Combating Child Exploitation

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

Child exploitation is defined as using a minor child for profit, power, status, sexual gratification, or other purposes. The demarcation between economic and sexual abuses are common. The sexual exploitation of a child is often defined as the act of employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing or coercing a minor child to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce visual depictions. Relevant legislation such as the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Mann Act and enforcement agencies such as the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and The U.S. Child Exploitation Investigations Unit will be analyzed in a literature review to encompass both the economic and sexual forms of child exploitation. Technological advances have put children at more risk for sexual exploitation, even while lawmakers have helped reduce the labor exploitation of minors. This poster will highlight directions in understanding exploitation and strategies for combatting it.

Author

• Gabrielle K. Davis, Western Carolina University