Critical Social Policy https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018317748318 Critical Social Policy 2018, Vol. 38(4): 645–666 © The Author(s) 2017 DOI: 10.1177/0261018317748318 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions journals.sagepub.com/home/csp State policies and institutional procedures and practices addressing prostitution and sex trafficking of children in Hungary ZSUZSANNA VIDRA Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary NOÉMI KATONA Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary VIKTÓRIA SEBHELYI University of Pécs, Hungary Abstract The article, based on policy analysis, institutional interviews and com- munity fieldwork, looks at why children in prostitution and victims of trafficking remain practically without state support and institutional assistance. It also explores to what extent the decriminalisation of the system assisting child victims of prostitution and trafficking, or the shift from the ‘punishment’ to the ‘welfare model’, has taken place. The eth- nic aspect of the problem is addressed as well given that the majority of victims are of Roma origin. While Hungary has ratified all important international conventions that oblige the country to protect child vic- tims, neither its policies and legislation nor its institutions including child protection, law enforcement and the judiciary, seem to have adequate structural frameworks and institutional practices to attend to these chil- dren and prosecute offenders. Policy gaps, institutional procedures and Corresponding author: Zsuzsanna Vidra, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Institute of Intercultural Psychology and Education, Eötvös Loránd University, Kazinczy utca 23–27, Budapest, H-1075, Hungary. Email: vidrazsuzsa@gmail.com 748318CSP 0 0 10.1177/0261018317748318Critical Social PolicyVidra et al. research-article 2017 Article