Important Definitions

Definitions related to to sexual exploitation of trafficking.

The issue of exploitation is complex and covers a wide range of issues. There are many terms used to discuss and describe exploitation, and they often seem interchangeable. However, each term has a specific meaning and could cause confusion if swapped around lightly. For example, all sex trafficking is sexual exploitation, but not all sexual exploitation is sex trafficking. In order to avoid confusion, it is important to understand the distinction between each. 

  • “Photos or videos that have been manipulated to show an individual doing something that they did not do.”

    The term "deepfakes" is most commonly used to refer to "the creation and distribution of nonconsensual manipulated intimate material.

    For Example: Taking a yearbook photo and uploading it to AI to generate an intimate image of that person.

    Please Note: People do not have to engage in intimate or sexualized behavior to be impacted by deepfakes.

  • The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

  • The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 defines “sex trafficking” as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for a commercial sex act. Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.

  • “any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, threatening or profiting monetarily, socially, politically from the sexual exploitation of another.”

  • Most studies suggest a need for a clearer definition of sexting. Based off various academic studies, we at C.A.S.T. have compiled a general definition:

    Sending, receiving, or forwarding a form of digital media (image, video, text, email, etc.) with sexual characteristics or of a sexual nature.

  • “threats to expose a sexual image in order to make a person do something or for other reasons, such as revenge or humiliation”

    and/or

    “threats to expose sexual images to coerce victims to provide additional pictures, sex, or other favors”

  • “Individuals who have traded sex acts (including prostitution, stripping, pornography, etc.) to meet the basic needs for survival (i.e., food, shelter, safety, etc.) without the overt force, fraud or coercion of a trafficker, but who felt that their circumstances left little or no other option.”

  • Deepfakes

    American Academy of Pediatrics (2025). “Defining Deepfakes, Synthetic Pornography & Virtual Child Sexual Abuse Material.” https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/center-of-excellence-on-social-media-and-youth-mental-health/qa-portal/qa-portal-library/qa-portal-library-questions/defining-deepfakes-synthetic-pornography--virtual-child-sexual-abuse-material/?srsltid=AfmBOorq18-TC8tTMgd0INc-sTDLnEZbEWMoZNUIQEuEa-JZcnA4QszL

    Human Trafficking

    United Nations General Assembly (2000). Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (A/RES/55/25).

    Sex Trafficking

    United States of America: Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 [United States of America], Public Law 106-386 [H.R. 3244], 28 October 2000. https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b6104.html

    Sexual Exploitation

    World Health Organization. (2017). “Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Prevention and Response: Policy and Procedures”. https://www.who.int/about/ethics/sexual-exploitation_abuse-prevention_response_policy.pdf?ua=1

    Sextortion

    Wolak, J. & Finkelhor, D. (2016). “Sextortion: Findings from a Survey of 1,631 Victims”. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/Sextortion_RPT_FNL_rev0803.pdf

    Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Walsh, W., Treitman, L. (2017). “Sextortion of Minors: Characteristics and Dynamics”. Journal of Adolescent Health 62(1): 72-79. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X17304238

    Survival Sex

    Alaska Department of Health and Social Services - Office of Children’s Services (2019). “Know the Signs: Sexual Exploitation”. http://dhss.alaska.gov/ocs/Pages/childrensjustice/reporting/know_se.aspx

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