Giving a voice to adolescents in residential care: Knowledge and perceptions of commercial sexual exploitation and runaway behavior

•CSEC is a serious public health problem in Europe as elsewhere.•Adolescents under legal protection are at higher risk of being sexually exploited.•More than half of the adolescents engage in commercial sex searching for fun or new experiences.•Commercial sex is not a uniform phenomenon and encompasses a wide range of situations.•Running away and not having a place to sleep are high risk factors linked to exploitation.