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18 Elon L. Rev. 1 (2026)

handle is hein.journals/elonlr18 and id is 1 raw text is: ARTICLES THE (BROKEN) PROMISE OF COURTS FOR COMMERCIALLY SEXUALLY EXPLOITED CHILDREN (CSEC): INCREMENTALISM, INTERSECTIONALITY, AND INADEQUATE INTERVENTION ALEKSANDRA CHAUHAN, PH.D.,J.D.* Specialty courts for children subjected to commercial sexual exploi- tation (CSECspecialty courts) replicate several problematic strands of the history of the juvenile legal system, especially attitudes towards girls of color. The founders of the juvenile court believed tha4 if the courts had full controloveryoung people's lives, they could reform and save wayward children. The courts' overarching intervention into the marginalized fami- lies was riddled with racist, classist, gender-stereotyped, and patriarchal mythology that believed that institutional environments like schools and families work for poor girls of color trapped in the juvenile legal system. CSEC courts reinforce these structures while causing further trauma. Though heightened services are needed forgirls battling intersecting forms of oppression, CSEC courts-like other specialty courts-exemplify im- portant limitations to gender-specific reform given theirfocus on individual change and failure to meaningfully confront systemic issues. * Solo practitioner at Chauhan Law Firm LLC. During research and writing, Dr. Chauhan was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Director, Criminal Practice Clinic, Joseph F. Rice School of Law, University of South Carolina. Deep gratitude to Professor Josh Gupta-Kagan and Pro- fessor Eduardo Ferrer for insightful remarks; to Inge Kutt Lewis for assistance with editing the paper; and to my research assistant, Bethany Weatherford, for help with research and edits. Thank you to Professor Randy Hertz for organizing the invaluable Clinical Law Review Writ- ers' Workshop; to Professor Mae Quinn for facilitating our group; and Professors Rachel Burg, Zoe Engberg,Julia Hernandez, and Hector Linares for meaningful comments on my draft. (1)