Men and boys trafficked for sexual exploitation

Sexually exploited boys represent about 11 per cent of child victims of sexual exploitation. Men account for around four per cent of adult victims of sexual exploitation. Together, boys and men represent around seven per cent of all sexually exploited victims.  

Sexually exploited males are mainly children and adults under 30 years of age (82%). Most of them originate in North America (41%), South-East Asia (31%), and Eastern Europe (11%).

88 per cent of the time, sexually exploited boys and men are exploited in North America. Some others are exploited in South-East Asia (7%) and Eastern Europe (3%). Men are mainly exploited in prostitution (84%), while boys are twice as likely to be exploited in pornography (34%), as compared to men (16%).

The main means of control faced by sexually exploited males include psychological, physical, and sexual abuse (70%) and threats to the victim or their family (36%).^[1] Men are more frequently recruited by ‘others’^[2] (39%) than by anyone else. Meanwhile, boys are recruited about two times more frequently by their families (78%) than men (35%). Sexually exploited males are primarily trafficked for a year or less (54%).

^[1] It is important to note that trafficked persons can be subjected to multiple types of exploitation and means of control, so percentages may not add up to 100.

^[2] Indicates a notable relationship with the recruiter that does not fit other categories like family or friends. This may include brokers, contractors, employers, or smugglers. See the Global Synthetic Dataset Codebook for a detailed explanation.