The Adolescent Prostitute: Policing Delinquency or Preventing Victimization?

1. The Adolescent Prostitute:Policing Delinquency or Preventing Victimization? From the Readings Package: Brannigan & Gibbs Van Brunschot Presented By Lindsay Chapman, Courtney Karaz, and Juanita Lowenberger

2. Delinquents or Victims? • Delinquency Perspective - views prostitution as a form of misconduct (ex. Theft, narcotics use) • Victimological Perspective - views prostitution as a form of child abuse

3. Definition of Prostitution • Prostitution has been defined as an agreement where one person provides sexual services to another person in exchange for money or goods • In the case of street prostitution, which is the most visible type of prostitution, many sell sex as a way of surviving the harsh realities of life on the street

4. Types of Prostitutes • Street walkers (most common; most visible) • Escort services • Brothels • Corporate Prostitutes - women retained by some corporations to entertain clients who come in to do business • Casual Prostitutes - women who hold normal jobs, but use prostitution as a way of making money to afford things such as vacations, etc.

5. Deciding to Enter Prostitution: Contributing Factors and Barriers for Leaving

6. Failed System • Research on street youth indicate that most youth end up on the streets as a result of: • Unstable home life • No assistance from the child welfare system

7. Question: • What are some factors you think contribute to the decision to enter into prostitution?

8. Factors Contributing to the Decision to Enter Prostitution

9. Sexually victimized as children History of abuse/violence Dysfunctional family home environments Suffered neglect - have the need to feel desired Left school prematurely - lack the education or job skills necessary to survive Peer pressure Early sexual experiences Poverty (survival) Coercian Revenge Romantisized ideas about prostitution - may perceive it as glamorous, a way of meeting the man of their dreams (ex. “Pretty Woman”) In order to support a drug habit For the sake of adventure (casual prostitutes)

10. The 3 Stages of Involvement • There are three stages defined in becoming involved in prostitution: • 1.) Process of “drift” from abuse and/or casual sex to the first act of prostitution • 2.) Alternating between soliciting and a more conventional life • 3.) Becoming professional - the end result being a feeling of belonging and community that serves to fill emotional gaps

11. Barriers to Leaving Prostitution • Low self-esteem • Few positive role models • Lack of education and/or job skills to survive • Dysfunctional family relationships • Drug and/or alcohol abuse • Control by a pimp or “boyfriend”

12. History of Prostitution in Saskatchewan

13. Early 1900s • Brothels were set up out side of city limits to circumvent bylaw restrictions • Originally set up near construction sites such as south of Riversdale • Origin of “Red Light District” • The only threat to this business was the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) but they were preoccupied with other things, so brothels continued to run with little interference

14. 1920s • Brothels were established within city limits as police were preoccupied with dealing with a more serious problem…prohibition (people were making their own moonshine, so police were busy trying to stop people from brewing their own liquor) • Brothels were segregated according to race: Caucasian, Japanese, and African American

15. Present Day • Brothels still exist, however, street walkers have become more common (more visible) • Presently we have almost 500 women working the streets of Saskatoon

16. Youth Prostitution……Some Facts

17. Each year over 1 MILLION children are sexually exploited worldwide • Most prostitutes are females between the ages of 18-22, and many started prostituting as minors • Average age is 16, average age of entry is 14 for girls, 15 for boys • Males make up 10-25% of all street prostitution • Aboriginal youths largely overrepresented as exploited youth • “Street youth phenomenon unfolds within conditions of growing poverty and a shrinking social safety net” (Webber, 1991)

18. Canadian Facts • There are between 100,000-300,000 child prostitutes in North America • Quebec - Montreal - approx. 600 children in the sex trade • Alberta - Calgary - 400+ children in sex trade • British Columbia - Vancouver - 500 prostitutes under age 17 • Saskatchewan: • 1996 - SASKATOON - 93 children under age of 16 • 1996 - REGINA - 45% were under 18, 12% of street youth under age 12, average age 12-14

19. EGADZ Statistics • EGADZ community organization based in Saskatoon, reaches out to street youth • 1999-2000 - 261 youths sexually exploited in Saskatoon • 58 females 14 years and under • 197 females 15-18 years • 6 males 15-18 years • In 2002, street youth under the age of 18 that EGADZ came into contact with: 31,244 were female, 21,146 were male

20. Youth Prostitution Legal History

21. History of Laws “Protecting” Children • 1880-1930 - period of childhood dependency, exclusion from paid labor force, & supervised leisure activities. Increased sexual regulation for girls. • Boys more likely to be charged with delinquency, girls more likely to be charged with sexual offences and placed under supervision or institutionalized for morality offences • Badgley Report (1984) • Prostitution not a case of youth delinquency but actually sexual abuse and victimization of youth

22. History con’t • The Child Exploitation Law (1987, Bill C-15) • Intended to crack down on those living on the avails of, or procuring, youth prostitution - created harsh penalties • Children are vulnerable persons in need of rescue; victims of pimps and johns • 1998, Change to Alberta Child Welfare Act • Defined sexual abuse to include purchase of sexual services of a person under age of 18 • $25000 fine and/or imprisonment for up to 2 years • Social workers given power to apprehend and hold youth in safe houses for up to 72 hours

23. History con’t • Rescuing Children from Sexual Exploitation Act (Ontario, 2001) • Emphasis on vulnerability of children to sexual exploitation at the hands of adults. • If police officer has reasonable belief that child has been involved in prostitution they may apprehend child to a state-defined “zone of safety”. Child is provided treatment and can be held for up to 5 days, extendable for up to 30.

24. Prostitution Laws

25. 1. Anti-Communication Law (213, C.C.C) • Every person who in a public place or in any place open to public view… • (a) Stops or attempts to stop any motor vehicle • (b) Impedes the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or ingress to or egress from the premises adjacent to that place, or • (c) Stops or attempts to stop any person or in any manner communicates or attempts to communicate with any person • …for the purpose of engaging in prostitution or of obtaining the sexual services of a prostitute is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

26. 2a. Protection of Adolescents from “johns” (Section 212(4), C.C.C) • Every person who, in any place, obtains or attempts to obtain, for consideration, the sexual servicesof a person who is under the age of 18 years, or who that person believes is under the age of 18 years, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 5 years.

27. 2b.Protection of Adolescents from pimps (Section 212(2.1), C.C.C) • Every person who lives wholly or in part on the avails of prostitution of another person under the age of eighteen years, and who… • (a) for the purpose of profit, aids, abets, counsels or compels the person under that age to engage in or carry on prostitution with any person or generally • (b) uses, threatens to use or attempts to use violence, intimidation or coercion in relation to the person under that age, • …is guilty of an indictable offenceand liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding fourteen years but not less than five years.

28. 3.The Alberta Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act (Child Welfare Act) • Came into effect in 1999 • “Child” defined as under age of 18 • Child is in need of protection if the child is engaging in prostitution or attempting to engage in prostitution • If police officer believes child is in need of protection he/she may apply to judge of the Court or to a justice of the peace for an order authorizing the apprehension of child to child’s guardian or responsible adult. Or if neither is available, the apprehension of the child to a protective safe house for up to 72 hours

29. Other Forms of Child Exploitation

30. Trafficking • It is estimated that 4 million people are trafficked throughout the world each year • Trafficking in the sex trade is worth billions and rates of trafficking are increasing • 1997 - Solicitor General of Canada - 400 million dollars/yearly made by illegal trafficking of women and children • Bill C-27 allows the Canadian government to prosecute any citizen who sexually abuses children outside of the country. This was intended to decrease child prostitution and trafficking

31. Exploitation Via the Internet • Internet provides an avenue for those who are interested in children sexually, making it easier for abusers to access children • Pornographic images of children • Chat rooms that predators can access and solicit children • Often, a predator will gain the child’s trust for later abuse • Cyber sex is also employed with children, web cams are utilized to sexually abuse a child for an internet viewing audience • Internet usage is increasing which further heightens the risk for children to be exploited

32. Internet Exploitation Con’t • Copine Project, 2003 - correlation between those who view child pornography on the internet and later commit child abuse • Problem of child exploitation via the internet is often under reported by children because of fear or guilt • Difficult to get exact statistics because each country has different rules and laws • Manitoba - 2001 - Investigation revealed over 350,000 child pornography images • Ontario - 2003 - Investigation revealed over 1 million images

33. Internet Exploitation Con’t • Websites selling pornography involving children continue to exist and prosper • Omnibus Bill - protect children from those who prey on the internet • Now illegal to contact a child for the purpose of sex and this carries a penalty of 5 years maximum • Makes it illegal to send a child pornography online, to post child pornography online, to export child pornography online, and to possess child pornography • Also prohibits anyone from accessing child pornography intentionally

34. Child Pornography • Attempts to curb ownership of child porn has yielded mixed results. Possession of fictional stories depicting child sex was permitted, while possession of photographs depicting child sex is illegal • 2002, Canadian Parliament made it a crime for an adult to communicate with a child for sex

35. Youth Prostitution from a Sociological Perspective

36. Marxist Perspective of Youth Prostitution

37. Marxists would view youth prostitution as a result of the capitalist society in which we live • Prostitution grows out of a need for survival. Since we live in a society that is economically unstable and unequal, some members of society must rely on deviant means of sustenance, such as prostitution. • Capitalism is based on the exploitation of workers, in this case the youth prostitutes are the ones being exploited

38. All of society could potentially be exploited, especially child prostitutes • Prostitution symbolizes the wrong of any society with regards to its politics • Marxists would view prostitutes as victims of class distinction • Marx recognized the importance of resolving prostitution in society, at the root of his philosophy was the need to empower the working class and youth in the struggle to change society

39. Feminist Perspective of Youth Prostitution

40. Feminists view women as the victims of a patriarchal society, youth prostitution than is the result of a patriarchal society where men and women are not equals • Due to the inequality between men and women, men have a higher place in society with power and control while women are lower on the social strata and children are the bottom rung of this hierarchal system • Believe that men view prostitutes as non-contributing and invisible members of society

41. Violence against women and children occurs more often in a patriarchal society • Feminists would argue that the act of prostitution is wrong and degrading. Prostitution viewed as exploitation and brutalization • Goal is for equality in all aspects of life • Feminists would be empathetic to child prostitution and strive to find ways to abolish it • Lobby for more humane understanding and treatment of child prostitutes in both the political and social realms

42. Strain Theory Perspective of Youth Prostitution

43. Strain(Anomie) Theorists would view youth prostitution as the result of strain placed on certain members of our society. • Culturally acceptable goals center around economic growth and unfortunately not all members are able to achieve this material/economic wealth so they must result to deviant means of attainment (prostitution)

44. In an anomie state of normlessness, children are not being taught strong values in many respects and particularly not about the dangers of prostitution due to the environment they are living in (street youth) • Because of a lack of emphasis in the area of moral development, more deviance occurs • Focus of our society is on economic growth, financial success is valued as the highest goal which in turn leads children to strive for it at any means (sometimes leading to prostitution)

45. Child prostitution is symptomatic of: • the inner greed and quest for wealth at any cost, and • the lack of social control and social norms • Financial gain is valued more than moral development, ethical treatment of others, and personal safety in general • Due to the inequality in the class system, economic success is not always obtainable by traditional working methods, so non-traditional methods such as child prostitution are utilized in order to obtain financial goals

46. Youth Prostitution in the Media

47. Youth Prostitution in the Media • There are some initiatives in place to bring attention to the issue of youth prostitution • The following are some advertisements and flyers we found in the media (Canadian based)

49. Questions??? • Any questions or comments on any of the information presented?

50. Class Discussion Questions