The Role of Stigma in Shaping the Help-Seeking Processes of Young People Who Trade Sex

Background and purpose: Stigma is widely discussed in relation to adults who trade sex, and is often mentioned in studies about the pathways of young people into and out of the sex trade. Yet, little is known about the impact of stigma on the help seeking processes of young people who trade sex (YPTS). This study explored how stigma shaped the different phases of the help-seeking processes for Israeli YPTS, based on the conceptual frameworks of help-seeking and structural stigma.

Method: We conducted in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews by Zoom, telephone or in person, with 50 YPTS, ages 18-28, of diverse socio-cultural background, recruited through aid organizations (N=26) and social media (N=24). We applied the framework of structural stigma that conceptualizes stigma as the social-level norms, conditions and policies that constrain the opportunities and wellbeing of the stigmatized. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, the data analysis focused on exposing how structural and discursive stigmatic mechanisms played out in the daily help seeking experiences of the participants.

Findings: Two main discursive moral stigmas— deviant stigma and victim stigma—shaped the help seeking processes of the participants. The deviant stigma paints people in the sex trade as a threat to the moral fabric of society and contribute to their othering as ‘dirty’, troubled and blame-worthy individuals. Despite legislative and social efforts to decrease victim-blaming pertaining to YPTS, our analysis showed that the help-seeking processes of the participants often involved their labeling as promiscuous and morally damaged. Experiences of being treated as morally damaged by help providers prevented some participants from seeking help and sabotaged their trust in help-providers all together. Furthermore, some help providers seemed to encounter difficulty in identifying participants who did not fit the stigmatic image of YATS as “in-distress-promiscuous-youth”, thus failing to provide them with the help they so desperately needed.

The victim stigma posits that people who trade sex, and particularly YATS, are victims of sexual exploitation. Many of the participants perceived this assumption as stigmatic, as it labeled them as individuals who lack agency and are powerless. The fears of being treated as a victim and of losing control over their lives and not being able to choose for themselves, seemed to shape the help seeking experiences of many participants. Nonetheless, the findings also point to ambivalent and contradicting stigma-related experiences. For example, some participants explained that embracing the victim status and realizing that they were in fact exploited, was an essential turning point in their healing process.

Conclusions and implications: YPTS suggest that stigma plays an essential role in their help-seeking experiences; therefore, it should be considered when planning intervention policy and practice in this field. While YPTS frequently experience trauma and exploitation, we suggest that they should not be framed as individuals who need to be “rescued”, often against their will but, rather, as clients’ whose voices need to be heard and considered. YPTS should be regarded as allies in co-creating social work practice and policy that aim to improve their wellbeing.