Survival sex
Survival sex is a form of prostitution engaged in by people because of their extreme need. It describes the practice of people who are homeless or otherwise disadvantaged in society, trading sex for food, a place to sleep, or other basic needs, or for drugs.[1] The term is used by sex trade, poverty researchers, and aid workers.[2][3]
Prevalence
Survival sex is common throughout the world, and has been extensively studied in many countries including Afghanistan, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, the Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, Colombia, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa.[4]
Researchers estimate that of
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender street children are three times likelier to engage in survival sex compared with their heterosexual counterparts, according to one study. Another found that transgender youth are most likely of all to engage in survival sex.[5]
Survival sex is common in
Motivations
Some researchers say that street children do not always see survival sex as exploitative: rather, they sometimes characterize it as the "beginning of a potential relationship." Given that one of the strongest predictors of engagement in survival sex is a prior history of sexual abuse by adult caregivers, some researchers theorize that rather than being driven to survival sex out of desperation, street children might be reproducing familiar behaviour and relationship patterns.[9]
Outreach and law enforcement
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (February 2014) |
US municipalities such as Boston and Dallas have noticed a sharp increase in runaways engaging in survival sex since 1999. Dallas established a special group home for counseling, from which 75% of the underage girls who receive treatment do not return to prostitution. Congress nearly approved a program for cities to create pilot programs modeled on the Dallas system in 2007, but never appropriated the necessary funds. The Department of Justice has yet to study the number of children involved in prostitution even though they were authorized by Congress to do so in 2005.[11] However, the Center for Problem Oriented Policing claims, "there is no consensus on whether the practice is widespread," and recommends that runaways should be questioned about sexual abuse but not consensual sex, survival sex, or prostitution.[12]
According to the
According to
Outcomes
Engaging in survival sex can have serious effects, mentally and physically damaging to youth into adulthood and adulthood into elderhood. Research shows: Depression, anxiety, and anger issues are the most commonly reported emotional responses within children and adults who have participated in some form of survival sex. Untreated STIs, chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia, vaginismus and gastrointestinal disorder are just a few common physical issues known due to a lower rate of people who engage in this behavior seeking out medical care.[15] High suicides attempts, PTSD and over victimizing are also common side effects to engaging in this activity.[16]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-7864-4137-2.
- ISBN 978-0-313-36289-7.
- ISBN 978-1-4422-0396-9.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - PMID 12179310.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7864-4137-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7817-9256-1.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - PMID 10474560.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Human Rights Watch (2005). The Less They Know, the Better: Abstinence Only HIV/AIDS Programs in Uganda. New York: Human Rights Watch. p. 55.
- ISBN 978-0-231-13072-1.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Bassuk, E.L., et al. (2011) America’s Youngest Outcasts: 2010 (Needham, MA: The National Center on Family Homelessness) page 20
- ^ Urbina, I. (October 26, 2009) "Running in the Shadows: For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival" New York Times
- ^ Dedel, K. (2006) Juvenile Runaways Guide No. 37 (Madison, Wisconsin: Center for Problem Oriented Policing) pp. 1 and 3
- ^ National Alliance to End Homelessness (2009) Homeless Youth and Sexual Exploitation: Research Findings and Practice Implications Archived 2016-08-03 at the Wayback Machine (Washington, DC: endhomelessness.org)
- ECPATInternational)
- ^ "Adult Manifestations of Childhood Sexual Abuse". www.acog.org. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- PMID 28885558.
Further reading
- Fitzpatrick-Lewis, D.; et al. (2011). "Effectiveness of interventions to improve the health and housing status of homeless people: a rapid systematic review". BMC Public Health. 11: 638. PMID 21831318.
- Rew, L (1996). "Health Risks of Homeless Adolescents". Journal of Holistic Nursing. 14 (4): 348–59. S2CID 46227398. Archived from the originalon 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
- Wojcicki, J.M. (2008). "'She Drank His Money': Survival Sex and the Problem of Violence in Taverns in Gauteng Province, South Africa". Medical Anthropology Quarterly. 16 (3): 267–93. PMID 12227257.
- Shannon, Kate; Kerr, Thomas; Allinott, Shari; Chettiar, Jill; Shoveller, Jean; Tyndall, Mark W. (2008). "Social and structural violence and power relations in mitigating HIV risk of drug-using women in survival sex work". Social Science & Medicine. 66 (4): 911–921. PMID 18155336.
- Haley, N.; et al. (2004). "HIV risk profile of male street youth involved in survival sex". Sexually Transmitted Infections. 80 (6): 526–30. PMID 15572629.
- Watson, J (2011). "Understanding survival sex: young women, homelessness and intimate relationships". Journal of Youth Studies. 14 (6): 639–55. S2CID 144641271.
- Chettiar, J.; et al. (2010). "Survival sex work involvement among street-involved youth who use drugs in a Canadian setting". Journal of Public Health. 32 (3): 322–7. PMID 20061578.
- Shannon, K.; et al. (2010). "Survival Sex Work Involvement as a Primary Risk Factor for Hepatitis C Virus Acquisition in Drug-Using Youths in a Canadian Setting". Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 164 (1): 61–5. PMID 20048243.
- Bahadur, G. (Summer 2008) "Survival Sex: in Syria, Iraqi refugees snared in prostitution" [full text] Archived 2019-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Ms. Magazine
- Walls, N.E.; Bell, S. (2011). "Correlates of Engaging in Survival Sex among Homeless Youth and Young Adults" (PDF). Journal of Sex Research. 48 (5): 423–36. S2CID 16074637. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-06-12.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (May 2011) Driven by Desperation: Transactional Sex as a Survival Strategy in Port-au-Prince IDP Camps (Port-au-Prince, Haiti: United Nations)
- Fox, A.M. (2010) Survival Sex or Consumption Sex? Gender, Wealth and HIV Infection in 16 sub-Saharan African Countries [full text] Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine (Princeton, New Jersey: Harvard Department of Global Health and Population) preprint
External links
- "Survival Sex" - Bodies for Sale seven video series (VJ Movement, 2007–2011)
- Rillos, L. (February 9, 2010) "'Survival sex' lures homeless teens into prostitution" KVAL News (Eugene, Oregon) video and text