Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse is any sexual act between an adult and a minor or between two minors when one exerts power over the other. When an adult or older child forces or persuades a child to engage in any type of sexual contact, it is sexual abuse.
In Kentucky, the statutes define child sexual abuse and exploitation as harm to a child’s health or welfare by any person that occurs or is threatened through non-accidental sexual contact. This definition includes violations such as rape, sodomy, incest, indecent exposure and the use of a minor in a sexual performance.
Child Exploitation
Child sexual exploitation is defined as practices by which a person achieves sexual gratification, financial gain, or advancement through the abuse and/or misuse of a child’s sexuality.
Child exploitation may include the following:
- Prostitution
- Child pornography
- Sex Trafficking
Children in Kentucky can be exploited by persons such as parents, relatives, acquaintances, and strangers, just to name a few
The Child Victims' Trust Fund is fighting the sex trafficking of children though our HOPE (Help Our Prostituted and Exploited Children) program.
HOPE’s goals are ambitious and courageous:
- Increase identification of child victims of sex trafficking and referrals to help those victims;
- Increase knowledge in the community that child sex trafficking is child abuse;
- Prevent child sex trafficking from ever happening by reaching out to at-risk youth;
- Increase the ability of agencies to identify child sex trafficking and to provide proper training to care for victims.
More information on the HOPE Campaign in Kentucky