Education Faculty, University of Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain.
Research Group on Child and Adolescent Victimization (GReVIA), University of Barcelona, Spain.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 Dec;23(5):1529-1548. doi: 10.1177/1524838021999378. Epub 2021 Mar 10.
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.
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 A comprehensive search on several databases was conducted to identify published and unpublished empirical research on CSEC in Europe, revealing 3,846 documents.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.
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.
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.
本综述旨在对欧洲有关商业性剥削儿童（CSEC）的实证研究进行系统和批判性总结。目的是了解欧洲有关 CSEC 的研究的特点和主要议题，确定差距，并为未来的研究提出建议。
本综述遵循“系统评价和荟萃分析报告的首选报告项目”进行。在多个数据库上进行了全面搜索，以确定欧洲有关 CSEC 的已发表和未发表的实证研究，共揭示了 3846 份文件。共有 56 篇研究论文专门针对欧洲样本中的 CSEC 进行了研究。
过去 20 年来，有关欧洲 CSEC 和性剥削目的贩卖研究有了显著发展，但仍相当有限，主要集中在英国和瑞典。大多数综述研究都存在重要的方法缺陷，例如对分析现象的定义不准确、样本小且便利、使用未经验证和非特定的工具。
本研究的结果表明，需要在欧洲对儿童性剥削的多个领域进行更多的探索和研究。在能力建设、培训和提高整个社会，特别是为有遭受剥削风险的儿童和年轻人提供直接支持的专业人员的认识方面，需要进一步开展工作。
