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Abstract
The relationship between childhood victimization and subsequent entry into the sex industry is one of the most controversial topics in the field of victimology. Views on this issue tend to explain prostitution either as a free choice that has been made after weighing up the potential financial rewards compared with those of other employment options or, alternatively, as the result of structural forces of male dominance. However, the decision-making capacity of the individual who enters into sex work can be classified along a continuum ranging from prostitution as a choice to prostitution as the result of coercion. Decisions made in this so-called ‘grey area’ are strongly influenced by childhood victimization. The aim of the present study is to conduct a critical review of the empirical research on the relationship between childhood victimization and prostitution. Based on the studies reviewed it can be concluded that childhood violence is a key variable to take into account when attempting to understand a person’s decision to enter the world of prostitution and sexual commerce. This review shows that – despite the notable rates of victimization that are consistently reported and which need to be acknowledged once and for all – the issue of childhood victimization in prostitutes remains one of the most controversial topics within the discipline.
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Noemí Pereda
Noemí Pereda, PhD, is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment at the University of Barcelona. She heads the Research Group on Child and Adolescent Victimization (GReVIA). She collaborates as temporary adviser with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe in the study of child and adolescent violence in Spain. She also gives professional training and advice to different governmental and non-governmental organizations related to child victimization such as Save the Children, Vicki Bernadet Foundation or RANA Foundation. Her major areas of research interest are developmental victimology, psychological trauma, and risk and protective factors.