Child prostitution is underreported, underrecognized, and undertreated, and this conference is our opportunity to rectify those problems.

—J. Robert Flores
Administrator, OJJDP

A panel discussion at the Child Prostitution Summit focused on the "three P’s": prevention, prosecution, and protection/assistance. J. Robert Flores (left), OJJDP Administrator, moderated the discussion. Panelists included (left to right) Joseph M. Canibano, Dallas (TX) Police Department; Donna M. Hughes, University of Rhode Island; The Honorable Nina R. Hickson, Fulton County (GA) Juvenile Court; Norma Hotaling, Standing Against Global Exploitation Project, Inc.; Laura Barnitz, U.S. Campaign To End the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children; and Marianne L. Barrett, San Francisco (CA) District Attorney’s Office. (Department of Justice photo)

More than 130 people from across the country recently gathered for a 2-day summit to address the problem of child prostitution. The OJJDP-sponsored event—Protecting Our Children: Working Together To End Child Prostitution—took place in Washington, DC, on December 13–14, 2002. The summit was designed as a working meeting to encourage networking, raise national awareness, build knowledge about effective practices, assess the needs and strengths of the field, and develop a consensus for action. Participants included representatives from a variety of disciplines and perspectives.

The summit opened with remarks from Larry D. Thompson, Deputy Attorney General; Deborah J. Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs; and J. Robert Flores, OJJDP Administrator. All of the speakers stressed the importance of the summit as a first step in improving the nation’s response to this critical problem.

Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson addresses Child Prostitution Summit participants. (Department of Justice photo)

Participants divided into working groups to develop recommendations for policy considerations and action steps at the federal, state, and local levels. They identified a number of needs: expanded treatment services, a comprehensive media campaign, model statutes for prosecution, and additional research (including reliable estimates of the number of children affected by commercial sexual exploitation) and resources.

Participants also heard from individuals who had experienced sexual exploitation as children, many of whom spoke in favor of substituting "commercial sexual exploitation of children" for the term "child prostitution" because the latter connotes criminal behavior and legal consent by the children. A common theme throughout the proceedings was that the children involved should be viewed as victims, not as criminals.

In his closing remarks, Ron Laney, Director of OJJDP's Child Protection Division, said that summit participants' recommendations would serve to guide and inform federal policy, including OJJDP's child prostitution initiative. OJJDP plans to launch a Web page devoted to this important issue; the launch will be announced at ojjdp.ncjrs.org.