‘Jeffrey Epstein is not unique’: What his case reveals about the realities of child sex trafficking – The Conversation

Report on Child Sex Trafficking: Systemic Failures and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Recent legislative action, including a bill passed by Congress on November 18, 2025, to release records related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, has intensified the focus on child sex trafficking. This issue is not merely a matter of criminal justice but is deeply interconnected with the global commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Defining Child Sex Trafficking in the Context of Child Protection (SDG 16.2)

Child sex trafficking is defined as the commercial trade of a child under the age of 18 for sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. This definition is critical for upholding SDG Target 16.2, which calls for an end to abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against children. A core challenge in addressing this crime is the prevalence of victim-blaming, which often suggests that older minors are complicit. However, neuroscience confirms that the adolescent brain is not fully developed until the mid-20s, rendering children incapable of the decision-making capacity of adults. This inherent vulnerability is precisely what perpetrators exploit.

The Critical Role of Language in Upholding SDG 5

The evolution of terminology from “child prostitution” to “child sex trafficking” reflects a crucial shift in understanding that aligns with SDG 5 (Gender Equality). The modern terminology correctly frames the issue around the power dynamics of force, fraud, and coercion, recognizing children as victims of exploitation rather than as willing participants. This linguistic shift is essential for dismantling the structures of gender-based violence and ensuring that responses are victim-centered. It acknowledges that children are preyed upon due to vulnerabilities, such as prior sexual abuse, which are exploited by perpetrators.

Systemic Failures and Barriers to Justice (SDG 16)

The persistence of child sex trafficking is enabled by significant systemic and institutional failures that directly contravene the objectives of SDG 16, which aims to build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Perpetrator Profiles and the Abuse of Power (SDG 10 & 16)

The Jeffrey Epstein case, rather than being an anomaly, is a classic illustration of the patterns that allow child sex trafficking to flourish. These patterns highlight deep-seated inequalities and failures of justice that undermine SDG 10 and SDG 16.

1. Abuse of Wealth and Power: Perpetrators are predominantly men who leverage wealth, power, and high socioeconomic status to commit and conceal their crimes. This abuse of power creates profound inequalities, directly challenging SDG 10’s goal of reducing inequality within and among countries.
2. Dehumanization of Victims: Victims are systematically dehumanized by perpetrators and society, often due to pre-existing vulnerabilities such as poverty or prior abuse. This dehumanization strips them of protection and dignity, perpetuating cycles of violence that SDGs 5 and 16 seek to eliminate.
3. Insulation from Detection: Traffickers often use intermediaries, including other women and girls, to recruit victims, thereby insulating themselves from direct involvement and prosecution.
4. Manipulation of the Justice System: Powerful perpetrators frequently use their resources to secure lenient plea deals for lesser charges, such as assault instead of trafficking. This practice results in artificially low trafficking prosecution rates and ensures that perpetrators are not held accountable, representing a fundamental failure to provide access to justice for all as mandated by SDG 16.3.

Institutional Weaknesses and the Failure to Protect

The systems designed to protect children and deliver justice often fail, creating an environment where trafficking can continue with impunity.

• Law Enforcement Inaction: Reports from victims are often ignored for years, if not decades, allowing perpetrators to continue their abuse unchecked. In some cases, law enforcement officers themselves are perpetrators.
• Criminalization of Victims: Despite progress, the majority of states retain laws that allow for the arrest or prosecution of sexually exploited minors. This practice re-traumatizes victims and fosters deep mistrust of the legal system, hindering efforts to protect children.
• Lack of Survivor Support: A primary reason for continued systemic failure is the chronic underfunding of trauma-informed social services, housing, and healing opportunities for survivors. Governments have invested heavily in a criminal legal system but have failed to build a robust social support system capable of helping children recover.

A Path Forward: Strengthening Institutions and Supporting Survivors

Achieving a sustainable end to child sex trafficking requires a comprehensive strategy focused on legislative reform, institutional accountability, and robust support for survivors, in direct alignment with the SDGs.

Legislative and Policy Recommendations for SDG Alignment

A critical step is the nationwide adoption of Safe Harbor laws, which decriminalize sexually exploited minors and recognize them as victims. The argument that the threat of arrest serves as “leverage” to compel children into services is counterproductive, as it relies on a traumatizing and punitive approach. Fulfilling the mandate of SDG 16.2 requires a protective, not punitive, legal framework for all children.

Investing in Survivor Support Systems (SDG 16 & 5)

A paradigm shift is needed from a primarily punitive response to one centered on survivor care and recovery. Significant investment is required to build a robust infrastructure of social services that are trauma-informed and specific to the needs of child sex trafficking survivors. This approach not only facilitates healing but also empowers survivors, contributing to the goals of gender equality (SDG 5) and access to justice (SDG 16).

Conclusion: A Collective Responsibility to Achieve Justice and Equality

The fight against child sex trafficking is a fight for the core principles of the Sustainable Development Goals. The extremely low conviction rates for child sexual abuse and adult rape highlight a justice system that is failing victims and allowing perpetrators to act with impunity. Addressing this requires a cultural shift away from victim-blaming and toward perpetrator accountability. It demands that all sectors of society—from relatives and jurors to elected officials—use their power to support victims and hold abusers accountable. Ending the exploitation of children is a collective responsibility and a prerequisite for building the just, peaceful, and inclusive societies envisioned in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  The article focuses on child sex trafficking, a form of gender-based violence that disproportionately affects girls. It discusses the exploitation and dehumanization of victims, often young girls, by powerful men like Jeffrey Epstein. The text highlights how perpetrators prey on vulnerabilities often linked to gender and age, connecting directly to the goal of eliminating violence against women and girls.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  While not focused on traditional labor, the article addresses a core component of SDG 8 by discussing human trafficking. Child sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery and one of the worst forms of child labor, which this goal aims to eradicate. The article’s central theme is the “commercial sexual exploitation of children,” which is explicitly targeted by SDG 8.

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

  This is the most prominently featured SDG in the article. The text extensively critiques the justice system’s failures, including law enforcement “looking the other way,” low prosecution rates, the use of plea deals by wealthy perpetrators to avoid serious charges, and the retraumatization of victims by the legal system. The article calls for holding traffickers accountable and reforming institutions to provide actual justice for victims, which is the essence of SDG 16.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Targets under SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation. The entire article is a discussion of child sex trafficking, which is a severe form of violence and sexual exploitation primarily targeting girls.

• Targets under SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  • Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour… and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms. The article’s definition of child sex trafficking as “a child being traded for sex via force, fraud or coercion” directly aligns with the definitions of modern slavery and human trafficking that this target seeks to eliminate.

• Targets under SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

  • Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. This target is directly addressed as the article’s main subject is child sex trafficking, a clear form of child abuse, exploitation, and violence.
  • Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all. The article provides a detailed critique of the failure to uphold the rule of law, citing how perpetrators like Epstein use “wealth and power” to secure non-prosecution agreements and plea deals. It explicitly states, “we need to acknowledge when our criminal-legal system is not doing justice to victims whatsoever.”

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicators for Targets 5.2, 8.7, and 16.2

  • Prevalence of Child Sex Trafficking: While not providing a national statistic, the article implies that the number of cases, such as the Epstein case involving “hundreds of perpetrators,” is an indicator of the scale of the problem. Tracking the number of reported and verified cases of child sex trafficking would measure progress.
  • Existence of Safe Harbor Laws: The article mentions that “most states in the country still retain the right to criminalize sexually exploited minors” and references New York’s “Safe Harbor law.” The number of states with such protective legislation is an implied indicator of progress in treating victims as victims, not criminals.

• Indicators for Target 16.3

  • Prosecution and Conviction Rates for Perpetrators: The article explicitly provides statistics that serve as direct indicators of the justice system’s failure. These include:
    • The conviction or guilty plea rate for reported child sexual abuse perpetrators, which is stated as only “14%.”
    • The conviction or guilty plea rate for adult rape cases, cited as “1%.”
    • The article also points to “low trafficking prosecution rates” as a key problem, suggesting that this rate is a critical indicator for measuring accountability and justice.
  • Rate of Plea Deals for Trafficking Charges: The article highlights that “traffickers and buyers often plea down their trafficking charges” to lesser offenses like assault. Tracking the frequency of such plea deals for trafficking-related crimes would be an indicator of whether the justice system is holding perpetrators fully accountable.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: theconversation.com