Public Can Help Reverse Devastating Trend of Treating Child Sex Trafficking Victims as Criminals

RENO, Nev., Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Domestic child sex trafficking is on the rise as criminals relish in its profitability and the lower likelihood of severe punishment. With an estimated 293,000 American children at risk of commercial sexual exploitation, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has made it a priority to help judges identify victims at risk of sex trafficking – and the public can help.

"Awareness is paramount," Yasmin Vafa, Esq., Director of Law and Policy for Human Rights Projects for Girls (Rights4Girls), an organization focused on gender-based violence. "Many of the victims come from the foster care system where they have been abused. Many are runaways or kidnapped, forced into sex slavery."

"In some states, when trafficked children come into contact with the court system, they're processed through the juvenile system as offenders," said Shawn C. Marsh, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer of Juvenile Law at the NCJFCJ.

Technology is compounding the problem. "Traffickers can 'post' a body for sale and in real time," said Marsh whose work appears in journals such as Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice and Victims & Offenders. "Offenders have become sophisticated using GPS or phone tracking, and code words in posts and texts."

The NCJFCJ will host the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Child Sex Trafficking: Improving Outcomes for Vulnerable and Victimized Children through Judicial Action, Nov. 3-5. The training will help participants exercise judicial leadership within the court to improve outcomes for victims.

"It became critical to partner with the NCJFCJ to reframe what we were seeing in courtrooms. Judges are key to sparking systems change by advancing alternatives to detention and providing treatment to these youth rather than locking them up," said Vafa.

While the NCJFCJ's training is for judicial officers, the public can help identify and assist victims by taking the following steps:

• Know the signs. Girls who show signs of withdrawal, disassociation, aggressiveness and an inability to engage may be at risk.
• If it looks suspicious, contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 888-373-7888, text 233733 (Text "HELP" or "INFO") or visit traffickingresourcecenter.org.

The Reno, Nev.-based NCJFCJ is the nation's oldest judicial membership organization, focused on improving the effectiveness of our juvenile and family courts. They are a leader in research and policy development the juvenile and family justice fields.

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SOURCE National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ)