Juvenile Prostitutes or Juvenile Victims: Trends in the Literature Regarding Juveniles and the Commercial Sex Trade

Background and Purpose:

Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, any person younger than age 18 who performs a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking. Where once sex-trade involved youth in the US may have been profiled by police as prostitutes and juvenile offenders, they are now to be considered victims of commercial sexual abuse and potential victims of domestic minor sex trafficking.

The purpose of this study was to assess the language of professionals in peer-reviewed journals which depict this population. In particular, information was sought concerning trends in the literature framing this population for the fifteen years prior to the passage of the TVPA and the fifteen years following. It was expected that the literature across all professional fields would present a trend away from depicting this population as juvenile prostitutes and toward a depiction of juvenile exploitation and abuse.

 Methods:

A systematic literature review was conducted which encompassed the years 1985-2015. Academic Search Premier and the EBSCOHost online database were utilized to develop a bibliography (n=212) which dealt with U.S. juveniles that were involved with the commercial sex trade. The articles collected were coded according to the primary language used: prostitute, victim, or both. For those articles which used both, they were coded as “both but primarily prostitutes / victims”. The articles were then grouped into one of three professional fields: the field of law, the field of medicine, or the field of social science. Analyses were run which examined trends over time in each of the three professional fields.

 Results:  

Within the field of law (n=56), only 2% of the articles were written before the TVPA and only prostitutes were depicted. Following the TVPA, 95% of the articles depicted juveniles as victims. Within the field of medicine (n=29), 31% of the articles were written prior to the TVPA and all depicted prostitutes. Following the TVPA, 39% depicted prostitutes while 61% depicted victims. Among medicine’s most recent articles, 100% of juveniles were depicted as victims. Within the field of social science (n=127), 17% of the articles were written before the TVPA and 73% of these articles depicted juveniles as offenders. Following the TVPA, 37% of the articles depicted juveniles as offenders and 73% depicted them primarily as victims. One interesting disparity occurred within the field of law. Academic law journals primarily depict juveniles as victims, whereas local police reports cited within many articles still feature juveniles charged as prostitutes.

 Conclusions and Implications:

            The trend within the literature indicates a framing of juveniles which is shifting away from culpability and toward victimization and exploitation. Within law and medicine, this trend is clear and pronounced. However, the disparity between academic law and reports of local law enforcement agencies warrants further exploration. Within the field of social science, there is a less pronounced trend which may indicate a more conflicted understanding of this population and a public perception of culpability rather than simply victimization. Further research is needed to determine the nuances this implies.