title: Exploring the role of the internet in juvenile prostitution cases coming to the attention of law enforcement.
abstract: This exploratory analysis examines the role of the Internet in juvenile prostitution cases coming to the attention of law enforcement. The National Juvenile Prostitution Study (N-JPS) collected information from a national sample of law enforcement agencies about the characteristics of juvenile prostitution cases. In comparison to non-Internet juvenile prostitution cases, Internet juvenile prostitution cases involved younger juveniles and police were more likely to treat juveniles as victims rather than offenders. In addition, these cases were significantly more likely to involve a family or acquaintance exploiter. This analysis suggests that the role of the Internet may impact legal and social service response to juveniles involved in prostitution. In addition, it highlights the need for interventions that acknowledge the vulnerabilities of youth involved in this type of commercial sexual exploitation.
authors.affiliation: University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA. Melissa.Wells@unh.edu
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Kimberly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D004882:Erotica; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012419:Runaway Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011477:Sex Work / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology