Domestic minor sex trafficking occurs when children, under the age of 18, are commercially sexually exploited. Children can be commercially sexually exploited through prostitution, pornography, and/or erotic entertainment. The FBI estimates that child prostitutes enter their perilous trade, on average, at the age of twelve. This is happening to children within a home; as well as, those who have left or lost their home. For example, the 2016 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons reports cases of adults who have broken the trust and care of a non-adult family member to profit from their exploitation. The Department of Justice reports that nearly 25% of children they encountered were forced into prostitution after being trafficked by a parent or family member.

Sexual abuse often is a factor in the human trafficking path. For example, Sergeant Byron Fassett of the Dallas Police Department’s High Risk Victims Unit estimates that nearly 70% of the child prostitutes he encountered were runaways who were physically or sexually abused before they left home. While children can be vulnerable inside their own home, there is no guaranteed safety if they leave, since on average, children are likely to be approached by traffickers within 48 hours of leaving or losing their homes.