There are many unknowns in child sex trafficking (CST), notably the exact number of child victims whoexist in the United States. Male1 victims of child sex trafficking have been, and remain, a bigger unknown. There is a commonly perpetuated belief that victims of child sex trafficking are almost exclusively female. Though males may comprise a smaller proportion of victims, their numbers are significant, and they frequently face other endangerments. An even smaller proportion of child sex trafficking victims include transgender females, or individuals who identify as female but were assigned male at birth.This analysis describes a subset of male victims of child sex trafficking by analyzing males who werereported missing to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and were at high risk of being victims or were known to be victims at the time they were missing. Furthermore, only males who were reported missing to NCMEC between 2013 and 2017 were included in this analysis. Incidents involving males made up 5% of all possible CST missing incidents reported to NCMEC during the timeframe. However, external research has increasingly found that there are more male victims of CST than previously assumed. In some cases, studies have mentioned that the number of males and females is likely similar (Development Service Group, Inc, 20142 & Walker, 20133). In a 2016 Department of Health and Human Services study, 34.4% of surveyed males between the ages of 14 and 21 experiencing homelessness reported exchanging sex for something of value, including a place to stay, money, food, protection and drugs

As more state care agencies comply with the 2014 “Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act,”1 which requires these agencies to report any children missing from their care, not only to law enforcement but also to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC), we learn more and more about the children who go missing from state care. Analyzing these missing incidents, both before the act was passed and years after, differences began to emerge regarding the characteristics of the missing children and their circumstances. This report delves into the differences between two time periods. This update primarily focuses on the fiscal years between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 20192. When relevant, this time period is compared to data from the preceding five fiscal years between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2017. Therefore, this provides a snapshot of the circumstances faced by children missing from care. Of note, in the earlier time frame, there were more black children reported missing from care than any other racial group. In FY 2017 – 2019 white children (37%) were reported missing from care more than any group, followed by black children (33%) and Hispanic children (15%). In the most recent time period, there was an increase in Hispanic children reported missing from care (16%), compared to the earlier analysis (14%). Additionally, children reported missing in the 2017-2019 data set had slightly shorter missing durations than children reported missing in the 2012-2016 data set.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® is a resource for law enforcement and the health care industry about the topic of infant abductions1. As the nation’s clearinghouse about missing and sexually exploited children, NCMEC maintains statistics regarding the number and location of infant abductions and provides technical assistance and training to health care and security professionals in an effort to prevent infant abductions from occurring in their facilities. NCMEC also provides evidence-based guidance about how to respond when an infant abduction occurs and technical assistance to law enforcement during and after an incident.