Tag Archive for prostitution

The Link Between Prostitution and Homelessness

Homeless girlAmong the significant number of homeless teens on the street there are many who have been reduced by circumstances to prostitution. It’s a grim and ugly reality.

One of the factors that makes this issue less visible, in addition to the blind spot many develop towards the homeless in general, is the fact that it does not always adhere to the expectations. The classic stereotype of “hooker and pimp” is only one of many permutations possible on the streets. Prostitution does not always involve an exchange of favors for currency.

Laura Rillos, KVAL News, reports:

[Chris] Mirabal [program manager of Looking Glass New Roads, a day shelter dedicated to homeless youth] said the most common is called ‘survival sex.’  Typically, a person will offer a homeless youth a place to stay and expect sexual activity in return.

Sometimes, said Mirabal, the teen is not aware of the arrangement until after they’ve stayed with a person for a few days or weeks.

This form of predatory behavior is not confined to targeting the female gender. Homeless males find themselves being pushed into these compromising situations as well:

‘They wanted to have, like me have sex with her, while I’m staying on their couch, as part of rent,’ said a young homeless man who wanted to be identified as Brain. ‘I was like, I can’t do that. I’m sorry.’

Brain is 21 years old. He acknowledges his age and gender made it easier for him to say no and leave that situation.

Lack of resources can drive people to desperate measures. Add in the possibility of mental health or substance abuse issues, and the situation gets rapidly worse. When you don’t know where your next meal is coming from it become easier to rationalize things like this.

The escalating harshness of life on the streets over the recent years is also a factor. Young homeless girls in particular are at risk of rape, assault, and descent into prostitution. Without the normal support infrastructure provided by family and friends their vulnerability escalates.

Wendy McElroy, editor of ifeminists and someone who has herself been homeless, has commented on this aspect of the situation back in 2001:

The situation confronting homeless teens is worse today than when I ran away. It was the dead of winter when I left, and for the first nights I slept on the pew of a church whose doors were always open. Today, those doors would probably be locked. I was at one point ‘discovered,’ which was my greatest fear, but the person simply put a blanket over me and left without waking me up. Today, society is numbed to homelessness; we are overwhelmed with compassion fatigue and acts of gratuitous kindness seem to be fewer. We avert our eyes from the hand-painted signs and ignore the rattling cups.

McElroy’s position in the column is a controversial one. She advocates loosening of the child-labor restrictions so that the underage homeless can work and develop their own resources. Her reasoning is that most of the homeless in that age range are fleeing an abusive environment at home, and most programs are geared to return them to that home. Obviously, it is an idea that has gained little traction in the near decade since.

Source: “‘Survival sex’ lures homeless teens into prostitution,” KVAL.com, 02/09/10
Source: “Homelessness and Prostitution,” ifeminists, 05/15/01
Image by Franco Folini, used under its Creative Commons license.

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Teenage Prostitution: Not As Rare As You Think

PimpsThere are many paths taken by those on the streets. For an unfortunate number of pople, one of those paths is prostitution, and they get started at an earlier age than some of us would think.

In addition, there is another sad aspect to this situation, the human trafficking angle. While some of those turning tricks on the street came to that due to homelessness — the stereotypical runaway comes readily to mind — others are kidnapped from their homes and press-ganged into service.

Let’s take a look into that world for a moment, by looking at this video produced by the Press-Telegram of Long Beach, CA:

Sad and disturbing, like so many examples of the societal breakdown. Twelve years old? I don’t know about you, but I was shocked by that. In addition, I found the comparison of the pimp/prostitute relationship to the classic abusive household’s dynamic to be most interesting.

The problem is not going away, nor are any of its aspects. Only recently, three men were sent to jail for sexual exploitation of a child and sex trafficking of children right here in San Diego, as reported on San Diego 6:

According to evidence presented at trial, they picked up the 14-year-old at a restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego and drove her to Oceanside, where she was forced to pose for explicit photographs so ‘johns’ could be solicited to engage in commercial sex acts with the child.

The teen was able to escape from the motel room and run to a nearby convenience store to call 911.

Many, many more do not escape. Whether it’s a victim of trafficking or simply someone trying to get off the street, the plight of these poor girls is one that is most certainly worthy of examination. So many of the social ills we examine are intertwined. Violence, homelessness, poor education, people preying on other people, the broken prison system, etc., all demonstrate the interconnected nature of societal problems.

Source: “Man Sentenced for Abducting Teen in Prostitution Scheme,” San Diego 6, 09/13/10
Source: “Human trafficking’s misery hits home,” Press- Telegram, Long Beach, CA, 09/04/10
Image by CommandZed, used under its Creative Commons license.

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Once More, Rehabilitation Urged Over Incarceration

CDC poster, 1940

CDC Poster, 1940

In Dallas, there is a debate raging over the proper way to deal with prostitution offenders. On one side, a police officer Randy Watkins from Ft. Worth endorses the reintroduction of a bill increasing the penalties for offenders caught in or near community spaces. School yards, public parks, churches and child care facilities all being examples of the public spaces in question. Officer Watkins says that, once enacted, word of the higher sentences will act as a deterrent to further crime.

On the other side of the argument is Judge Peggy Hoffman, presiding judge of a special court that rehabilitates prostitution offenders. At a recent hearing by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, she stated publicly that increased jail time would be the least effective way to stop the “revolving door” that keeps prostitutes on the streets.

Erin Mulvaney, a staff writer for The Dallas Morning News, reports:

Hoffman disagreed, saying that increasing the jail time would not deter women from committing the crime. In Dallas County, 98 percent of women charged with prostitution opted to take jail time. The average time served in jail for prostitution is 10 to 20 days. That costs the city of Dallas $56 a day.

Judge Hoffman, it appears, is not alone in sharing this view. Mulvaney reports:

State Rep. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington, agreed that more jail time may not be the answer.

‘I’m sure some women aren’t victims of child abuse, some might not be drug addicts, but the majority of them are victims. They have been victimized all their lives,’ Pierson said. ‘It’s a bigger problem, a complicated problem.’

Acknowledging the social complexity of the issue is a start, but there is much more to be done. Hoffman favors cracking down on those who promote and enable the prostitution in the first place:

Hoffman also called for increased penalties for the promotion of prostitution, the ‘pimps,’ and for the solicitors, or the ‘Johns.’ In fiscal year 2009, there were 61 arrests for the promotion of prostitution, compared with 2,500 for prostitution itself.

Pierson also stated that her office will be monitoring Hoffman’s special court to determine its effectiveness.

What are your thoughts on rehabilitation vs. incarceration? We would love to hear them in the comments!

Source: “Dallas County judge urges rehabilitation over long jail terms for prostitutes,” The Dallas Morning News, 09/01/10
Image by pingnews.com, used under its Creative Commons license.

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