Exploitation sexuelle des mineurs et traumatisme : revue narrative de littérature

Abstract

ObjectiveThe sexual exploitation of minors is a multifaced phenomenon with deleterious consequences on the mental health of the children and adolescents who are victims. The traumatic dimension infiltrates this problem, both concerning the antecedents and the situations of sexual exploitation themselves and their psychological sequelae. This article aims to gather and discuss the current literature about the trauma in the sexual exploitation of minors. MethodA keyword and date (between 2010 and 2020) search was made on the search engine Summon 2.0 for articles on commercial sexual exploitation of children and trauma. ResultsTwenty-one articles were studied according to three lines of research, namely: (1) profiles of sexually exploited minors; (2) the traumatic consequences of sexual exploitation; (3) cares and treatments: from identification to therapy. DiscussionThese studies have some limitations. Validity, recruitment and representativeness biases, inherent in this specific population, are discussed. Recommendations for further research and practice were made. ConclusionThis narrative literature review highlights the difficulty of studying this population and insists on the need to carry out further national research with the aim to improve the understanding of commercial sexual exploitation of children in France and to experiment trauma-informed support and care devices, particularly those designed for the needs of these young people in great difficulty.