Untold millions of thousands of children are traded and abused daily in clandestine sex markets for activities such as child pornography, prostitution, and pedophilia. The global trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation includes sex tourism, the hiring of children as prostitutes for pimps, the illegal imprisonment of children, the mutilation of children, and various sexual practices related to initiation rites.
child prostitution
Child prostitution is commonplace in some developing countries where poverty stricken and often mentally handicapped parents sell their children to agents such as domestic servants or prostitutes to allow the rest of the family to survive.
The trafficking of children from less developed countries to more developed countries for sex tourism is also relatively easy through bogus adoption schemes or promises of scholarships.
While we cannot easily remedy the systemic ills of the global economy, we can fight for those in need, knowing that people in desperate poverty will sell even their children. One way is to fight poverty, one of the causes of child prostitution, and another way is to educate people about the intense suffering that child prostitution causes.
The development of programs, with a combination of financial support, counseling and education, for families who sell their children can lead to the freedom of children in the future.
teenage prostitution
No adolescent knowingly volunteers for the role of victim in a situation of sexual exploitation. The root of the problem of adolescent prostitution is the damage caused in early childhood.
There is a strong correlation between abuse, runaway behavior and prostitution. Nearly all runaway children who engage in full-time prostitution have a history of deep family conflict, including abuse by a father, stepfather, brother, or other male relatives.
Incest and other intrafamilial sexual abuse are among the most serious crimes committed against children today. Intrafamily sex is often the antecedent of more commercial exploitation activities because it drives children onto the streets where illicit sex is a means of survival. Underage victims of sexual abuse turn to prostitution, an act of personal debasement, to express anger, silent misery and pent-up fear against their abusers. These children develop a cynical and indifferent attitude towards life and adolescent suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction are classic expressions of a feeling of worthlessness and a futile future.
Teens in the sex trade don’t get their misery for free as they are constantly threatened by gangs and pimps. Victims of juvenile prostitution are often targeted by adults who were sexually abused as children. Former victims create victims in a vicious cycle and this is how the phenomenon of youth prostitution is created and helped to flourish.
The goal is not just to treat the symptoms of youth prostitution, but to address the root causes that lead to youth prostitution. It goes without saying that:
– No child will run away from home if they have a normal and happy home life.
– No adolescent will engage in prostitution if there are no adults who want to make sexual use of him or her.
– No adult will want to exploit children if they were not abused as a child to the point that their sense of morality and their perception of children have been distorted.
It is our responsibility, as members of society, to help and protect other members of society, especially when they are children and cannot defend themselves. If we suspect that a child is being abused, then the authorities should be notified. The sooner abused children receive help, the better the chances that they will recover from their abuse and not perpetuate the cycle.
Rehabilitation of Juvenile Sex Workers
Sexually exploited children make up a significant segment of the young population worldwide and need a variety of services and resources including medical care, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, special education programs, vocational training, supportive foster care, and counseling. for an effective intervention.
It is often reported that some caregivers and foster parents abuse the children they serve. It is deeply distressing and totally unacceptable when children who have been placed with extended family or non-family caregivers due to abuse in their own home, are then abused again by that new caregiver. A caregiver’s responsibility is to care for and protect children, not harm or abuse them.
