Sexual exploitation of children and adolescents: The ecological engagement as a pathway to research

Abstract

This chapter aims to show ecological engagement in the context of the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents (ESCA). The pathways illustrated here refer to the course covered during a master’s research in a city of southern Brazil that sought to investigate the victim’s perception of sexual exploitation on the actual violation and its knowledge, access and evaluation of the existing protection network, as well as to identify the protection network built to address ESCA. The research team ventured into the arduous context of sexual exploitation for 5 months to understand the victims, their proximal processes, interactions, and life contexts. About 71 field diaries were produced that depict ESCA’s observations, experiences, and storytelling. The ecological engagement is an interesting and rich tool for the understanding of complex and veiled that is the involvement of children and adolescents in sexual exploitation.