September 10, 2001
Children's Sexual Exploitation
Underestimated, Study Finds
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
WASHINGTON, Sept. A detailed study of child sexual exploitation in North America has concluded that the problem is far more widespread than has been previously documented.
The study, to be released on
Monday by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, relied on interviews
with
victims, child welfare workers and law enforcement officials in 28 cities
in United States, Mexico and Canada from
January 1999 through last March.
It also relied on the latest
public and private estimates on the number of runaway and homeless youths
in the three
countries and on estimates by law enforcement officials and child welfare
authorities of the number of these children
sexually exploited.
The study estimated that in the United States 325,000 children a year were
subjected to sexual exploitation, including
prostitution, use in pornography and molestation. The study's authors said
the number of abused children was much
higher than was previously thought.
"The magnitude of the problem
is really something that is not understood," said Richard J. Estes, one
of the main
authors of the report and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Social Work.
The study estimated that among
the sexually exploited children in the United States, 121,911 ran away from
home;
6,793 fled mental hospitals, foster homes or other institutions; and 51,602
were thrown out of their home by a parent
or guardian. It said that about 11,500 were foreign-born children who came
into the United States either legally or
illegally.
The study found that 47 percent
of sexual assaults on children were committed by
relatives; 49 percent by acquaintances, such as a teacher, a coach or a neighbor;
and
only 4 percent by strangers. The researchers also reported that about 20 percent
of sexually exploited children who
were interviewed were involved in prostitution rings that worked across state
lines.
The study found that 95 percent
of the commercial sex involving boys was with men, and it found that at least
25
percent of girls in gangs had had sex with other members as part of the gang
rites. The report provides a profile of
people who engage in sex with minors: nearly all men and about a quarter of
them married with children. The profile
was compiled from interviews with victims and arrest records.
The study's authors said official
reports seriously underestimated the problem. The study found gaps in policies
and
services to combat sexual exploitation and help the victims.
The researchers' recommendations
for dealing with the problem, included increasing penalties, enforcing existing
laws
more vigorously and expanding the federal government's role in combating abuse.
The data from Mexico and Canada
were not available today.
