January is Human Trafficking Awareness month, and therefore it is a fitting time to increase awareness surrounding a current form of sex trafficking that is skyrocketing in the United States. This form of sex trafficking has been given the name Self-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material, or SG-CSAM.  

SG-CSAM is “intimate or sexually explicit content created by and featuring minors, which can be shared either voluntarily or through coercion, grooming or blackmail” (according to the International Watch Foundation). Though self-generated, this format of sex trafficking does not put blame on the child who originally generated their own sexual content. The child who is being abused by their own content is still a victim of exploitation.  

Though there are circumstances where SG-CSAM does not fall under the umbrella of sex trafficking, often, it does meet the federal definition for sex trafficking. Federal law defines sex trafficking as “a commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained eighteen years of age”. Since SG-CSAM is specifically involving minors, it is not necessary for there to be an element of force, fraud, or coercion. Therefore, if a minors self-generated pornographic photos or videos are being shared and someone is receiving something of value (either the person who generated the content or the person passing along the content), then it does meet the definition for sex trafficking.  

According to Thorn, an organization that fights child sexual exploitation across the United States, we know that roughly 1 in 8 minors know a friend who has received money or gifts in exchange for SG-CSAM (according to the “Youth Perspectives on Online Safety…”). Therefore, these 1 in 8 minors receiving things of value in exchange for SG-CSAM, are victims of sex trafficking whether they recognize it or not.   

Here are two specific examples where SG-CSAM becomes a sex trafficking situation: 

SG-CSAM has increased greatly over the past few years due to minors’ access to technology. In fact, according to Thorn, 1 in 7 minors have shared their own SG-CSAM. Among these minors who have shared their own SG-CSAM, 1 in 3 reported having shared it with an adult.  

SG-CSAM also has close ties to sextortion, which is another format of sex trafficking. Sextortion is “a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, most often with the possibility of sharing with the public nude or sexual images of them, by a person who demands additional sexual content, sexual activity or money from the child” (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). With sextortion, someone is profiting, or receiving some form of commercial value, off pornographic images and videos of a child. Referring to our federal definition of sex trafficking, sextortion would already meet our definition of sex trafficking because the subject, a child, is a minor. However, sextortion also includes an element of coercion which also falls under the definition. Thorn reports in their 2023 survey that “6% of minors reported someone had threatened to leak an explicit image depicting them if they did not comply with a threat, with teen girls the most likely to have experienced this. Among those who had experienced sextortion, roughly one quarter reported the perpetrator demanded money as part of the sextortion.”  

Sextortion is a crime that is also growing dramatically in the United States. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that in 2024, through October 5, they received more than 456,000 reports of online enticement. This means there were more than 269,200 reports in 2024 than in 2023. They also report that between 2021- 2023, online enticement cases have increased by 300%. Specifically, financial sextortion, where the demand is for some monetary amount, has been growing. While the demand and given payment is not always substantial, any amount of money exchanged still qualifies as financial sextortion, and therefore, it is sex trafficking. In fact, “… the median payment by a victim (gauged by the largest amount stated by the victim) was $100, and the median ask (gauged by the largest demand to a given victim) was $390. This highlights that perpetrators started with high demands but often accepted whatever amounts they could acquire from victims” (“Trends in Financial Sextortion…”). These cases of SG-CSAM and sextortion have also led to an alarming number of teen suicides, including publicized cases from locations nearby, such as Streetsboro and Olentangy.  

Adding to the complexities of SG-CSAM, is the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create new pornographic images and videos from the self-generated content of children. “In 2023, Thorn’s annual monitoring survey asked minors about their experiences with generative AI being used to create CSAM. One in ten minors reported that their friends or classmates had used AI tools to generate nudes of other kids” (“Youth Perspectives on Online Safety…”). Even content generated through AI that is being exchanged for something of commercial value is a format of trafficking of the minor featured in the content.  

Considering the ways that traffickers are expanding their methods, it is important that we continue to educate ourselves on trafficking. Each year, as technology develops and changes, so do the ways people are made vulnerable, individuals are recruited, survivors are exploited, and exploiters manage to hide their crimes. It is our responsibility to be aware of what is occurring and educate ourselves.  

If you would be interested in attending or hosting a training on human trafficking, visit our Community Trainings page on our website. RAHAB offers numerous training topics pertaining to how trafficking is taking place in your own community and how we can all be part of combatting it. 

 

Bibliography: 

“‘It’s Normal These Days.’ Self-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Fieldwork Findings.” International Watch Foundation, Dec. 2023.  

Sextortion, Federal Bureau of Investigations, www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion 

“Sextortion.” National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, www.missingkids.org/theissues/sextortion 

“Trends in Financial Sextortion: An Investigation of Sextortion Reports in NCMEC CyberTipline Data.” Thorn and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, June 2024.  

“Youth Perspectives on Online Safety, 2023: An Annual Report of Youth Attitudes and Experiences.” Thorn, 2024.  

 

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Human Trafficking 101

Duration: 1 Hour

What it is: HT 101 is an essential teaching on the realities of human trafficking. In this course, we will illuminate the issues of sex trafficking, explain a generalized process for how someone becomes involved in trafficking, and provide practical insight of how trafficking takes place. We will also highlight what we know about traffickers, how someone becomes vulnerable to trafficking, and how demand for commercial sex fuels sex trafficking. By the end of this course, you will be able to articulate the needs and vulnerabilities of trafficking survivors and have knowledge of practical solutions

Who it is for: This course is offered to all members of the community who would like to understand human trafficking and is required for all of RAHAB’s volunteers and staff 

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