Social Network Exposure to Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Risk of Harm to Youths

TL;DR

Youths exposed to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) through their social networks are at higher risk of experiencing CSE themselves, especially if they had fewer childhood adversities.

Contribution

This study identifies how social network exposure to CSE increases personal CSE risk and highlights the importance of network modeling in prevention strategies.

Findings

Youths with social network exposure to CSE are nearly three times more likely to experience CSE themselves.

Youths with fewer childhood adversities show a stronger association between network exposure and CSE risk.

CSE-exposed youths are more likely to be socially connected to others with similar experiences, indicating network clustering.

Abstract

What is the association between social network exposure to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and risk of youths experiencing CSE?

In this cross-sectional study of 997 youths, network exposure was significantly associated with a higher risk of CSE, especially among youths with fewer childhood adversities. Network analysis showed that youths with CSE experiences connected more often with others who shared similar experiences.

These findings suggest that reducing social exposure to high-risk networks may help prevent CSE and that network modeling may identify at-risk youths and inform prevention efforts.

This cross-sectional study examines the association between social network exposure to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and youth risk of experiencing CSE, focusing on the interaction between exposure and childhood adversities.

Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of young people (aged 6-26 years) poses a considerable public health and social challenge. Understanding how social network exposure to CSE influences CSE risk may inform targeted prevention strategies for at-risk youths.

To examine the association between social network exposure to CSE and personal risk of experiencing CSE among youths, with a focus on how exposure interacts with childhood adversities.

This cross-sectional study used data collected between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2022, from a CSE program at a children’s advocacy center in the northeastern US. Eligibility criteria included referral for suspected or confirmed CSE risk. Social relationships with offenders, peers, and others sharing residential placements were examined as potential sources of exposure. The final analyses were completed on March 20, 2025.

Social network exposure to CSE among youths.

Experiencing CSE was the main outcome. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between youth network exposure to CSE and the risk of experiencing CSE, and social network analyses were conducted to identify patterns in the connections between youths with and without CSE experiences.

A total of 997 youth were included in the study (mean [SD] age, 14.7 [2.1] years; 903 female [90.6%]). Youths exposed to CSE through their social networks were significantly more likely to experience CSE (adjusted odds ratio, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.91-4.47). A significant interaction between social exposure and childhood adversities revealed that social network exposure was associated with higher CSE risk among youth with fewer adversities (adjusted odds ratio, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.22-1.74). Network analyses revealed that youth experiencing CSE were more likely to be connected to one another (β [SE], 0.32 [0.14]), highlighting the clustering of CSE within social networks.

These findings suggest that prevention strategies should aim to reduce unmitigated exposure to individuals experiencing CSE and focus on fostering supportive and healthy relationships. This study underscores the potential for social network modeling to identify at-risk youth and inform prevention efforts.

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