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Abstract: The commercial sexual exploitation of children involves the exchange of sex with a child or teen for tangible or intangible goods. Extant research has identified multiple risk factors associated with this phenomena including age, socioeconomic status, and histories of child maltreatment. This article explores the influence of internalized racism or colorism as a potential risk factor for youth who might be vulnerable to sexual exploitation. These constructs involve defining personal self-worth or placing a value on members of one's own ethnic group, based on comparisons of skin color or other features associated with a privileged race. Belsky's ecological perspective is applied as a framework for understanding how internalized racism might increase the vulnerability of certain youth to sexual exploitation.
Keywords: internalized racism; colorism; child sexual exploitation; sex trafficking
Each state in the United States, with the exception of a few counties in Nevada, imposes criminal sanctions for those who encourage or compel persons to sell sex for money, and for those who exchange sex for money (Law, 2000; Raphael, Reichert, & Powers, 2010). The exchange of sex for money is also referred to as commercial sex and is defined by federal legislation through the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 as "any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person" (U.S. Department of State, 2000). One form of commercial sex is the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), defined as the "sexual abuse of a minor for economic gain. This form of exploitation includes acts of physical abuse, pornography, prostitution, and the smuggling of children for unlawful purposes" (National Institute of Justice, 2007). Estes and Weiner (2005) noted that "economic exchanges involved in CSEC may be monetary or non-monetary (e.g., food, shelter, drugs), but in every case involves maximum benefits to the exploiter and an abrogation of the basic rights, dignity, autonomy, and physical and mental well-being of the child involved" (p. 95). CSEC can involve either an actual exchange of money, goods, or services, or just the promise of an exchange, for the sexual use of a child or youth under the age of 18 years.
Unlike adult sexual exploitation, the presence of force, fraud, or coercion does not need...