Another key area of my research this summer has been identifying gender disparities in CSEC cases. In Kentucky, 90 percent of the 125 trafficking cases that DCBS has investigated involve girls, and 10 percent (13 cases) involve boys. However, service providers who work on trafficking issues in Kentucky are aware of many more incidents with boys who are involved in the sex trade, either because they are trading sex for food or shelter, or they have an exploiter or pimp. Two questions follow from this: 1) why have so few trafficking incidents involving boys initiated trafficking referrals to DCBS, and 2) if the referrals have been made to DCBS, has DCBS not classified the referral as a trafficking case?
Local police departments, the state police, court-designated workers, and DJJ staff refer the majority of trafficking cases to DCBS. Stakeholders speculate that particularly in the law enforcement community, officials may not see boys as CSEC victims in the same way that they see girls as CSEC victims. For a girl, low-level criminal activity may initiate a trafficking investigation, but for a boy, low-level criminal activity may initiate criminal charges. These different responses would make it difficult to identify all of the trafficking victims in Kentucky, and determine whether the state has systems in place to meet the needs of all CSEC youth.
There are a number of other reasons why boy CSEC victims may not be identified. In Kentucky, many of the services that exist for CSEC youth are designed primarily for girls. Many of these services were built from existing sexual assault and domestic violence community programs, and these organizations work primarily with female victims. This is similar to the situation in other states; for example, recent research on LGBTQ youth and young men who have sex with men (YMSM) who are engaged in survival sex in New York City suggests that there are limited (if any) services or resources that are specialized for boys and transgender youth who have been sexually exploited or are involved in the commercial sex market. Given that this research was done in New York City, which has treatment and victim support services specifically designed for boys and transgender youth, the problem may be more significant in states like Kentucky with a less robust provider network to serve these youth.
These questions relate to the larger question of whether there are adequate services and placement options for CSEC victims in Kentucky. The policy recommendations I am developing will focus on building the capacity to serve these youth, and identifying resources to fund new programs.
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