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Detection of Child Sexual Exploitation Through the Evaluation of Risk Indicators in Spain Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España

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Abstract

RESUMEN Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España Beatriz Benavente1, Lluis Ballester1, Jordi Pich1 y Noemí Pereda2 1Universitat de les Illes Balears. 2Universidad de Barcelona. Child sexual exploitation in Spain is a problem that requires the early detection of victims. There are few tools that enable this detection, and none are available in Spanish. This study presents a tool for assessing the risk of suffering sexual exploitation in minors from 11 years of age, by selecting the indicators that best predict it. Based on a systematic review of publications in Europe, a battery of indicators was prepared, then studied and filtered via consultation with experts using a Delphi panel to create the first instrument, which was then evaluated in a second phase consultation with professionals considered as peers. The final construct was completed by four experts from Spanish universities. The tool for detecting the risk of sexual exploitation in childhood and adolescence, EDR-ESIA, has proven to be a good detection and screening instrument, for application in educational services, primary health care, and social services. La explotación sexual infantil y adolescente en España es un problema que requiere de una detección temprana de sus víctimas. Son escasas las herramientas que permitan llevar a cabo esta detección y no se dispone de ninguna en lengua española. En este estudio se presenta una herramienta para la valoración del riesgo de sufrir explotación sexual en menores desde los 11 años mediante la selección de aquellos indicadores que mejor la predicen. A partir de una revisión sistemática de publicaciones en Europa, se preparó una batería de indicadores, los cuales fueron estudiados y filtrados en una consulta a expertos mediante panel Delphi para generar el primer instrumento que fue sometido a valoración en una segunda fase de consulta con profesionales considerados como pares. El diseño final se acabó de perfilar por cuatro expertos de universidades españolas. La herramienta de detección del riesgo de explotación sexual en la infancia y adolescencia EDR-ESIA ha demostrado ser un buen instrumento de detección y cribado, para su aplicación en servicios educativos, de atención primaria de salud y servicios sociales de nuestro país. Cómo citar: Benavente, B., Ballester, L., Pich, J., y Pereda, N. (2022). Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España. Papeles del psicólogo, 43(2), 90-95. https://doi.org/10.23923/pap.psicol.2993 Autor de correspondencia: beatriz.benavente@uib.es Artículo Papeles del Psicólogo (2022) 43 (2) 90-95 Revista del Consejo General de la Psicología de España
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ABSTRACT
RESUMEN
Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia
mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España

.
.
        
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        
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



            


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
           


Keywords:





Palabras clave:







INFORMACIÓN
Detection of Child Sexual Exploitation Through the Evaluation of Risk Indica-
tors in Spain
 
Papeles del psicólogo, 43


Papeles del Psicólogo (2022) 43 (2) 90-95
Revista del Consejo General de la Psicología de España
https://www.papelesdelpsicologo.es/ • ISSN 0214–7823
Papeles del Psicólogo
Psychologist Papers
91
Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España
Introducción
           
             
        
    
            
         
            


      
        
         
     

            

                
             


    Benavente

 

           
        


             
  ;  
 

         

       
         
  

       
           
              

         
  
  
 
         
         
        
   
           

   
   

       
            
            

         
      ;  


     

        
         
        
          
             
           
       
        
   
        

        
          
  
      
   
        
       
     ;    
       
    
 
        

 
       
   
       
          
       

Desarrollo de la EDR-ESIA

          
        
          
           


                 


         
         
        
         

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Benavente et al. / Papeles del Psicólogo (2022) 43(2) 90-95
         
         
           
             
           
        
            
           
  

 
           
       
        
   
.
Tabla 1.
Fases de validación del instrumento de detección del riesgo de ESIA.





























;























Descripción de la EDR-ESIA
         

  
       
   
     
       
        
     

         
       

.
Tabla 2.
Indicadores diana de ESIA seleccionados














   
  
      
         
       


       


      
        
              
            
          
       
          
  
          
   
    
       
 
            
.

       
   
        
93
Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España

         


        
         
         


          

        

       
       
        
         


         
  

Discusión
  
 
  
          

          
          
      



        
        
;    ;      
     
            
        
            
       
       


           

           
   
    
      
    
      
         
             
     
   



       


          
 
            
        
  

                
         
             
           
       
             
  
  

        
          
           

           
           
     
          
          





          
  
      
           
         

Conclusiones

         
  
       
 ;     ;   
   
        ;  
 ;         
           
         
        
   

94
Benavente et al. / Papeles del Psicólogo (2022) 43(2) 90-95
     
  
     
            

   
          


Conicto de intereses

Referencias


Anuario de Psicología, 48
       
        
 Pediatric Emergency Care, 33

 
         
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49

   Validation of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation-
Identication Tool (CSE-IT)

 Not a world away: The sexual exploitation of children
and young people in Northern Ireland


      Child sexual exploitation:
Denition & guide for professionals: extended text  



 Psicothema, 33

          

 Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.

 I thought I
was the only one. The only one in the world
       
 

        Rapid evidence
assessment: The sexual exploitation of boys and young men 
   

         
  Child sexual abuse and exploitation: Understanding risk
and vulnerability    


      Sexual exploitation risk assessment
framework: A pilot study

 
        
     Journal of Interpersonal Violence,
31
          
       
 Children and
Youth Services Review, 92

       Commercial sexual exploitation of
children in the U.S. and Mexico


         

 Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 10


      
 Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22



Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 27



 Children and Youth Services Review, 73


 
 Pediatrics, 135

  

Pediatric Emergency Care, 34

       Safeguarding
children at risk of sexual exploitation. Risk assessment toolkit. 

 
 Child Abuse & Neglect, 38

           

 Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 11

  

     Child Abuse & Neglect, 100



Journal of Sex Research and Social Policy,
9.
95
Detección de la explotación sexual en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la evaluación de indicadores de riesgo en España
          
   Women & Therapy, 40

            
       
 Child Abuse & Neglect, 87

    Guía práctica para la investigación ética
en violencia contra la infancia y la adolescencia  


         
Papeles del Psicólogo. 

  
Medwave, 21
   The U.S. National Human Tracking Hotline.


         
          
          



           
     
 Child Abuse & Neglect, 90

          
   


       
 Frontiers
in Public Health, 5


 Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21

... Table 1, using a chronological criterion, summarizes the name of the instrument, the organization and people who created it, the year it was developed and reviewed, the population it was aimed at and validated with, the language(s) it is available in, medium of application (paper, on-line, telephone), form of administration (self-applied or hetero-applied), and whether or not it has a proprietary license for its use. Nearly all the instruments were developed or reviewed during the last decade, with the oldest review in 2007 (Clutton & Coles, 2007) and the most recent in 2021 (Benavente et al., 2021b(Benavente et al., , 2022. ...
... Almost all of the studies involved a variety of ethnographic groups (Native Americans, African Americans, European Americans, Asians, Hispanics, non-Hispanic Whites, and others). The studies included high-risk populations for various reasons (suspicion/certainty of CSE, having been arrested, child welfare services involved, etc.) (e.g., Andretta et al., 2016;Benavente et al., 2022;Chang et al., 2015;Greenbaum et al., 2018;Panlilio et al., 2019). However, no report was made of whether or not the participants belonged to the LGTBIQ+ collective. ...
... Almost half of the instruments (7) were created by healthcare providers or healthcare organizations and the other eight by child protection agencies or services and educational institutions. Eleven were created in the United States, one in Canada (Panlilio et al., 2022), two in the United Kingdom (Clutton & Coles, 2007;Kent and Medway, Safeguarding Children Board, 2017), and one in Spain (Benavente et al., 2022); therefore, all but the one in Spain, the EDR-ESIA instrument-available in three languages: English, Spanish, and Catalan-were designed and validated in English. ...
Article
To perform a systematic search of instruments for the early identification of risk of sexual exploitation in children (CSE) and appraise their metric properties. Searches were conducted in four electronic databases to identify instruments that only evaluated child sexual exploitation with no restrictions of date or language. Two reviewers independently carried out the initial selection of titles and abstracts, appraisal of the methodological quality, compliance with the entry criteria in the analysis, and extraction of data necessary to systematize the information available. Twenty-three articles were found that used 15 CSE detection instruments. The instruments varied with regard to number of questions, ease of administration, sources of information, rating methods, and the training information provided. What they had in common is that most were designed and used in the English-speaking world, basically in the United States, with few instruments providing solid proof of their validity and reliability in the scores derived thereof. Although instruments were obtained with significant similarities in their conceptualization, differences in multiple characteristics made it difficult to draw clear conclusions regarding their greater or lesser suitability. What did become clear was the need to keep working on obtaining rigorous empirical psychometric evidence.
... Aunque la participación de la infancia y la adolescencia en la pornografía es ilegal, hay casos documentados que son obligados a participar en la pornografía a través de la coerción o falsificando documentación (Wen et al., 2020). La distribución de pornografía realizada con menores de edad («pornografía infantil», según el Código penal vigente), en realidad, la explotación sexual de la infancia y adolescencia (ESIA) es un delito grave y un problema constante que afecta tanto a las víctimas como a los consumidores (Beckerman, 2007;Benavente et al., 2022;Milano y Ballester, 2023). ...
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La industria de la pornografía representa un fenómeno económico, social y cultural de gran tamaño que ha evolucionado significativamente desde la aparición de internet. El sector, caracterizado por una trama compleja y diversificada, abarca desde grandes corporaciones hasta pequeños productores independientes. Según datos de la organización Internet Watch Foundation (IWF, 2023), el contenido pornográfico en la red constituye un porcentaje significativo del tráfico global de internet, lo que muestra la magnitud de la industria. Como se verá a lo largo de este libro, la industria pornográfica se ha convertido en un gigantesco negocio internacional, en la que la estructura empresarial está dominada por un grupo de grandes compañías que operan sitios web con decenas de millones de seguidores, que gestionan plataformas de streaming y ofrecen servicios de suscripción, colonizan otros ámbitos de internet y no entienden de limitaciones de ningún tipo (Tarrant, 2016). Además, completa este entramado un grupo de productoras independientes que trabajan a partir de plataformas de contenido generado por pequeñas y medianas empresas o por personas singulares. La monetización en este sector se realiza a través de diversos modelos de negocio como los ingresos por publicidad, las suscripciones, las ventas directas de contenido, el famoso pay per view y a través de plataformas de seguidores, como la popularmente conocida OnlyFans (Rahrovani, Shadnam y Ta, 2022). Además, hay una parte muy importante del contenido que es gratuito, como estrategia comercial para atraer tráfico, y a la vez ofrece opciones de pago para acceder al contenido prémium. La industria pornográfica en internet tiene un gran impacto económico. Se estima que los ingresos globales de la pornografía en línea superan los 15 mil millones de dólares anuales (McKee et al., 2020), lo que demuestra que es un sector al que no le afec- tan las crisis económicas y que sabe adaptarse a los frecuentes cambios tecnológicos o de consumo. Sin embargo, las normativas, que varían notablemente entre los distintos países, generan un entorno legal complicado para los grandes operadores del sector, ya que se están implementando progresivamente medidas regulatorias más estrictas, así como la creación de tecnología para la verificación de la edad y el consentimiento al acceder a este tipo de contenidos (Cooper et al, 2000; Milano y Ballester, 2023). La historia reciente de la pornografía ha estado ligada a los avances tecnológicos. Determinados avances tecnológicos de principios del siglo XXI dieron forma a la industria de la pornografía en términos de formas organizativas y modelos de negocio (Berg, 2016; Jones, 2020; Pezzutto, 2019). No cabe duda de que la evolución de la actividad pornográfica en internet ha sido impulsada por avances tecnológicos significativos como la banda ancha, las plataformas de vídeo en streaming, las tecnologías de cuarta generación (4G), la inteligencia artificial e incluso las criptomonedas y la ocultación de los medios de pago. Estos de- sarrollos no solo han transformado la manera en que se produce y se consume el contenido, sino que también han planteado nuevas cuestiones acerca de la privacidad, la seguridad de los datos y el impacto psicológico, social y cultural en los consumido- res (Ballester et al., 2023; Owens et al., 2012)
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Healthcare professionals make decisions in a context of uncertainty. When making a diagnosis, relevant patient characteristics are categorized to fit a particular condition that explains what the patient is experiencing. During the diagnostic process, tools such as the medical interview, physical examination, and other complementary tests support this categorization. These tools, known as diagnostic tests, allow professionals to estimate the probability of the presence or absence of the suspected medical condition. The usefulness of diagnostic tests varies for each clinical condition, and studies of accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) and diagnostic impact (impact on health outcomes) are used to evaluate them. In this article, the general theoretical and practical concepts about diagnostic tests in human beings are addressed, considering their historical background, their relationship with probability theories, and their practical utility with illustrative examples.
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Background: Commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents (CSECA) is a worldwide problem. The need to improve current detection and intervention protocols motivated this analysis, which aimed to use expert opinion to identify indicators (symptoms, conduct, or behaviors) that may help to predict the risk of suffering CSECA and to detect those who are suffering from it, as well as the type of detection tools and protocols that should be used. Method: An international multidisciplinary group of experts in CSECA was invited to take part in this study. A two-round digital Delphi panel was undertaken with 22 experts. An ad hoc questionnaire was created, which included 41 questions about CSECA risk factors and interventions that should be considered during detection. Results: The main indicators identified included normalization of dynamics of sexual exchange within the family, family history of sexual exploitation, and sexually transmitted infections. Predictive characteristics included economic extortion, lack of documentation, and family estrangement. Additionally, 95.5% of participants agreed that multiple victimizations in childhood should be considered for CSECA detection. Conclusions: This study provides information that may be very useful in the development/improvement of instruments for CSECA detection. With this approach we hope to promote the creation of tools adapted to the Spanish cultural context.
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Objectives The objective of this review is to provide a systematic and critical summary of findings regarding empirical studies conducted on commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Europe. The purpose is to gain an understanding of the characteristics and main topics addressed in European research on CSEC, identify gaps, and give suggestions for future studies. Method The review was guided by the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis—Protocols”. A comprehensive search on several databases was conducted to identify published and unpublished empirical research on CSEC in Europe, revealing 3,846 documents. In total, 56 research papers that focused specifically on CSEC in European samples were included. Synthesis Research concerning European studies of CSEC and trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation has developed significantly over the last 20 years but is still rather limited and mainly focused on the UK and Sweden. Most of the studies reviewed suffer from important methodological flaws such as an inaccurate definition of the phenomenon analyzed, small and convenience samples, and nonvalidated and nonspecific instruments. Conclusions Findings from this study demonstrate the need for greater exploration and research around a number of areas of sexual exploitation of children in Europe. Further work is necessary in terms of capacity building, training, and awareness-raising for society as a whole and, specifically, professionals providing direct support to children and young people at risk of exploitation.
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The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal predictors of buying and selling sexual services among youths in a high-income country. We used data from Switzerland (target sample: N = 1675 children, 52% male), where no prior studies have examined the trading of sexual services among representative samples of youths. Selling and buying sexual services were measured using novel, three-item measures at age 17. The predictors were measured at ages 13 and 15. In the regressions, multiple imputation was used to treat the missing values. Two-year point prevalence estimates of selling sexual services were 2.5% for females and 1.5% for males. Prevalence estimates of buying sexual services were 0.0% for females and 5.4% for males. Findings from logistic regressions revealed some support for prior findings from cross-sectional studies in high-income countries. New findings included evidence for prospective relations of having a disability, low generalized trust, and endorsing masculinity norms with trading sexual services. Follow-up models showed that the relations between pornography consumption and victimization with selling sexual services were gendered and stronger for females than for males.
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Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a problem that is highly prevalent in children and adolescents under legal protection. However, this form of sexual victimization, which includes multiple other forms of violence, is not only present in developing countries. In Spain we only have the data obtained by the Expert Commission from Mallorca in 2020. The responses of a sample of 67 adolescents between 13 and 18 years old from residential centers in Mallorca about their knowledge and experiences regarding CSEC are presented. The results indicate that CSEC is a known problem. Also, these adolescents demand more education and protection. They allude to various reasons for engaging in this type of behavior, although all of them can be placed in the pyramid of survival sex. The use of ICT appears as an important risk factor to take into account in prevention programs.
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Background: Important unresolved questions remain concerning the specific vulnerabilities and intervention needs of female adolescents who experience commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), when compared to other highly vulnerable female adolescents. Objective: This study aimed to assess differences in the level of post-traumatic symptoms reported by those who experienced CSEC during adolescence and those who did not. Participants and setting: The study used longitudinal data collected from 125 French-speaking female adolescents who were placed in residential centers between the ages 12 and 17 years. Method: Post-traumatic symptoms were assessed at Time 1 and Time 6, while CSEC involvement was assessed at Times 1-5. One-way ANOVAs were performed to inspect differences in the level of post-traumatic symptoms at Time 6 between the participants who reported CSEC during adolescence (n = 70; 56.0%) and those with no history of CSEC (n = 55; 44.0%). Hierarchical regressions examined the effects of CESC while controlling for age, immigration status, child sexual abuse, and post-traumatic symptoms reported at Time 1. Results: CSEC during adolescence predicted higher levels of general post-traumatic symptoms, anxious arousal, intrusive experiences, defensive avoidance, and dissociation. Conclusions: CSEC experiences intensify the existing vulnerabilities to traumatic sequelae that characterize female adolescents who are placed in residential care.
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The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) occur across the United States, violating the rights and health of far too many children and youth. Adequate prevention efforts should seek to understand the factors that make minors vulnerable to sexual exploitation in order to properly design programs to prevent victimization. This review presents the identified risk factors collected via a systematic literature review. Following full-text review, 15 studies were selected for inclusion by meeting the following criteria: original quantitative or qualitative research studies published in English from January 2010 to September 2017 with titles or abstracts that indicated a focus on the risk factors, vulnerabilities, or statistics of CSEC/DMST and a domestic focus on CSEC/DMST (for U.S.-based journals) with findings that did not combine associations between minors and adults in the study. Relevant risk factors and vulnerabilities found in this review include child abuse and maltreatment, caregiver strain, running away or being thrown away, substance use, peer influence, witnessing family violence or criminality, poverty or material need, difficulty in school, conflict with parents, poor mental health or view of self, involvement in child protective services, involvement in juvenile detention or delinquency, early substance use, and prior rape or adolescent sexual victimization.
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Background The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a major global issue that affects over two million children each year (Polaris Project, 2014Polaris Project, 2014). Large metropolitan cities, such as Las Vegas, have high rates of child prostitution (Shared Hope International, 2009). Objective The purpose of the current study is to elucidate to what extent interpersonal relationships and contextual factors (e.g. abuse within the home, substance abuse, etc.) influence commercial sexual exploitation. Participants and setting Participants for this study include 26 CSEC survivors located within the state of Nevada. Methods The current study utilizes a qualitative content analysis approach to analyze interview transcripts gathered from CSEC survivors. Three stages of analysis were conducted to assess the relationships that influenced the participants’ sexual exploitation, as well as the contextual factors shared by the participants. Results Analyses indicated that three types of relationships led to commercial sexual exploitation: friends, family, and boyfriends. Of the three relationship typologies, friends were the most common (n = 14). As for contextual factors, it was common for participants to have been abused within their home (n = 15) or to have run away from home (n = 20). Conclusions The narratives provided in this study show that CSEC survivors do not often willingly engage in trading sex; rather this decision is influenced by a need to escape familial abuse or they are forced to trade sex by someone whom they share a relationship.
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Tools to assess the risk of becoming a victim of child sexual exploitation (CSE) have been developed by UK CSE practitioners based on their professional experiences, with little evidence underpinning their development, and no evaluation/validation. Little is known about how they are used in practice. This paper summarizes two studies. The first study consisted of a rapid review to identify factors associated with increased or decreased risk of vulnerability to becoming a victim of CSE and the assessment of 10 tools being used in the UK. The second study undertook interviews and online survey with professionals across multi-agencies to establish the use of tools. Results illustrate the context and processes in which the tools are being used and identify concerns regarding their ability to identify and protect children.
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Scholars and practitioners have drawn attention to the issue of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of minors, yet we continue to lack a clear understanding of which factors increase a minor's risk to this type of victimization. The current article reviews the literature about the impact of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse on the risk of CSE. The study utilizes quantitative meta-analytical techniques to estimate an overall impact of prior abuse. Nineteen studies were selected after a comprehensive search of electronic databases covering the fields of social science, criminology, psychology, or related fields. To be included in the analyses, all articles had to measure the direct impact of sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse on minor's risk to CSE, utilizing multivariate techniques and presenting statistical metrics to assess the impact of prior abuse. Key findings demonstrate that sexual abuse considerably increases the risk of exploitation, especially among female youth in the United States. Physical and emotional abuse show negligible or no significant independent impacts, even though a few studies have begun to suggest that experiencing multiple types of childhood abuse may aggravate a risk of sexual exploitation. Our findings can guide further research on the impact of prior victimizations and inform screening instruments that are being developed to identify youth at risk of CSE.