TY - JOUR
T1 - Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and the Emergence of Safe Harbor Legislation
T2 - Implications for Policy and Practice
AU - Shields, Ryan T.
AU - Letourneau, Elizabeth J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/3
Y1 - 2015/3
N2 - Commercial sexual exploitation of children is an enduring social problem that has recently become the focus of numerous legislative initiatives. In particular, recent federal- and state-level legislation have sought to reclassify youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation as victims rather than as offenders. So-called Safe Harbor laws have been developed and centered on decriminalization of “juvenile prostitution.” In addition to or instead of decriminalization, Safe Harbor policies also include diversion, law enforcement training, and increased penalties for adults seeking sexual contact with minors. The purpose of this paper is to review the underlying rationale of Safe Harbor laws, examine specific policy responses currently enacted by the states, and consider the effects of policy variations. Directions for future research and policy are addressed.
AB - Commercial sexual exploitation of children is an enduring social problem that has recently become the focus of numerous legislative initiatives. In particular, recent federal- and state-level legislation have sought to reclassify youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation as victims rather than as offenders. So-called Safe Harbor laws have been developed and centered on decriminalization of “juvenile prostitution.” In addition to or instead of decriminalization, Safe Harbor policies also include diversion, law enforcement training, and increased penalties for adults seeking sexual contact with minors. The purpose of this paper is to review the underlying rationale of Safe Harbor laws, examine specific policy responses currently enacted by the states, and consider the effects of policy variations. Directions for future research and policy are addressed.
KW - Commercial sexual exploitation of children
KW - Juvenile prostitution
KW - Safe harbor
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U2 - 10.1007/s11920-015-0553-5
DO - 10.1007/s11920-015-0553-5
M3 - Review article
C2 - 25652252
AN - SCOPUS:84922470102
VL - 17
JO - Current Psychiatry Reports
JF - Current Psychiatry Reports
SN - 1523-3812
IS - 3
ER -