A review of literature on child prostitution.

• Author: Saphira, Miriam

Child prostitution has received little attention, in New Zealand or elsewhere, until the past decade, and there is still a paucity of research. Significant barriers to systematic research and understanding of the issues are the invisibility of under-age prostitutes, problems defining what constitutes under-age prostitution, and the lack of services for the children affected. Workers in services for youth at risk are aware of significant and increasing numbers of young people selling sex, commonly for survival, and research with adult sex workers indicates that significant proportions commence sex work as children. Internationally there appear to be few services assisting under-age prostitutes or working specifically to reduce this form of child abuse, and in New Zealand only one service (in South Auckland) has been funded specifically to work with this target group. This paper reviews the available literature on the issues and recent efforts to address the problem.

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AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON CHILD PROSTITUTION

Because of the relative lack of public discussion until recently on the issue of child prostitution, in New Zealand and elsewhere, there has been a paucity of systematic research or literature on this topic. New Zealander Ron O'Grady has increased awareness of child prostitution locally with his three books--The Rape of the Innocent (1996), The ECPAT Story (1996) and The Hidden Shame of the Church (2001)--all of which deal with aspects of child prostitution and paedophilia. However, these books are based on news reports and anecdotal experience rather than research.

The information included in this review has been derived from a range of sources, including the personal experiences of the authors as researchers, personal communications with children engaged in sex work and with people working with them, and data from books and other written sources, as well as from documented research.

NEW ZEALAND LAWS IN RELATION TO CHILD PROSTITUTION

In New Zealand, under-age sex (under 12 years of age) is viewed as statutory rape under the Crimes Act 1961, sections 132 and 133. When a child is aged between 12 and 16 it is a defence if the child consented, if the perpetrator is younger, or if the child consented and the perpetrator is under age 21 and believed that the child was over 16. When the sexual interaction with a child involves money and goods it is illegal under Section 134 of this Act. Section 144a of the Crimes Amendment Act 1995 sets legal constraints on people in relation to sexual conduct with children when outside New Zealand, and the organising and promotion of sex "tours" is explicitly banned in Section 144c of the Crimes Amendment Act 1995.

The implementation of the Prostitution Reform Bill will enable amendments to the Crimes Act 1961 to fully ratify the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in June 1999. The "worst forms" of child labour addressed by the Convention include all forms of slavery, prostitution and pornography, and the use of children for illicit activities and work likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. However, the passing of the Prostitution Reform Bill will not itself address the exploitation of children, or the economic and social injustices on which under-age prostitution feeds (Davidson 1998).

DEFINITIONS OF CHILD PROSTITUTION

Defining child prostitution or the commercial sexual exploitation of children is a difficult task, with variations across legal, research, media, policy and individual perspectives (Kelly et al. 1995). Children involved in commercial sexual activity may well define their activities very differently than how clients and pimps define those activities, or than older sex workers, or indeed than social workers, the police, or people involved in intervention or prevention services. Due to a desire to shift the focus from sex to exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation has sometimes been included under child labour provisions, but all these definitions pose limitations (Kelly et al. 1995).

Definition of a "Child"

"Children" are defined in New Zealand as people under 16 years old, and by the United Nations as under 18 years old. New Zealand law recognises the vulnerability of under-18-year-olds by making it an offence to employ women under 18 years of age in massage parlours (Massage Parlours Act 1978), but there are no such restrictions and regulations on rap parlours, escort agencies and other ad hoc sex industry businesses. The Council of Europe definition of sexual exploitation as "the sexual use for economic purposes of a child or young person, which violates, directly or indirectly human dignity and sexual freedom and endangers his/ her psycho-sexual development" also classifies children as under 16 years old and a young person as between 16 and 21 (Kelly et al. 1995). The United Nations has called for consistency around the world in defining the age of children as under 18 years, but so far New Zealand has not responded to this.

Terms for "Abuse" and "Prostitution"

There tends to be a distinction drawn between child sexual abuse and child prostitution, the latter being seen as a commercial transaction. Child sexual abuse is defined as contacts or interactions between a child and an older (or more knowledgeable) child or an adult, where the child is being used as an object for the other person's sexual activity. These contacts or interactions are carried out against the child using force, trickery, bribes, threats or pressure (UNECAP 1999). In contrast, "child sexual exploitation or child prostitution" has been defined as:

the use of a child for sexual purposes in exchange for cash or in-kind favours between customer, intermediary or agent or others who profit from the trade in children for these purposes. (UNECAP 1999) In New Zealand, although under-age sex is viewed as statutory rape under the Crimes Act 1961, when goods and money are involved there appears to be difficulty obtaining prosecutions.

It is important to understand the specific contexts of child prostitution and its frequent association with poverty and family dysfunction. "Survival sex" emphasises the commercial sexual activity of young people as a way of obtaining the necessities of life, including food, drugs, clothing, transport, or money to purchase these goods and services (Ferguson 1993). Several studies have reported that young people did not view their commercial sexual activity as sex work or prostitution (Ferguson 1993, Hancock 1994, Stewart 1994). Survival sex does not account for all the reasons young people may be involved in commercial sexual activities, including sexual exploration, emotional attention, money, drinks, and other perceived benefits (Tschirren et al. 1996). The term "sex for favours" suggests that sex may also be carried out to make life more enjoyable or tolerable in terms of material goods or accommodation, or for emotional security, approval, attention or affection (Martyn 1998). This is sometimes also referred to as "opportunistic" prostitution (Botka and Lye 1993).

Definitions that rely on a classification in terms of economic gain may be limiting (Kelly et al. 1995). Some sexual exploitation of children involves the sexual use of children as a medium of exchange between adults. For example, in the Kincora case in Ireland it was intimated that on-going abuse in boys' homes was perpetuated by men who arranged with the workers in the homes to obtain access to the boys.

The boundaries between child abuse, pornography and prostitution are blurred. Many of the children involved in commercial sexual activities are known to have been sexually abused (Giobbe 1990). If we define child prostitution to include situations where a child is given money or goods by the offender before or after sex, children of all ages can be subject to prostitution (Saphira 2001). If a child is paid for sex by several offenders, then we are more likely to classify it as an example of child prostitution.

Furthermore, child prostitution can occur without any material benefit to the child. Coercion may also have a young person being made available for sex where the child receives no payment, but receives "protection" from threatened violence to either themselves or another party. Another variation on this is the young person who has been deliberately introduced to drugs and must continue to provide sex to maintain the habit or lifestyle that has been set up. Jeffreys (1997) maintains that for the vulnerable and often victimised young person, there may be few or no alternative options. Tragically, young people may often convince themselves that they have made a free choice, rather than acknowledge that they have lost control over their own lives.

INCIDENCE OF CHILD PROSTITUTION IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA

Because of the illegal nature of child prostitution, together with difficulties in defining it, determining its incidence is difficult. Most estimates available are derived from research with populations of at-risk young people, and may not be at all representative of actual rates.

In Australia 3,733 children were reported to be engaged in commercial sexual activities in 1997 (International Save the Children Alliance 1999). In a study of 102 young homeless people in Adelaide between ages 12 and 23, 35% had engaged in sex for favours (Tschirren et al. 1996). In a report produced by the Department of Human Services (DHS) of Victoria, Overview of High Risk Adolescents in Placement and Support Services (Protection and Care Branch 1997), a random sample of 20 clients on the DHS metropolitan high-risk schedule showed that 65% were vulnerable to sexual exploitation. An ECPAT (2) study in 1997 revealed up to 300 young people as confirmed participants in sex work in metropolitan Melbourne, and a further 300 were thought to be involved (Fitzgerald 1997). However, these methods of estimation...