Prostitution of Children - Causes and Context

Causes and Context

Children are often forced by social structures and individual agents into situations in which adults take advantage of their vulnerability and sexually exploit and abuse them. Structure and agency commonly combine to force a child into commercial sex: for example, the prostitution of a child frequently follows from prior sexual abuse, often in the child's home.

Child prostitution usually takes place in particular environments, such as brothels, bars and clubs, or homes, or particular streets and areas (usually in socially run down places). According to one study, only about 10% of child prostitutes have a pimp and over 45% got into the business through friends. Sometimes it is not organized, but often it is, either on a small scale through individual pimps or on a larger scale through extensive criminal networks.

Children also engage in prostitution, however, when they exchange sex outside these environments and in return not only for basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing, or safety, but also for extra pocket money for desired consumer goods otherwise out of their reach. There is a subculture of "pocket money prostitution" in many consumer societies, including the United States, whereby girls and boys under 18 rent out their sexual services for cash or expensive gifts, or to save up for cars, motorcycles, even college tuition.

These people are prostituted in conditions that appear otherwise perfectly normal. Enjo kosai, the pay-dating or "sponsored dating" practice reported in Japan, is considered a prime example of this. However, this latter practice is by definition voluntary rather than via manipulation.

Living and working conditions for children that are prostitutes are frequently substandard. Such children are commonly poorly paid or unpaid, kept in unsanitary conditions, denied access to proper medical care, and constantly watched and kept subservient through threat of force. These threats may be physical or psychological in nature.

While some sex tourists may make use of child prostitutes, it has been argued that the majority of their 'clients' are instead the locals. Quoting from the back cover of a recent work:

The Asian sex trade is often assumed to cater predominantly to foreigners. Sex Slaves turns that belief on its head to show that while western sex tourists have played a vital part in the growth of the industry, the primary customers of Asia's indentured sex workers and of its child prostitutes are overwhelmingly Asians.