NCJ Number
229519
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2010 Pages: 18-36
Date Published
February 2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined juvenile prostitution.
Abstract
Two studies were conducted to identify the incidence (Study 1) and characteristics (Study 2) of juvenile prostitution cases known to law enforcement agencies in the United States. Study 1 revealed a national estimate of 1,450 arrests or detentions (95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 1,2871,614) in cases involving juvenile prostitution during a 1-year period. In Study 2, exploratory data were collected from a subsample of 138 cases from police records in 2005. The cases are broadly categorized into three main types: (a) third-party exploiters, (b) solo prostitution, and (c) conventional child sexual abuse (CSA) with payment. Cases were classified into three initial categories based on police orientation toward the juvenile: (a) juveniles as victims (53 percent), (b) juveniles as delinquents (31 percent), and (c) juvenile as both victims and delinquents (16 percent). When examining the status of the juveniles by case type, the authors found that all the juveniles in CSA with payment cases were treated as victims, 66 percent in third-party exploiters cases, and 11 percent in solo cases. Findings indicate law enforcement responses to juvenile prostitution are influential in determining whether such youth are viewed as victims of commercial sexual exploitation or as delinquents. Tables and references (Published Abstract)