title: Conceptualizing juvenile prostitution as child maltreatment: findings from the National Juvenile Prostitution Study.
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% confidence interval [CI]: 1,287-1,614) 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%), (b) juveniles as delinquents (31%), and (c) juvenile as both victims and delinquents (16%). 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% in third-party exploiters cases, and 11% 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.
authors.affiliation: Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, 10 West Edge Drive, Suite 106, Durham, NH 03824, USA. Kimberly.Mitchell@unh.edu
authors.forename: Kimberly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Finkelhor
authors.forename: Janis
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011477:Sex Work / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult