NCJ Number
104372
Date Published
1986
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper on the politics of juvenile prostitution in Canada examines the relevant legislative history in the context of social forces, the economic influences affecting prostitution, and the state's role in regulating families in the context of enhanced children's rights.
Abstract
Canadian law pertaining to juvenile prostitution has historically been uneven and discriminatory in its spirit and its enforcement, essentially punishing rather than protecting the involved poor, working class women, and girls without applying the law against prostitutes' clients and pimps. Data indicate that many juveniles are attracted to prostitution because of its income-producing potential compared to the wages they could otherwise earn with their generally limited job skills and educational levels. Juveniles' attraction to prostitution is fueled by society's emphasis on wealth and material goods as a measure of personal worth and on sex as a valuable commodity. The custodians of normative family sexuality view juvenile prostitution as a form of child sexual abuse and focus on individuals and families as targets of blame and intervention. Measures intended to promote the position and well being of children as sexual actors must consider whose interests are served by the promotion of normative familial sexuality, the extent to which protective measures are matched by steps that guide the development of a positive juvenile sexuality, and the extent to which family life is made an extension of the economy of the welfare state.