Prostitution of Children

Prostitution is generally defined as performing, offering, or agreeing to perform a sexual act for any money, property, token, object, article, or anything of value.1 Prostitution of children, therefore, is defined as the sexual exploitation of a child for remuneration in cash or in-kind, usually but not always organized by an intermediary such as a procurer, family member, pimp, or madame. 

Hundreds of thousands of children have been lured into prostitution.2 Though the prostitution of female children is more widely publicized, male children are also susceptible to the same dangers as females in this world of exploitation.

Dangers to Children

The dangers children face as a result of prostitution are both immediate and long-term. Most immediate is the physical, mental, and emotional violence these children experience at the hands of pimps, madams, and customers. Long-term dangers include health problems, drug addictions, adverse psychological effects, and even death. The most tangible consequence for children involved in prostitution is the extremely high probability of suffering violent assault. Not only are child victims of prostitution in danger from street life and pimps who prey on them, but the customers also pose great risks including forced perversion, rape, and physical abuse and beatings. At least two thirds are victimized by both customers and pimps.3 Violence from pimps tends to be more frequent, and violence by customers is more dangerous but sporadic.4 Prostituted children are often afraid to report these crimes to law enforcement because they are embarrassed and fearful that the charges would not be taken seriously or they may be arrested themselves.

What Are Some of the Causes of this Crime?

Homelessness, poverty, and intolerance of their sexual orientation may all affect children who either are or have been prostituted. General psychological and emotional problems, housing instability, substance abuse, educational and vocational failure, and major problems at home have all been cited as common precipitating factors in the lives of prostituted children.5 The children's young age, lack of education, and lack of the necessary street sense to survive alone6 contribute to their need to engage in survival sex, or the exchange of sex for food, money, shelter, drugs, or protection that defines many of these young people's lives.7

Long-Term Psychological Effects to Children

Children who experience inappropriate sexual activity of a violent or nonviolent nature, are psychologically impacted by a combination of the trauma of the assault itself coupled with the distorted information exploiters use to justify their sexual behavior. Some of the many psychological effects of assault may be revealed through the child suffering from depression, disassociation, and posttraumatic shock. To cope with their painful reality, more than three quarters are diagnosed as abusing drugs or alcohol as a temporary escape.8 The existence of a drug culture in street life is truly a double-edged sword. Being sexually exploited through prostitution may result in a higher risk of substance abuse, and abusing substances places children at a higher risk for prostitution.9 Prostituted children may internalize feelings of guilt for their participation in sexual acts which may lead to additional promiscuity or the engagement in other reckless behaviors.

Children on the streets are not only more likely to be clinically depressed, but they are also twice as likely to have a serious mental-health problem and almost twice as likely to be actively suicidal or to have previously attempted suicide.10 In one group of youth involved in prostitution, who were interviewed in shelters, 71 percent reported suicidal ideation, 33 percent had a lethal plan, and 14 percent reported a previous attempt at suicide.11

What Are the Trends in Prostitution in the United States?

Many child victims of prostitution are only 11 or 12 years old, and some are as young as 9.12 The average age at which they enter prostitution is reported as 14, and the median age of involved youth is 15.5 years.13 These children come from inner cities, suburbs, and small towns, and there appears to be an increase in the recruitment of middle-class youth from schools and shopping malls in the suburbs.14 The vast majority of youth involved in prostitution are girls,15 although some service providers see an increase in the number of boys. Some attribute this to a greater willingness by boys to disclose their sexual activities.16 Larger cities are more likely to have a higher proportion of boys involved in prostitution; however, service providers in smaller cities report seeing an increase in prostitution activities.17 "Prostitution is a seasonal problem. It is most prevalent during the warmer months and in cities with warmer climates. During the peak seasons for prostitution in the larger cities throughout the United States, there can be as many as 500 prostitutes on the streets. At least 25-30 percent of those prostitutes are children younger than 18."18

Child victims of prostitution are not running from poverty, rather in many cases they are running away from a dysfunctional family where they suffered physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse. The children who become involved in prostitution have often suffered previous physical or sexual abuse and may be dealing with the attendant anger and low self-esteem.19 They may engage in delinquent or criminal activity, causing others to view them more as offenders than victims.20 And they very likely to, and often with good reason, have a distrust of adults, even those who want to help them.

These children crave attention, affection, and love. This can make the child vulnerable to manipulation by a pimp, a madame, or another person or group seeking to exploit the child. Initially a pimp seduces the child by providing comfort, protection, and understanding.21 As he gains the child's trust, he further alienates the child, increasing the child's dependency on him.22 Once a child is financially and emotionally dependent on a pimp, he introduces the child to the world of commercial sexual exploitation.23 Pimps control 80 to 90 percent of prostitution and can be men or women.24

A common trend in the prostitution of children involves taking the child far from home to both avoid immediate detection and decrease the chances of the child returning home. The child's exploiter may travel with the child to many cities depending on tourist or event traffic in certain areas of the country.

The prostitution of children is the most overlooked form of child exploitation in the United States. The issue is often treated as a nuisance crime by local law enforcement. There is also the misconception that juveniles are willing participants in their own victimization. Having experienced unimaginable exploitation, they are truly victims in desperate need of help. Professionals from a variety of disciplines including the court system, law enforcement, and victim's service agencies must increase their collective efforts to combat this problem.

End Notes 
118 U.S.C. 2431, 2423(a). 
2R.J. Estes and Neil A. Weiner. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children In the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, 2001, pages 11-12, Estes and Weiner summarized research findings regarding the nature, extent, possible causes, and other factors associated with the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The authors used a variety of research methods including interviews, focus groups, and conferences. They report 293,746 children either living at home or on the streets were child victims of prostitution during the 27-month period from January 1, 1999, to March 21, 2001. 
3Eva J. Klain. Prostitution of Children and Child-Sex Tourism: An Analysis of Domestic and International Responses. Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 1999, page 7 [hereinafter Analysis of Responses], citing Jean Faugier and Mary Sargeant, "Boyfriends, 'Pimps' and Clients" in Rethinking Prostitution: Purchasing Sex in the 1990's, Scambler & Scambler eds., London: Routledge, 1997, page 124.
4Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 7, citing Debra Whitcomb and Julie Eastin. Joining Forces Against Child Sexual Exploitation: Models for a Multijurisdictional Approach. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, 1998, page 37 [hereinafter Joining Forces]. 
5Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 3. 
6Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 2, citing Mimi H. Silbert and Ayala M. Pines, "Entrance into Prostitution", 13 Youth & Society, 1982, pages 471, 473 [hereinafter Entrance into Prostitution].
7Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 2, citing Richard T. Sullivan, "The Challenge of HIV Prevention Among High-Risk Adolescents," 21 Health and Social Work, 1996, pages 58, 60.
8Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 9, citing Beth E. Molnar et al., "Suicidal Behavior and Sexual/Physical Abuse Among Street Youth," 22 Child Abuse and Neglect, 1998, page 219.
9Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 9, citing Debra Whitcomb, Edward De Vos, and Barbara E. Smith. Program to Increase Understanding of Child Sexual Exploitation, Final Report, Educational Development Center, Inc., and ABA Center on Children and the Law, 1998, page 21 [hereinafter Understanding of Child Sexual Exploitation]. 
10Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 8.
11Id. 
12Id., page 2, citing Entrance into Prostitution, supra note 6, page 473.
13Id., page 2, citing Understanding of Child Sexual Exploitation, supra note 9. 
14Id., page 2, citing Joining Forces, supra note 4, page 36. 
15Id., page 2, citing Understanding of Child Sexual Exploitation, supra note 9, page 3.
16Id.
17Id.
18Joe Haggarty. Material presented at the Prostitution and Related Offenses Workshop on October 15, 1997, at the Metropolitan Police Department Training Center, in Washington, D.C.
19Analysis of Responses, supra note 3, page 1.
20Id.
21Id., page 4. 
22Id.
23Id.
24Id., page 5, citing Kathleen Barry. The Prostitution of Sexuality. New York, New York: University Press 1995, page 198.