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Evaluation of Safe Harbor Laws and Their Impact on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, United States, 2015-2018 (ICPSR 37497)

Released/updated on: 2022-04-28

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 2005-01-01--2017-12-31

The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council in 2013 called for a paradigm shift within the justice system, toward treating minors involved in commercial sex as victims instead of criminals. Their call ultimately led to a proliferation at the state level of safe harbor laws--laws designed to remove the punitive sanctions for young victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The goal of this study was to begin measuring the impact of safe harbor laws. The methodology blends quantitative and qualitative analyses in a three-phase design.

Phase 1, a legal review, concentrates on the evolution of safe harbor laws in the United States. It presents an overview of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), details the philosophy and conceptualization of safe harbor laws, and presents findings regarding state-level efforts to adopt safe harbor laws.

Phase 2 uses elements of the legal review to conduct a quantitative assessment of safe harbor laws employing a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design to compare counties that have and have not implemented safe harbor laws over an 11-year period (2005-15).

Phase 3 involves an in-depth qualitative assessment of two states: one that implemented safe harbor laws and demonstrated positive outcomes, and one that implemented safe harbor laws without demonstrating positive outcomes.

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Federally Prosecuted Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Cases, United States, 1998-2005 (ICPSR 26722)

Released/updated on: 2019-10-29

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 1998-01-01--2005-12-31

To increase understanding of the prosecution of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth (CSEC) offenders, the Urban Institute, a non-partisan social and economic policy research organization, along with Polaris Project, an anti-human trafficking organization based in the United States and Japan, were awarded a cooperative agreement from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to conduct a 12-month study on CSEC in the United States. The purpose of this research was to conduct a national analysis of federal prosecutions of CSEC-related cases from 1998 through 2005, in order to answer the following four research questions:

Is the United States enforcing existing federal laws related to CSEC?
What are key features of successfully prosecuted CSEC cases? What factors predict convictions in cases? What factors predict sentence length?
Have the U.S. courts increased penalties associated with sexual crimes against children?
What, if any, are the effects of CSEC legislation on service providers who work with these victims?

The data collection includes three datasets: (Dataset 1) Base Cohort File with 7,696 cases for 50 variables, (Dataset 2) Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Defendants in cases filed in U.S. Court with 7,696 cases for 100 variables, and (Dataset 3) Suspects in Criminal Matters Investigated and Concluded by U.S. Attorneys Dataset with 13,819 cases for 14 variables.

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Process Evaluation of the Demonstration Project to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Atlanta-Fulton County, Georgia, United States 2006-2009 (ICPSR 25841)

Released/updated on: 2013-12-16

Geographic coverage: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

Time period: 2003-01-01--2008-12-31

In the fall of 2002 the Juvenile Justice Fund (JJF), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to positively impact the lives of youth and their families who come into contact with the juvenile court, received an award from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to plan a collaborative response to address commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Atlanta-Fulton County. In 2004 the JJF received a second OJJDP award to continue its work with community members, including over 18 government and nonprofit agencies from the social service, educational, law enforcement, court, prosecution, child advocacy arenas. The demonstration project in Atlanta-Fulton County focused on the collaborative activities of various government agencies, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and individuals from two counties (Fulton and DeKalb) who met on a regular basis to coordinate their efforts and to exchange information on sexual exploitation of children. The goals of the multiyear project were to: (1) enhance community awareness of commercial sexual exploitation of girls; (2) improve information and data sharing across agencies; (3) train professionals; and (4) improve delivery of care to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation. This study, funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), was designed to document the nature and extent of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of children in Atlanta-Fulton County as well as the surrounding counties, and to conduct a process evaluation of the demonstration project. Data used in the study include quantitative results from a survey of professionals in Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett Counties and quantitative data obtained from the Child Abuse Case Tracking Information System (CACTIS), a database that was designed to promote data and information sharing among agencies involved in the demonstration project. Primary source qualitative data were also obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with professionals involved in the project demonstration project, clients of the project (including both youths and their guardians), and homeless youths in Atlanta-Fulton County.