Rethinking research on sexual exploitation of boys: Methodological challenges and recommendations to optimize future knowledge generation
Date
2017
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Child Abuse & Neglect
Abstract
Research and policies on child and adolescent sexual exploitation frequently focus on the
sexual exploitation of girls and fail to recognize the experiences of sexually exploited boys,
including their potentially unique health care and social support needs. This oversight limits
the ability of health care and social service providers to offer both targeted and evidence
informed care to sexually exploited boys. As a first step in a larger grant to understand the
experiences of sexually exploited boys and to develop interventions for this specific population,
we conducted a systematic review to address the question, “What is the state of
the research on sexually exploited boys internationally?” As we undertook this review, we
faced a number of significant challenges that made the process more difficult than anticipated.
In this paper we discuss four key methodological challenges we encountered: lack
of a consistent definition of child and adolescent sexual exploitation, difficulties in differentiating
sexual exploitation as a specific concept within child sexual abuse, failure to
disaggregate data usefully across multiple variables, and limited epidemiological studies to
inform prevalence. We reflect on how these challenges limited our ability to systematically
analyze, synthesize, and interpret the available research. We conclude by making recommendations
to improve the state of the research regarding sexually exploited boys with the
aim of better informing future policy and practice.
© 2017 The Authors.
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Keywords
sexual exploitation, transactional sex, Systematic review, males, exchanging sex
Citation
Mitchell, K., Moynihan, M., Pitcher, C., Francis, A.,English, A., & Saewyc, E. (2017). Rethinking research on sexual exploitation of boys: Methodological challenges and recommendations to optimize future knowledge generation. Child Abuse & Neglect,. Online ahead of print. doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.019 0145-2134/