Prostitution of children under the age of 18 years, child pornography and the (often related) sale and trafficking of children are crimes of violence against children. They are forms of economic exploitation akin to forced labour or slavery. Such children often suffer irreparable damage to their physical and mental health. They face early pregnancy and risk sexually transmitted diseases, particularly AIDS. They are often inadequately protected by the law and may be treated as criminals.
Children who have been the victims of a trafficking operation will have suffered physical and/or sexual abuse, often of an extreme kind. They are beaten, raped, tortured, sometimes killed. They endure this suffering at an age when they should normally be trusting, healthy and energetic youngsters. During childhood children are developing in a physical, social and psychological way. When trauma occurs during this important stage in life, the consequences are devastating, and affect all aspects of their lives. Children can lose their independence, and the capacity to lead a meaningful adult life. They suffer resultant long-term negative effects on their health and life expectancy. They can suffer stigma in their families and communities when they return home. They can become involved in criminal activities.
Some children (former victims or others) may be recruited to take part in the exploitation of other children, or may set up their own systems of exploitation, thus perpetuating the cycle of child abuse.
Often children show a complex pattern of symptoms, related to the multi traumatic experiences. For some children the effects are clearly visible; others however suppress their feelings and symptoms, and it can take a while before symptoms show up; this can be especially the case with psychological symptoms. Some children will even repress and forget the traumatic experience, the memory of which will surface later on.
All children who have been sexually exploited will suffer some form of physical or mental harm. Where children have been enslaved and have had no control over their lives during their exploitation, they suffer trauma that is equivalent to the results of torture. Usually, the longer the exploitation goes on, the more health problems that will be experienced. But some children will suffer life-long damage very quickly, such as by contracting HIV.
The various effects on children that can result from being sexually exploited are summarized below:
Effects on Physical Health may include:
• Victims acquire various diseases, including venereal diseases and HIV infection
• Victims suffer a whole range of symptoms such as: nausea, headache, chest pain
and respiratory problems, dizziness, stomach and abdominal pain, backache, skin
diseases
• Girl victims can become pregnant
• Girl victims can suffer complications of pregnancy and be made to undergo abortions
• Victims frequently suffer physical deprivations, including beatings, sensory deprivation
and food deprivation
• Victims endure bruises, scratches, wounds on sexual organs
Effects on Mental Health and Emotional Responses may include:
• Depression
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Feelings of guilt and shame
• Suicidal thoughts
• Exhaustion and sleeping problems (not sleeping or oversleeping)
• Flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety attacks, irritability and other symptoms of stress
• Dissociation, or emotional withdrawal
• Inability to concentrate/limited ability to organize and structure
• Loss of self-confidence (sometimes leading to overconfident manner to compensate)
• Low self-image, believing themselves to be worthless
• Low self-esteem/feelings of self-hate
• Easily feel ‘picked on’
• See themselves as saleable commodities
• Feelings of degradation
• Anxiety
• Confused sense of time
• Confused feelings about love and sex
• Nervous breakdowns, sometimes with permanent effect
• Anger
Effects on Behaviour may include:
• Victims can be mistrustful of adults
• Victims adopt anti-social behaviour
• Victims can find it difficult to relate to others, including within the family and at work
• Victims frequently develop drug and alcohol addictions
• Suppression of anger can result in outburst of anger against others or against
themselves (self harm)
• Victims can become aggressive and angry towards others around them
• Victims can develop dependant relationships with their abusers
• Victims worry that they will not be able to have a normal life
• Victims worry about people in their families and communities knowing what has happened to them, and become afraid to go home
• Victims develop eating disorders (not eating, overeating or binge-eating)
• Victims become hyper-active
• Victims are unable to discriminate in relationships (mix with the ‘wrong’ people)
• Victims become flirtatious and sexually provocative/wear sexy adult clothing
• Victims begin to steal/hoard
• Victims like to have and spend money
• Victims start to abuse or bully others, lie and cheat
• Victims run away from a protective environment
• Victims feel powerless and need to ‘be in control’ by getting their own way (temper
tantrums)
• Victims harm themselves (self-inflicted cuts or other injuries)
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