As trusted health care providers in the school setting, school nurses are positioned uniquely to identify children at risk for or victims of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Nevertheless, many victims go unrecognized and unaided due to inadequate provider education on victim identification. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the major risk factors for CSEC of girls aged 12-18, the largest group of CSEC victims in the United States. A search of four databases (Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and PubMed) yielded 21 articles with domestic focus, published in English between January 2014 and May 2020. While childhood maltreatment trauma was found most relevant, a variety of other risk factors were identified. Future nursing research is called to address the numerous research gaps identified in this review that are crucial for the development of policies and procedures supporting school nurses in recognizing victims quickly and intervening appropriately.
Keywords: adolescent*; child*; commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC); domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST); indicator; risk factor*; school nursing; sex trafficking.