ABSTRACT
Introduction Juvenile sex trafficking (JST), or profit-driven sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, is defined as a severe form of human trafficking (Trafficking Victims Protection Act [TVPA] 2000). With the passing of the TVPA, governmental and nongovernmental agencies initiated and intensified efforts to combat JST, first internationally and then domestically within the USA (Reid 2010, 2013). In spite of these initiatives, the problem continues to affect various locations in the USA, driven by demand and sustained by societal tolerance and persistent minimization of the problem and its longterm consequences (Adelson 2008;Kreston 2000;Reid and Jones 2011; Shively et al. 2012). The two primary forms of JST are child pornography,which entails selling of sexual images, videos, or webcasts of live sex shows involving minors, and prostitution of minors, which involves the physical exchange of sex with minors for money or other commodities and services. Sex traffickers who profit from the sexual exploitation of minors may be strangers, boyfriends, girlfriends, employers, drug dealers, family members, or other trusted adults.
