The commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents is a crime that occurs when one of more people involve a boy, girl or adolescent (under 18 years of age) in sexual or erotic activities in exchange for payment of money or any other reward in kind (clothes, food, drugs, etc.).
It includes any of the following forms of exploitation:
- Paid sexual intercourse and activities
- The production and distribution of child or adolescent pornography
- Participation in public or private sex shows
Due to the fact that commercial sexual exploitation is a very complex problem, the fight to eliminate it requires that it be dealt
with in a comprehensive manner involving the active participation of all social sectors. The intervention of the education sector,
along with that of officials from the health, migration, legal, and police sectors, in addition to child and adolescent protection institutions, non-government organizations, international cooperation organizations, and the public at large is fundamental for preventing and putting a stop to this problem.
