Roby Jini L, Vincent Melanie
School of Social Work, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.
Soc Work. 2017 Jul 1;62(3):201-210. doi: 10.1093/sw/swx026.
Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is a rapidly growing problem in the United States, yet legislative efforts to address victim needs have begun only recently. DMST is an issue that spans several areas of social work practice, as emerging research shows that most children and youths exploited in commercial sex have typically experienced prior abuse, neglect, or other forms of trauma. Many have been involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and are often lured by promises of love, security, protection, and belonging. Policy development to address DMST is still relatively new and evolving at both federal and state levels, but the general trend is to recognize such minors as victims rather than perpetrators of sex crimes. In this article the authors trace the development of legislation addressing DMST at the federal and state levels, with a particular focus on states' "safe harbor laws" that provide limited or total criminal immunity and a varying range of services to victims. Although space limitation precludes a detailed discussion of specific state laws, comparative analysis of representative provisions are discussed, highlighting social work application and further policy and research implications.
国内未成年人性交易（DMST）在美国是一个迅速蔓延的问题，但针对受害者需求的立法努力直到最近才开始。DMST是一个涉及社会工作实践多个领域的问题，因为新出现的研究表明，大多数在商业性交易中受到剥削的儿童和青少年通常都曾遭受过虐待、忽视或其他形式的创伤。许多人都与儿童福利和少年司法系统打过交道，并且常常被爱情、安全、保护和归属感的承诺所诱惑。在联邦和州层面，解决DMST问题的政策制定仍相对较新且在不断发展，但总体趋势是将此类未成年人视为性犯罪的受害者而非犯罪者。在本文中，作者追溯了联邦和州层面解决DMST问题的立法发展，特别关注那些为受害者提供有限或完全刑事豁免以及一系列不同服务的州“安全港法”。尽管篇幅有限无法详细讨论具体的州法律，但本文讨论了对代表性条款的比较分析，突出了社会工作应用以及进一步的政策和研究意义。
