What Are the Causes of Teenage Prostitution - Essay Example

Teenage prostitution Teenage prostitution Introduction Prostitution is an issue which has caused controversy cross-culturally and historically and which has many individuals reexamining the logistics of it. The world of prostitution is so separate from the ordinary world that most people rarely catch more than a glimpse of it. If they pause to wonder about a teen prostitute's life-to ask what it's really like, what would make a young person want to live like that, or what prostitution does to a teenager-they will not find many clues in the ordinary world. Even when the news tells of the death or the arrest of a young prostitute, it rarely explains anything about the world that young person lived in. (India Today) What are the causes of teenage prostitution The reasons why children work as prostitutes and why adults seek sexual favors from them, are multiple and interdependent. From information gathered during interviews with children, the following reasons seem most prevalent (Jain P & Kasturi 25) (1) Poverty and inequality Almost all the girls interviewed mentioned poverty, lack of financial support from their parents and the need to eat and clothe themselves as reasons for getting involved in prostitution. Thus, in many ways, in addition to mere sexual exploitation, the children's poverty is exploited. Another way in which child prostitutes are victimised is their social exclusion and stigmatisation. Most girls become prostitutes to seek better living conditions and due to their desperate situation and/or lack of information -do not care about the consequences, which can include contracting STDs and HIV through unprotected sex. (2) Unequal gender relations The subordination of women in a society dominated and controlled by males, and the unequal gender relations embodied in traditional practices are also determining factors. (3) Family breakdown Child prostitution is also caused by changes from traditional values to those of a contemporary society. The consequences of rural to urban migration, and the subsequent reorientation of lifestyle can have far-reaching effects, most notably on the structure of the family. (4) Lack of education or concern for the future Fewer girls than boys enroll at school, and girls are more likely to drop out. For those who have the opportunity to go to school, conditions are basic and learning materials are in short supply. Many pupils have to travel long distances to get to the schools, which are overcrowded and under-equipped. Also, poverty and the need to contribute to the family's income often cause children to leave school to go to work instead. (Jain P & Kasturi 25) Because of their limited educational opportunities, many girls realise that their chances of obtaining good jobs are poor. Informal education and recreational opportunities are basically non-existent. All of these contribute to a lack of optimism with regard to the future (5) Social attitudes towards child prostitution Many girls testify to facing problems from their parents, their peers or members of the community because of the work they are doing. The social alienation can occur before the girls take up sex work. It is evident that the stigmatisation of the child who is vulnerable and at risk of getting involved in prostitution can be a factor in driving her towards prostitution. (6) Sexual abuse/violence and rape (7) Use of children as 'attractions' by owners and managers of bars, discotheques and restaurants Teenage prostitution is a growing phenomenon in the world. The reasons for this are multiple, but they include chronic family poverty owing to a lack of employment for adults and young persons; a breakdown in family support mechanisms; migration; gender inequality; and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Another contributory cause is the inadequacy of the education systems, which provide quality schooling for only a limited number of children. (India Today) Child prostitution is often dealt with exclusively as a form of child abuse. Although teen prostitututes live in the same cities and towns as ordinary teenagers across the United States, their world is very different. They are here in our communities, and yet they are hidden from most people. They are kids, and yet the life they live separates them from most other kids and from normal teenage activities and concerns. They are criminals, but they are the victims of repeated crimes. They are family members, but most have not known a family's love and support. They have independence, but they do not have freedom. They are earning money, but they live in poverty. They are sexually active, but without intimacy. They have escaped one set of rules but are forced to obey other, harsher ones. (Jain P & Kasturi 29) Looking behind the surface of that separate world is one way to see how teen prostitutes really live. Even from an early age, these kids often have a different and painful experience of the world. The steps they take to avoid being hurt in the ordinary world often lead them, unknowingly, into the separate world of prostitution. Exploring what prostitution means to the kids who are involved in it helps show what has worked and what hasn't in helping teen prostitutes return to the ordinary world. The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (Convention No 182) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) provides that the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution is one of the worst forms of child labour. This convention, adopted in 1999, provides that countries that had ratified it must eliminate the practice urgently. It enjoys the fastest pace of ratifications in the ILO's history since 1919.The prostitution of children is seen as forming part of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), and is sometimes connected to the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. Child sex tourism also falls within the category of the prostitution of children. (Wikipedia) When you think of prostitution the thought of an average teenager in good health, with a good family and getting a good education does not even cross your mind. Prostitution is for the 'hard-luck' cases, meaning for girls who have no family and no money or for teens that have been sexually abused in some way. Unfortunately the most alarming thing about the rise in teen prostitution is that these teens are coming out of a growing number of middle and upper class homes! There has been a 70% increase over the last three years of middle to upper class teens becoming prostitutes, many of whom have not suffered mental, sexual, or physical abuse. (India Today) Many girls who are not poor and down on their luck and who are not forced into prostitution have suddenly begun selling themselves for thrills and money. Most of them are forced to earn money without ever having had the benefit of the kind of education that would allow them to get a job guaranteeing cash income. For some teens, prostitution is a kind of turned-around way of trying to get the financial support and love that they need, but that their families haven't been able to provide. Yet their families may cling to a respectable image that is not connected to the harsh realities their child must cope with on the street. Lacking parental support and love, these teens would have a very difficult time trying to cross back into the world where they grew up. The World Health Organisation says one of every four children in world is being sexually abused at any given time. How safe is your child from abuse (when one of every four children is sexually abused at any given time as per WHO) abduction (when most children are kidnapped not for ransome but for sex and prostitution). Beginning with Prussia in 1700, most continental European governments shifted their tactics from suppression of prostitution and sexually transmitted disease to control through a system of compulsory registration, licensed brothels, and medical inspection of prostitutes. Although medical techniques were primitive there was a noticeable decline in sexual diseases among prostitutes and their clients.3 European governments hundreds of years ago realized that since they could not fight prostitution, it was best to make it as safe and healthy as they could. Their efforts saved hundreds of lives and provided treatment to the prostitutes who previously could not seek medical attention without being arrested. (Jain P & Kasturi 35) One girl explained the attitude of her parents toward her life as a prostitute: (Bookrags) "My family knows about it, but since I left home and have been supporting myself, I gets along better with them than when I lived there. My dad, he don't say nothing' about it. My mother says she wished I wasn't out there, but she will accept me back and I am still her daughter no matter what I did." This girl sees her prostitution as something she "did," not as a form of sexual exploitation. She perceives her parents' lives as better without her presence-a very profound loss, and a strong barrier to her ever returning to live under their care. (Bookrags) Another teen prostitute's name was published in the crime reports of her hometown newspaper. In this very public way, she was labeled as a criminal. Yet her story reveals that she, also, lacked support from the most important person in the life of most children, her mother. (Bookrags) Her mother's respectability does not include a sense of genuine caring for her daughter's welfare. Their stories are a window into the separate world of prostitution. Twisted darkness, in the guise of teenage prostitution, child abuse, assault and abduction, has long lurked the world. This evil is not only prevalent in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan but even the so-called developed economies like USA, UK, France, Germany and Japan are not free of this taboo. There is a false notion attached to this problem. Some believes it that visiting a child prostitute will prevent the onslaught of fatal diseases like AIDS. Whether or not this is true is not the question. It is criminal if a child is deprived of this right on any grounds. Be it due to poverty, beggary, rag picking, violence or anything for that matter that negates his/her growth as an individual. Child prostitutes require specialized care for effective intervention. A parent or early caregiver first victimized most of the children victimized by prostitution. Most have been tortured by treacherous pimps, and many testify in lengthy court proceedings against the pimps who have forced them to work as prostitutes. Teenage girls and boys who are prostitutes almost never say that they planned to enter prostitution. Most of them report that they became prostitutes out of desperation, because they saw no other way of surviving. Each of these teens has a unique story of how he or she became so desperate. However, experts who have talked with many teen prostitutes have traced some similar experiences in their childhoods. Teenage enters into prostitution for a number of reasons, and programs to deal with these problems can make a difference. Social workers are realizing that the best way to reduce teen prostitution is to help abused children before they run away from home and become committed to life on the street. Child welfare agencies are working to identify troubled families and provide support. Helping parents can prevent them from neglecting or abusing their children-the family background reported by almost all teen prostitutes. (Jain P & Kasturi 22) Conclusion Prostitution is a world that is here to stay, like it or not it is time to make the best of it. Prostitution in the 20th century in Western society is an illegal act which if were to be legalized would profit and preserve not only the prostitutes but also society as a whole. Prostitution and prostitutes are issues that few individuals have taken the time to fully understand, and so the issues are misunderstood and their voices go unheard. Some issues, like prostitution, have been around for thousands of years and will never go away. (India Today) Prostitution cannot be judged using preconceived notions, but rather by viewing all of the facts and determining logistically whether or not prostitutes are receiving lawful treatment. The answer to this question is that they are not. Inspite of greater openness and more liberal attitude to sex education in the recent years sexual matters are still surrounded by great deal of myth and misunderstanding. Many people find it difficult to speak frankly about their feelings on sexual abuse and harassment even with their parents. As a result, teenagers not only become prey to needless anxieties about their own needs and those of their families but also remain ignorant and incentive to such needs. If this silence is broken many sex related problem could be solved and many school going teenagers could be saved. What also needs to be looked at is the child's own power to make decisions: that is to take responsibility for his or her actions. The notion of the child's decision to become a prostitute is in no way used to blame or criminalise the child, but to illustrate that the child - usually in order to survive or improve living conditions - makes a conscious choice to earn money by selling sexual favours. This decision may, however, be driven by a lack of alternative opportunities. (India Today) A child is a prisoner of his/her dependence. On his/her parents, family, teacher, friends and servants. This dependence flows his innocence, leaving his psyche open to brutality and exploitation, whereby his wounds continue to fester long after the scars have healed. Finally, when prevention being decidedly better than cure, parents need to get together with schools to educate children about sex trading, teenage prostitution and thus child abuse. Sex education classes with emphasis to prostitution a must in schools, with teachers being open to questions and arguments from teenagers. (Pinki India Today) But even more imperative is parental presence and everyday involvement. Parents need to keep constant communication going with the children, to prepare for a world where the enemy often lies within. Childhood is the basic right of every child. Reference Alice Yamada. Teenage Prostitution In Japan. Retrieved February 6, 2001, from http://www.trincoll.edu/zines/tj/tj02.06.97/articles/inter.html Asia's sex trade is 'slavery'. BBC News Retrieved January 4, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2783655.stm Fears of rising child sex trade - The Guardian International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Organization. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/ Jain P & Kasturi. (2005). Child Prostitution NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, P.10-55. John Aglionby. UN fears rising child sex trade. The Guardian Retrieved January 31, 2007, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1346594,00.html Kamath S D. How Safe is Your Child India Today. 23-29 Jan, 2007, Released on Jan 22 Pinki Virani. Does Anyone Give a Damn Cover Story : Guest Column. India Today. Retrieved January 29, 2007 Prostitution of Children. Retrieved February 4, 2001, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_of_children#Sources Teen Prostitution. Retrieved February 4, 2007, from http://www.bookrags.com/researchtopics/teen-prostitution/ Read More