Entering Prostitution in Adolescence: History of Youth Homelessness Predicts Earlier Entry

ABSTRACT

The effect of youth homelessness on age of entry into prostitution was tested, controlling for other known covariates using a multivariate model. Women (N = 96) who self-identified as having engaged in prostitution completed cross-sectional standardized questionnaires (M_age = 42.6, SD = 9.18; 62% African American). Women with a history of youth homelessness entered prostitution nearly 8 years earlier than their peers without this history (at 18 vs. 25 years old). Lack of a high school degree or equivalent also predicted an earlier age of entry (at 20 vs. 28 years old). Findings highlight the poverty dynamics that underlie the relationship between early entry into prostitution and homelessness. Young women, living on the street or in shelters, with limited education and employment opportunities, are at high risk of entering prostitution when they are barely out of adolescence. Future research will be better able to design age-specific prevention strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• homelessness
• juvenile starters
• poverty
• sex work
• survival sex

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Karen Magruder, the Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 9, and The Net for their contributions in collecting data for this study.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Innovative Community Academic Partnership Program, funded by the Amon G. Carter Foundation, through The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work.

Notes

^1. Sex work and prostitution are sometimes used interchangeably in the literature. However, we view sex work as a generic term used to refer to direct and indirect (e.g., stripping, phone sex) sexual exchanges for money or goods (Weitzer, 2010). We use the term prostitution to refer to a specific subgroup of direct sex work that is commonly street-based or sold outdoors and is associated with increased danger, illegality, and oppression when compared to other subgroups of sex work. Survival sex and trading sex both refer to the activity of exchanging sex for basic necessities. Those who engage in survival sex or trading sex might or might not identify as engaging in prostitution, although any exchange of sex for money or goods meets the broadest definition of sex work.

^2. Data are not shown, but are available from the first author on request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Innovative Community Academic Partnership Program, funded by the Amon G. Carter Foundation, through The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work.