Child Abuse in the USA: Homelessness and Prostitution

This is the continuation to http://www.progressiveu.org/224151-child-abuse-japan-part-ii, and is part of a research paper about child abuse.

As I write this, there are a reported 1.3 million kids living on the streets in the United States. Those 1.3 million only include reported runaways, and do not account for children who are part of a homeless family, who were forced out of their homes or abandoned by their parents/guardians (known as a thrown-away episode), or who were simply not reported as runaways.

Another report, for instance, estimates that 1,682,900 - almost 1.7 million - youth had at least one runaway/thrown-away episode in 1991. An estimated 71% of those youth were considered "at-risk" during that episode due to factors such as sexual/physical abuse, being in a place where criminal activity is occurring, being extremely young, etc. (33)

One major danger for youth living on the streets is prostitution, not only because it is often their only means of survival, but because they have often already been abused by the time they reach the streets. Studies show that as many as 92% of street youth have been physically and/or sexually abused at home - often why they left in the first place - and 60% were again raped or assaulted on the street. (14, 33, 40)

Children who have been sexually abused typically have very low self-worth and are often victimized again and again, and this reflects on their later behaviors in life. Survivors of sexual abuse are twice as likely to have multiple sexual partners than their non-abused peers, and are 40% more likely to have had sex with a stranger. Girls are far more likely to become pregnant early - studies of pregnant and parenting teens show that between half to two thirds were sexually abused. Studies of HIV-infected youth estimate that 40% of those youth have experienced sexual abuse. And, according to a report by the National Institute of Justice, people who were sexually abused as children are twenty-eight times more likely than their non-abused peers to be arrested for prostitution.

Though many street youth don't engage in outright prostitution, they may engage in "survival sex" - the trade of sex for shelter or food. Reports estimate that almost half of street youth turn to some form prostitution within just 48 hours of leaving home, and about a quarter continue to engage in it regularly. (33, 40)

According to a recent survey of professionals working with young prostitutes, only about 40% enter the trade freely - the remainder are coerced into it, at least at first. However, since the average entering age to prostitution declining, from fourteen to thirteen or even twelve, I doubt the remainder truly entered prostitution willingly - for what choice does a child have on the street, if she is to survive? And many do not - the average life expectancy for a youth on the street is only seven years, and 13 of these children die each day, nearly five thousand each year. (33, 38, 40)

Resources for these youth are alarmingly lacking. In New York, for instance, there are only five hundred beds in shelters for an estimated 15,000-20,000 homeless youth. Most shelters are for adults only, and youth are usually too frightened to go to them, so they stay on the street. (40, 41). Others are jailed for prostitution - a career they often continue into adulthood, and continue being arrested for. Drug use is another common cause of arrest - 75% of street youth use illicit drugs, and about 17% inject those drugs. Many continue their drug habit into adulthood and continue to be arrested, time and time again. (41)

Some street youth eventually return to families though, and others are put in foster care. However, both those options have many problems as well.

The next part will be posted soon. The numbers refer to the sources, which will be posted at the end. If you liked this post, please rate it and check out the rest of this series.