The Abuse And Exploitation Of Youth - 1126 Words

Journal Critique The abuse and exploitation of youth, is not, in any way, a new concept in the world that we live in, however it is extremely misrepresented. Authors, Karen Countryman-Roswurm, assistant professor and director of the Center for Combating Human Trafficking, and Brien Bolin, professor and director of the School of Social Work, are PhD-holding alumni of Wichita State University and have offered insight on the topic of human trafficking, ranging from its causation, misrepresentation and its effect on youth. Human trafficking, which â€Å"involves the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person under the age of 18 for the purposes of a commercial sex act,† is also called Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking,†¦show more content†¦523). Before determining whether a minor is guilty of a delinquent crime such as prostitution, or if they themselves have been victimized, it is first necessary to define who the minors are (Countryman-Roswurm Bolin, 2014 , p. 522). According to Countryman-Roswurm and Bolin (2014), there is an overlapping classification of a minor by only 1 year, some believing that it defines an individual younger than the age of eighteen, others claiming that age nineteen is technically a teen, therefore, also a minor (p. 524). Subsequently, Countryman-Roswurm and Bolin (2014) acknowledged the meanings of prostitution and sex trafficking as â€Å"sexual relations that include some form of monetary payment or barter and are characterized by promiscuity and/or emotional apathy; sexual relations† and â€Å"a type of violence (including verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse) against children and youth which may include coerced or forced sexual acts in exchange for, or the promise of, money, drugs, food, clothing, shelter, or other survival needs. It is a transaction in which the body of a child and/or youth is treated as a commodity,† respectively (p. 525). It is a social worker’s duty to defend this sidelined population of minors, which can only be done through understanding the individual involved in the act, rather than unreliable definitions and stereotypes