Prevalence and associated characteristics of sexual exploitation in a representative sample of Spanish youth from an intersectional perspective

Abstract

Background: Child sexual exploitation (CSE) involves using a child or youth as a sexual object in exchange for remuneration, reward, or favors, meeting their survival needs, and also serving the perpetrator's aims for sexual, social, or economic gain. Objective: The present study addresses the prevalence of CSE in Spain. Participants: A representative sample of 4024 secondary school adolescents from 14 to 17 years old (M = 15.42, SD = 1.034) was surveyed. Methods: Three questions adapted from previous European studies on the topic were used. Results: An overall prevalence of 2.6 % was recorded, comprising exchange of sexual material (1.7 %), sexual touching (0.9 %), and sexual relations involving oral sex or penetration (0.9 %). While no significant age-related differences emerged, gender-specific patterns were observed. Boys exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of oral and penetrative sex than girls (1.2 % vs 0.5 %), while girls showed a slightly higher prevalence of exchange of sexual material (2 % vs 1.2 %) than boys. LGB youth reported a significantly higher risk for CSE than heterosexual youth (5.5 % vs 2.1 %), and European adolescents reported less CSE (2.2 % vs. 4.1 %) than youths from other ethnicities. Conclusions: CSE should be a social concern because it affects a substantial number of children worldwide. Interventions should adopt an intersectional perspective that incorporates the various risk factors associated with this form of victimization.