Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Schools: A proposed model for schools

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Walker & Hannor-Walker, LLC/ Liberty University

First Presenter’s Email Address

thannorwalker@liberty.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. TeShaunda Hannor-Walker is CEO of Walker & Hannor-Walker, LLC, a Licensed Clinical Therapist, Assistant Professor, and author of How to Raise a Successful Child with ADD. She served 15 years in the public schools and was named, The American School Counselor Association’s "Top Ten School Counselors in America." She is also a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Dr. Hannor-Walker has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed journals and presented at local, state, national, and international conferences for over a decade on various counseling topics.

Second Presenter's Institution

Liberty University

Second Presenter’s Email Address

seoliver@liberty.edu

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Sarah Kitchens, Ph.D., is an associate professor and instructional mentor at Liberty University. Prior to joining the faculty in 2014, Dr. Kitchens worked as a professional school counselor (K-12). Dr. Kitchens’ professional experience also includes non-profit work as a counselor. She is also a National Certified Counselor (NCC).

Third Presenter's Institution

Liberty University

Third Presenter’s Email Address

lricks1@liberty.edu

Third Presenter's Brief Biography

Lacey Ricks, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Liberty University. Prior to Liberty University, Dr. Ricks worked as an assistant professor at the University of West Georgia and a school counselor for seven years. She is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and has presented at state, regional, and national conferences.

Location

Session Three Breakouts (Ballroom A)

Strand #1

Hands: Safety & Violence Prevention

Strand #2

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Relevance

This session more than any other session directly relates to the “hands” strand because it’s a human rights issue that impacts schools. Helping schools better understand its impact on survivors is crucial. The commercial sexual exploitation of children can have a lasting impact, which goes beyond academics. Learning how to identify victims, provide the appropriate evidence-based approaches, and learn a school-based model.

Brief Program Description

With Georgia becoming a hotspot for human trafficking, school professionals having a better understanding of the trauma that surrounds victims of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Schools learning how to identify victims, provide the appropriate evidence-based approaches, and implementing a school-based model who help provide support to survivors while in school.

Summary

In the US, Atlanta is considered a “major hub for trafficking in the nation” (Griffin, 2018) and only second to Las Vegas for sex trafficking. A study conducted by Georgia Cares reported that over 90% of underaged sex trafficking victims in Georgia were enrolled in school when exploited (Griffin, 2018). For many children, school is a safe place for them. In the US alone, human trafficking is a $9.8 billion supply and demand driven industry where pimps commonly sell minor girls for $400.00 an hour several times a day (Smith et al., 2009). Statistics show that 1 out of 5 girls and 1 out 10 boys will be sexually exploited by the time they reach adulthood with the average age for exploitation is 13 (Griffin, 2018). In other countries, the age drops to age 3 (Griffin, 2018). Because the research is limited on CSEC in the US, schools are often unaware, unprepared, and misinformed on how to identify victims of CSEC. Most of these victims are in schools every day undetected and unsupported. Often these victims exhibit behaviors that are misdiagnosed as ODD, ADHD and other childhood disorders when they may be symptoms of trauma.

Because school is often a safe place for children, the session will target school professionals, individuals working in private practice, and community agencies. The session will also provide attendees with in-person handouts and materials that focus on best-practice strategies and approaches for schools and mental health professionals working with children and adolescents. A list of research-based resources will also be shared along with helpful websites and psychoeducation material.

Evidence

On any given day in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery, 4.8 million of them in “forced sexual exploitation” with over one million of those being children[HWT(fC&FS1] (International Labor Office [ILO], 2017). “Sex trafficking is a crime of exploitation; traffickers’ profit at the expense of their victims by compelling them to perform labor or to engage in commercial sex in every region of the United States and around the world” (U.S. Department of State [DOS], n.d., para.1). It is estimated that thousands of children are sexually exploited each year in the United States (Barnert et al., 2016); however, it can be difficult to compile reliable data on the prevalence of this crime (ILO, 2017).

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a global public health problem (Harrison & Todd, 2021) and many of the underaged victims of human trafficking are students in the American school system (U.S. Department of Education [DOE] & Office of Safe and Supportive Schools [OSSS], 2021). As a result, it is essential that schools take on the challenge of identifying and reporting suspected trafficking while connecting victims to counseling services and resources (U.S. DOE & OSSS, 2021).

Schools have an important role in providing a safe environment for educating, preventing, and supporting victims of sex trafficking and other forms of trauma (US Department of Education, 2021). Unfortunately, many school professionals do not feel prepared to address this growing problem nor do they believe they are adequately trained to offer the necessary support. Researchers Rizo et al. (2021) surveyed school principals to learn how schools are “addressing sex trafficking and reaching students” and found school administrators were “limited in their efforts to teach and respond to sex trafficking” (p.202). With the appropriate training in prevention, evidence-based practices, and resources, schools could possibly aid in the efforts to end CSEC.

References:

Barnert, E. S., Abrams, S., Azzi, V. F., Ryan, G., Brook, R., & Chung, P. J. (2015;2016;).

Identifying best practices for “Safe harbor” legislation to protect child sex trafficking

victims: Decriminalization alone is not sufficient. Child Abuse & Neglect, 51, 249-262.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.10.002

Harrison, M. M., & Todd, S. R. (2021). Understanding, Recognizing, and Responding to

Human Trafficking in the Schools. In M. Rausch, & L. Gallo (Ed.), Strengthening

School Counselor Advocacy and Practice for Important Populations and Difficult

Topics (pp. 337-357). IGI Global. http://doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-7319-8.ch018

International Labor Office. (2017). Forced Labor and Forced Marriage. Geneva. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_575479.pdf

Rizo, C. F., Klein, L., Chesworth, B. R., Franchino-Olsen, H., Villodas, M. L., Macy, R. J., & Martin, S. L. (2021). Educating students about sex trafficking and responding to students’

needs: Principals’ perceptions and practices. Journal of Human trafficking, 7(2), 202-223.

https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2019.1698922

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe & Supportive Schools. (2021). Human trafficking

in America: What schools can do to prevent, respond, and help students to recover from human trafficking (2nd ed.).

https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NCSSLE 2021HumanTraffickingGuide-508.pdf

[HWT(fC&FS1]Source: “Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage.” International Labor Organization, Walk Free Foundation, International Organization for Migration, 2017 United States https[HWT(fC&FS1] ://www.ecpatusa.org/statistics

[HWT(fC&FS1]https://www.ecpatusa.org/statistics

Learning Objective 1

Participants will learn both the risk factors, warning signs for identifying victims, and laws connected to Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).

Learning Objective 2

Participants will learn evidence-based approaches, screening tools, and a school-based model.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will learn various preventive measures schools can implement to help end the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).

Keyword Descriptors

CSEC, Sexual, Exploitation, Children, Commercial, trafficking, abuse

Presentation Year

2023

Start Date

3-6-2023 2:45 PM

End Date

3-6-2023 4:00 PM

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Mar 6th, 2:45 PM Mar 6th, 4:00 PM

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Schools: A proposed model for schools

Session Three Breakouts (Ballroom A)

With Georgia becoming a hotspot for human trafficking, school professionals having a better understanding of the trauma that surrounds victims of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Schools learning how to identify victims, provide the appropriate evidence-based approaches, and implementing a school-based model who help provide support to survivors while in school.