NCJ Number
216541
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 15 Issue: 5 Dated: September-October 2006 Pages: 294-312
Date Published
September 2006
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the National Youth Campaign on Sexual Exploitation (the Youth Campaign) involving young people with experience of prostitution in influencing policy and practice which affects this group.
Abstract
Many young people involved in prostitution feel disempowered in the child protection process. They are viewed as too vulnerable and chaotic to be involved in decisionmaking. In order to improve outcomes for young people involved in prostitution, this issue must be addressed. When given the opportunity to participate, young people respond positively, enabling policymakers and service providers to implement more successful strategies to tackle child prostitution. Through participation in the National Youth Campaign on Sexual Exploitation (the Youth Campaign), young people with experience in prostitution can build their self-esteem while helping agencies and policymakers develop these strategies. The Youth Campaign seeks to involve young people with experience in prostitution in decisions that affect their lives; to provide opportunities for their voices to be heard and to enable them to campaign about the injustices that they face. This paper discusses the newly developed Youth Campaign which challenges the trend of young people involved in prostitution perceived to be too vulnerable or chaotic to be involved in decisionmaking. The paper covers four main areas: (1) it gives an overview of the current research, policy, and practice on participation of young people involved in prostitution; (2) it discusses the Youth Campaign in detail; (3) examines in detail a specific piece of work undertaken by the Youth Campaign; and (4) explains the reasons why young people involved in prostitution feel excluded from decisionmaking. References