainings by the Regional Training Academies, community colleges and other contractors.
Background
The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) initiative, as outlined in ACL No. 14-62, aims to inform and train county child welfare workers and out-of-home caregivers regarding the amended Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section 300.
The amended code clarified that commercially sexually exploited children fall within the purview of California’s Child Welfare system. To raise awareness and improve identification among the Child Welfare community on the issue of commercially sexually exploited children, CSEC 101 trainings will be provided by the Regional Training Academies, community colleges and other contractors statewide. CSEC 101 trainings will be standardized at the learning objective level; no formal CSEC 101 curriculum will be endorsed.
What is Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)?
CSEC involves the sexual exploitation of minors for economic profit. It includes “any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person” (Clayton, Krugman and Simon, 2013).
As established by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), CSEC activities include:
- trafficking for sexual purposes
- prostitution
- sex tourism
- mail-order bride trade and early marriage
- pornography
- stripping
- performing in sexual venues such as peep shows or clubs
California's connection
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified 3 of 13 U.S. High-Intensity Child Prostitution areas in California: the San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas (Walker, 2013).
The average age of onset for commercial sexual exploitation is 11 to 13 for boys and 12 to 14 for girls. Alarmingly, the life expectancy of a child involved in commercial sexual exploitation is seven years from the first date of his/her exploitation with the leading causes of death being HIV/AIDs or homicide (Walker, 2013).
For a comprehensive review of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, please review the following materials: