Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) defines the "umbrella" of crimes and activities that involve inflicting sexual abuse on to a child as a financial or personal opportunity. Commercial Sexual Exploitation consists of forcing a child into prostitution, sex trafficking, early marriage, child sex tourism and any other venture of exploiting children into sexual activities. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the lack of reporting the crime and "the difficulties associated with identifying and measuring victims and perpetrators" has made it almost impossible to create a national estimate of the prevalence of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the United States. There is an estimated one million children that are exploited for commercial sex globally; of the one million children that are exploited, the majority are girls.
CSEC in the United States.
According to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, "Between 244,000 and 325,000 American youth are considered at risk for sexual exploitation, and an estimated 199,000 incidents of sexual exploitation of minors occur each year in the United States." Within the United States, schools are one of the biggest targets of children becoming trafficked.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the most recent year for which national data is available, "the actual number of children abused is likely underreported".
Terminology.
The Declaration and Agenda for Action, adopted during the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1996, formally defines CSEC as:
 a fundamental violation of children's rights. It comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery.
CSEC is often associated with child trafficking, which is defined as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation", and a child as any person under the age of 18. However, not all trafficked children are trafficked for the purposes of CSEC. Furthermore, the sexual abuse of child trafficking victims at work may not necessarily constitute CSEC. Likewise, CSEC is also part of, but distinct from other forms of child abuse and child sexual abuse, including child rape and domestic violence.
In 2016, the exploration of child sexual abuse (CSA) effects in Eastern Trinidad was conducted, as it was suggested that children may be at risk of experiencing sexual abuse. Child trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that is rapidly growing in the United States. A mutating and multifaceted system of severe human exploitation, violent crimes against children followed by child abuse, and violations of their rights. Child slavery and human trafficking are global public health concerns with profound risks to life-course trauma and health. Globally, over 50% of child trafficking victims are recruited by family and friends, and children account for 27% of all human trafficking victims happening worldwide, with two out of every three child victims being girls.
Types.
Prostitution.
There is an estimated 1–2 million minors that are exploited sexually through prostitution every year. Most children in the U.S. become a part of the prostitution industry around the ages 12–14 years old. These children typically "trafficked by someone they know, such as a friend, family member, or romantic partner".
Child sex tourism.
Child sex tourism (CST) involves predators that travel from their homeland to a different country to engage in sexual relations with a trafficked child The prevalence of travel and tourism has increased the accessibility for traffickers to have access to trafficked children from other countries. Traffickers often travel to underdeveloped countries to take advantage of the lack of laws surrounding the crime of child prostitution, corruption within government, high levels of poverty, and other various factors.
Pornography.
Child pornography is the "representation of a child engaged in explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes" whether in real life or simulated. When it comes to the representations of child pornography they include and come in many forms being photographs, audiotapes, and especially videos that portray children performing sexual acts with objects, adults even other children. The children are subjected to exploitation, rape, pedophilia, and in extreme cases, murder.
Pornography is often used as a gateway into the sex trade industry. Many pimps force children into pornography as a way of conditioning them to believe that what they are doing is acceptable. Pimps may then use the pornography to blackmail the child and extort money from clients.
The production, possession and distribution of child pornography are prohibited by law and are harshly punished. Child pornography generally involves egregious acts of criminal sexual abuse and exploitation towards children, which are profoundly harmful to the child victims, being a form of child abuse. Those who seek to or are currently participating in the exploitation of children are currently connecting on Internet networks in order to sell, share, and trade material. 
Live streaming sexual abuse.
The emergence of these online communities has also boosted and promoted communication between local offenders, both bonding over and normalizing their interest in children, desensitizing them to the physical and psychological damages sometimes anonymously that way they can share without fear of being caught. The advancement of technology has led sex traffickers to "adopt and adapt new online capabilities to target and exploit victims and create 'market' opportunities". Technology is available in almost every aspect of the world, giving sex traffickers easier access entirely.
The growth of the Internet has allowed sex traffickers to make a bigger profit from their illegal activities. For example, cybersex traffickers have the power to share a victim with other sex buyers, opening up a bigger pool of dangerous individuals. Virtual platforms create a more cost-effective approach for sex traffickers, as they don't have to physically transport victims or obtain a physical location.
Causes.
It is difficult to pinpoint specific causes of commercial sexual exploitation of children because of the underlying issues weaved in to sexual exploitation as a whole such as, the secrecy and hidden acts that occur within this organized crime. Due to the complexity of commercial sexual exploitation governments and organizations have little understanding as to what the causes are; however, there are factors that can influence the prevalence of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Some of those factors are the following:
Poverty.
"Over 35% of the world's population lives on less than $2.00 a day" with around 2.5 billion humans being at risk for human trafficking. The parents are promised by traffickers that their children will become educated or maybe properly nourished, or even a possible money trade between groomer and parents. Some parents trade their child for money as a way to pay off debt. Due to the lack of education, many of these parents living in poverty are unaware of the dangers surrounding commercial exploitation of children and view it as a chance for a better life for their child.
Lack of education.
Schools provide protection and stability for children while learning life skills and increasing their confidence in the world and themselves. When this is not available children become more vulnerable to being trafficked. With the lack of funding of schools within lower-income areas it is difficult to get students engaged with school leading to dropouts. With the lack of education and financial stability, children become lured into commercial sexual exploitation.
Corrupt law enforcement.
A study conducted on the correlation between corruption in law enforcement and within the government is strongly related to commercial sexual exploitation specifically, human trafficking. However, it is nearly impossible for research to be conducted in this area due to significant challenges that are faced such as the lack of information available on corruption within societies.
Gender-specific and cultural aspects.
Many cultures and governments have biased views on the value of a man versus a woman. There are many societies for example, Chinese and Cambodian cultures that believe "that having sex with virgins rejuvenates a man". Unfortunately, due to this belief, the market for underage girls in the prostitution or trafficking is greatly demanded. Children that belong to cultural minorities are often discriminated as well; leading to a significant disproportionate number of children belonging to minorities becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
Dangers and consequences.
Whether the children be in pornography, brothels, or trafficked, they are all at risk for sexually transmitted infections, physical violence, and psychological deterioration. Research has shown that "fifty to ninety percent of children in brothels in Southeast Asia are infected with HIV". In many cases, when children are brought into the sex trade industry, they are beaten and raped until they are so broken they no longer try to escape. Physical hazards can also include infertility, cervical cancer, assault, and sometimes murder. Pregnancy is also a physical risk factor for many children. Much like if they are found to have HIV or AIDS, the girls are thrown out of the brothels with nowhere to go. Many of the children "break the conscious link between mind and body" in order to function in these situations (Bales 221). By doing so, many children begin to think they are nothing more than "whores" and some develop suicidal thoughts. Other psychological risk factors include sleep and eating disorders, gender-disturbed sexual identity, hysteria, and even homicidal rage.
Outside physical and psychological dangers lies fear of the law. Many girls and women are illegally trafficked across borders. If they manage to escape from the brothel or pimp, the women and children quickly come to the attention of the authorities. Because they do not have proper documentation they are detained by the authorities. If they are held in local jails, the women and children often suffer further abuse and exploitation by the police.
Multiple dangers come with exploitation when it comes to children, as we know children are among the most vulnerable people when it comes to our society and should be watched over and guarded carefully from all types of dangers in the world. Many people often think of abuse as just physical; cuts and bruises but physical violence is just one form that abuse takes with other forms including sexual, emotional abuse along with neglect.
The effects of children used in child pornography can have psychological, emotional, and physical effects on a survivor. These are inescapable repercussions which can include general symptoms of flashbacks, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder that could lead a child to sink into a deep depression. Sexual abuse can lead to other results of self-harm, substance abuse, eating disorders, pregnancy, sleep disorders, suicide, and multiple other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Experiencing sexual abuse is not something any child should endure or would choose for themselves at all, yet due to their young nature and innocence they are forced to cope with unavoidable situations and symptoms from the trauma they have endured.
Prevalence.
While it is impossible to know the true extent of the problem, given its illegal nature, the International Labour Organization (ILO) global child labour figures "...worldwide that there are 246 million exploited children aged between 5 and 17 involved in debt bondage, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, the illegal drug trade, the illegal arms trade and other illicit activities around the world".
The Rapid Assessment survey, developed by the ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), relies on interviews and other, mainly qualitative, techniques, to provide a picture of a specific activity in a limited geographic area.
UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimate that 2 million children are exploited in prostitution or pornography every year.
International Fight Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
The first world meeting to fight globally against the commercial sexual exploitation of children was held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996. The idea was first proposed by End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT) in 1994. ECPAT then worked collaboratively with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and other nongovernmental organizations to create the world Congress that fights to bring awareness to the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
There has been multiple agreements and works of actions put in place to fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children. One of the actions being taken is the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime which was