RESOLVE Manitoba
Winnipeg
The first phase of the national study on the girl child and the prevention of violence undertook a review of a wide range of Canadian programs for female youth. We were concerned about the number and type of programs available to prevent violence against girls. We were also interested in identifying programs which would assist girls caught in a web of violence and abuse.
For the second phase of this study the prairie research team focussed on the most vulnerable of girls, those exploited through prostitution. Our study was designed to identify important issues and concerns about policy and programs dealing with this particular form of sexual exploitation. Researchers have identified some key characteristics of girls and young adolescents who become exploited through prostitution. However, we know little of these young people's perceptions of their needs and their view of programs designed to assist them or the barriers they encounter in returning to a mainstream lifestyle. We wished to examine the services developed to assist these girls and the "fit" between the girls articulated needs and the perceptions of the service providers. Through this study we hope to contribute to a critical discussion about the status and circumstances of girls exploited through prostitution and assess different strategies for intervention.
Historically, prostitution has been deemed a moral crime. The "world's oldest profession" occupies a precarious position in our society. While never fully accepted in Canada, prostitution has not been fully rejected. There is a tendency to view prostitution as a 'necessary evil'. This ambiguity is reflected in our legislation. The practice of prostitution is legal in Canada, however, solicitation and other activities that lead to the act of prostitution are illegal.
While there is no consensus on the place of prostitution in society we do know that it exists on a continuum ranging from sexual slavery (the gorilla pimp), to survival sex (an exchange for basic necessities), through to the more bourgeois sex trade. In the latter case, both adults are consenting , albeit in a way that is shaped by their gender, occupation, ethnicity, socio-economic status and cultural values (Lowman, in press). In between is a host of different locations of experience and exploitation, from casual to full time prostitution and women who are self employed or working in pairs or groups. Prostitution occurs on the street, in trick pads, in escort agencies, bawdyhouses and massage parlours.
These experiences are not limited to adults. However, youth prostitution has a very different meaning in our society and provokes a very different response. The buying of sexual services from youth is perceived as a form of child abuse and the law clearly separates youth from adult prostitution. It is increasingly argued that we must protect children from becoming involved in prostitution because it is an issue of preventing child abuse rather than controlling prostitution. Partially due to the differing definitions of youth prostitution and partially due to the underground nature of prostitution and street life generally, there are no concrete reliable statistics that reflect the number of youth exploited through prostitution. Depending on the city, reports indicate that there are between forty and eighty youth exploited on the street on any given night.
The issue of youth exploited through prostitution is anything but simple. Although there is no monolithic experience of youth and children exploited through prostitution, some commonalities are consistently reported in research. These include childhood abuse, the over-representation of girls on the street, high substance use, issues of race, and exposure to poverty all play a role in individual experiences and levels of vulnerability to sexual exploitation through prostitution.
Most authors concur that prostitutes generally have a higher than average experience of childhood sexual abuse, although some suggest that this should not be regarded as a causal relationship (Mathews, 1989; Brannigan & Gibbs Van Brunschot, 1997). Rather, it appears that the intersection of abusive experiences within the family, running away, a lack of viable alternatives and a failure of the child welfare system cumulatively create a situation that sets the stage for children to become involved in prostitution (Chesney-Lind & Sheldon, 1992; Schissel & Fedec, 1999). With respect to gender, researchers consistently report that more girls than boys are sexually exploited through prostitution (Badgley, 1984; Lowman, 1987; Roeters, 1987; Shaver, 1996). Most studies indicate a high incidence of substance use and addiction among youth street prostitutes (Badgley, 1984; Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Prostitution, 1998). While researchers argue about whether substance use is a precursor to the engagement in prostitution (Brannigan & Fleischman, 1989) or a consequence of the work (Fraser, 1985; Lowman 1987), it is generally agreed that the relationship between substance use and prostitution is co-determinate (Schissel & Fedec, 1999).
It is clear that some segments of the population are more vulnerable to being exploited than others. Aboriginal youth are over-represented as youth exploited through prostitution (First Call, 1996; McEvoy & Daniluk, 1995, Kingsley, 2000). Most researchers indicate that youth end up on the street for two reasons: an unstable home life and a failure of the child welfare system to assist them (Mathews, 1989). Although economics is an important factor in the "choice" to engage in prostitution, wider issues must also be taken into account. The context of sexuality and attitudes about male and female roles generally, and the societal conception and sexualization of youth are all factors that contribute to the problem. This wider social construction of youth and sexuality also plays a role in the demand for youth prostitutes. Expanding the issue even more, we must ask how the issues intersect with power and control and the economic inequities that exist between males and females and adults and children.
The research uses a case study or qualitative research approach. We interviewed two populations utilizing semi-structured interview schedules: adult women who had become involved in prostitution before age 18 and staff from agencies that offer services to adolescents sexually exploited through prostitution. The semi-structured interview format has the advantage of including specific questions building on the little we know about the use of services by young girls and adolescents sexually exploited through prostitution, yet also allowing for unanticipated topics to emerge. The interviews for both the young women and the service providers included questions about the entry into prostitution, patterns of involvement, services needs and impact of involvement.
Notably though, in-depth interview respondents often tell their stories in their own way and a rigidly structured format may interfere. The interviewers used the schedules flexibly and as guides rather than being conducted verbatim, such as would be the case with a structured survey. As such, not every respondent was asked all of the questions. Further, each of the three RESOLVE research teams had a somewhat different emphasis. For example, Saskatchewan was interested in health issues, and asked more in-depth questions on this aspect and Alberta was interested in the impact of the new provincial legislation, thus contacted many more service providers that the other offices.
The women respondents were contacted through their past or current involvement with specialized services for either prostitution or substance abuse. The service providers worked at agencies that offered services for youth and adults involved in prostitution and could comment on the needs of that population. Most of the women's interviews were conducted individually, with the exception of four focus groups ranging from two to four participants. The interviews with both the women and service providers varied in length, but typically lasted about an hour to an hour and a half. The majority of the interviews were audiotaped and verbatim transcripts were prepared for the interviews with the women and many of the service providers. The analysis of the interview transcripts employed established qualitative methods (Coleman & Unrau, 1996). The research team examined the interview schedules conjointly for several days, independently coding for major themes and discussing these to arrive at a consensus of what emerged as the most central issues.
The in-depth qualitative data analyses are utilized throughout the report with the exception of the section on protective confinement. The intent here, was to outline critical debates about implementing provincial legislation that allow the confinement of children and youth involved in prostitution. As such, the quotations raise important issues, however, do not necessarily reflect the consensus or range of opinions expressed by all of the research respondents.
Several limitations are worth noting with respect to this research. As mentioned previously, some questions were asked differently in the three provinces, allowing for tailoring to the special interests of the research teams. This means that, for example, not all of the respondents were asked whether they had experienced abuse in their family of origins. Secondly, the women respondents were contacted because of their involvement with agencies; therefore, we spoke only with those who had perceived a need to be involved with formal services. This group may be different from others working in prostitution who have chosen not to seek help, or it may be more reflective of street prostitution than other forms, such as working in escort services. Further, the demographics of those interviewed varied across the three provinces. Alberta's respondents were mostly Caucasian and were younger, in contrast to a high proportion of interviewees of First Nation's backgrounds from Saskatchewan and Manitoba which also included more older informants. We cannot ascertain whether this reflects actual differences in who becomes involved in prostitution in the three provinces, or is an artefact of the way that we solicited respondents.
Nevertheless, given the paucity of research on girls and adolescent who become sexually exploited through prostitution in the prairie provinces, and a lack of research that invites individuals to relate their own perceptions of their needs, the study provides a much-needed perspective that will hopefully have an impact on services and policy for this vulnerable population.
We interviewed 45 women from across the three prairie provinces who had been involved in prostitution before age 18 (one individual is transgendered [male to female], however worked the streets as a woman). A higher percentage was of Aboriginal descent (26 or 57.7%) than Caucasian (19 or 42.2%). This proportion was different across the three provinces, with the Saskatchewan interviews exclusively Aboriginal, Manitoba 70% Aboriginal, but Alberta only 22.2%.
At the time of the interviews, the women ranged in age from 18 to 36: 10 (22.2%) were 20 or below, 14 (31.1%) were aged between 21 and 25, 11 (24.4%) were between 26 and 30, and 9 (20%) were 30 or older (one respondent did not specify age). With respect to the age at which they became involved with prostitution, 17 women (37.8%) were between 11 and 13; 16 (35.6%) became involved between 14 and 15, and 12 (26.7%) were aged 16 to 17. Thus, almost three quarters of the women began their involvement when they were 15 years old or less.
Almost 40% of the women had been involved for 5 years or less, another third (34.7%) for over 11 years, and 22.2% had six to ten years of involvement. The participants were almost equally divided between those who had left the streets (51%) and those who were still involved (49%). As children, 60% of the respondents had been involved with the child welfare system. Of these, most (77.8%) had been taken into care and resided in foster and group homes, often for many years. A high proportion (32 or 71%) of the respondents reported an abuse history as children. Of those who reported abuse, 21 (65.6%) had been sexually abused, most by family members. Only five individuals noted that they had not been abused in their families. Thirteen respondents did not mention that they had been abused as children, although a number of these had been taken into care by child welfare authorities, indicating significant problems in their families of origin.
Fifteen women became pregnant while under the age of 18 and while they were on the streets and bore one or more children. Of these, nine no longer have custody, although some visit their children who live with relatives. One women who kept her child, described the irony of being a "mother by day, hooker by night".
As noted previously, almost three-quarters of the respondents were very young (under the age of fifteen) when introduced to prostitution. The first incident of prostitution occurred for most primarily because they had little or no money and no other means meet their basic needs of shelter, clothing, and food. Twenty-one of the girls had run away from home or group homes or institutions. A small number were attracted to prostitution because of the "easy money" or they believed it to be a "glamorous" lifestyle. Almost half of the respondents reported that prostitution was a means of survival and money was a major factor in their involvement (i.e. buy groceries, feed and clothe their children, and pay the rent).
I don't think people see the reasons why we go out on the street. A lot of time it's because we have to. We have no other way of getting money and that's a fact. It's degrading for myself, but I would rather make sure that my daughter has food than worry about myself. (Alberta)
Women reported that as youth, opportunities to meet basic financial needs were often unavailable or insufficient, age requirements prevented some youth from being eligible to receive social assistance, and therefore, they resorted to working on the street. Youth also indicated that they resorted to prostitution because job opportunities were not available (i.e. youth too young to work) or insufficient (i.e. minimum wage). "I tried everything I could to get the money my legal means, but being 14 years old, you don't have a whole lot of options." (Alberta)
Contrary to the media focus on male pimps as coercing young girls into prostitution, a large number of the respondents (19) were introduced to prostitution by female friends, other group home or institutional room-mates, or by family members who were already involved.
I had a 16-year-old girlfriend who asked me if I wanted to run away … she said, it's $40 for a hand job, it's $60 for a blow job, and $80 for the entire thing. (Alberta)My sisters were doing it and I was living with my mom and I learned from them. And then, I started seeing some of their regulars. I was used to being around them and just started. It was good money. (Saskatchewan)
Many of the girls began by "spotting" (i.e. taking down dates' license plates) which gradually led to their own involvement in prostitution. A small group of women started on their own with no advice from others. They attributed their initial involvement in prostitution to simply being around that environment.
We lived on the drag … and I was just watching the girls out - kind of watched for a while and I met a girl who was out on the drag and she kind of told me what to do … How much to ask for, what to do, where to go, what to look for. (Alberta)
A small number traced their initial involvement to boyfriends who were already pimping and asked or encouraged them to start working. Notably, though, several women were forced into prostitution by boyfriends. Almost all of the respondents had worked for a pimp at some point. Interestingly though, numerous women also worked independently for some time periods. Although numerous respondents believed that they had made their own decision to prostitute, a small number were forced, coerced or manipulated into prostitution by pimps. "I had a gun held to my head." (Manitoba)
While many women worked continuously, others worked only sporadically - whenever they needed money. Several women spoke of working until they met their "quota"; others only until they had enough money to either eat, pay rent, pay for drugs, or to collect spending money. A number of women had prostituted in many different cities across Canada. Some indicated that travelling was their own choice, whereas others were pimped from city to city. With respect to the type of prostitution, many of our respondents worked only on the street or stroll, but others worked in trick pads, massage parlours, and escort agencies.
Drug use was a major factor in the respondent's involvement in prostitution. Although most had used some drugs prior to their entry to prostitution, almost all women reported a significant increase in drug use as they continued. While their early drug use typically involved "softer" drugs such as pot and some casual drinking, this escalated to harder drugs such as cocaine, speed, heroin, and crack. Not surprisingly, the women's involvement in prostitution became more entrenched as their addiction to drugs and alcohol intensified.
As youth, almost all of the respondents had attempted to leave prostitution at least once during their involvement. Most of these attempts to exit prostitution occurred after a significant event. Several women attempted to leave after they became pregnant; others quit after a violent experience with a customer (i.e. bad date) or they were arrested.
I got pregnant with my daughter and that was it. I was done.(Alberta)After that [bad date] we didn't want to take any chances, because I have a kid and the thought of losing your kid, going out one night and not coming back and your kid wondering where Mommy is - it makes you want to get off. (Alberta)
I never want to be in that little jail cell. I never want to be handcuffed again; it was a very intimidating process for me … But that lock up experience was what did it for me. I was sort of scared straight. (Manitoba)
Women also attributed their exit attempts to being burnt out or too tired. Several women described "hitting rock bottom" and therefore, making the decision to leave.
I was just tired. … Just sick and tired. (Saskatchewan)I got honest with myself and where my life was at and what I wanted and how far away that actually was … I finally took a good look in the mirror … I weighed 120 lbs. and that just does not look good on me. I had huge bags under my eyes. Nobody ever wanted to come near me. (Alberta)
Others attributed their attempts to leave prostitution because they did not want child protection service to take their children into care or they realized that prostituting themselves and being involved in the lifestyle was detrimental to their children. A relatively small number made the decision to leave after a positive experience, such as having an intimate partner who cared about them and did not want them to continue.
Although almost all attempted to leave prostitution, a high proportion of the respondents returned to working, mostly for the money. Some women were simply unable to meet their basic needs (i.e. rent, food, and clothing) through other means. Others admitted returning to prostitution because they needed money for their drug addiction. Numerous women returned because of what they termed their "addiction" to money and because they knew how fast and "easy" it was to get. Interestingly, several respondents returned to prostitution because it was part of their identity - that was simply who they were. Similarly, a relatively small number of women had made no attempt to leave prostitution. They described several barriers that prevented them from leaving or even thinking about leaving. One woman stated that she had not left because it was so ingrained in her. "I started when I was so young. It's just been a part of my life. It's not something that's like out of the ordinary" (Saskatchewan).
The ways in which social identities are constructed in collective and individualized contexts have long figured prominently and explicitly in critical theories of cultural and psychological processes (see McDowell, 1996). It is now widely accepted that identities crafted by individuals and groups correspond to the immediate and local social environments (Scheper-Hughes & Sargent, 1998). The interviews we conducted with former child prostitutes reveal quite a bit about how street involved youth see themselves and others. Indeed, eight interrelated factors were identified as being significant to the prevailing social identities of girls exploited through systems of prostitution: (1) the social networks on which the young women rely; (2) cultural heritage; (3) drug use; (4) motherhood; (5) perceptions of prostitution; (6) age; (7) gender; and (8) self-esteem. Although all eight factors are significant, the first four appear to be of greatest consequence and will be briefly discussed here.
The social networks that provide the immediate and framing context for youth working the streets are comprised primarily of agencies, families of origin, and extended street "families" (that include pimps, friends and drug dealers). While many respondents spoke of having no one to whom they could turn for support, an equal number also spoke of the "unbreakable" bond of their street families. Relying primarily on friends as an occasional source of income, drugs, emotional support, physical protection, and sociability, many of the girls described an affinity for others who had similar past experiences. "I hung out with people like me," one respondent succinctly said, while another noted that the difficult decision to "get off" the street was tantamount to "ditching" her friends, indicating that she readily equated the two. Occasionally respondents would speak about the superficiality of street friendships: "I was 14 when I started [in prostitution] and I had run into some people who I thought were friends, [but] I ended up being put on the street … I was put out by them." However, such comments about the precariousness of street-based security are outnumbered by the respondents' accounts of the ready peer support provided by the street communities.
Although not a source of consistent support per se, pimps figured prominently in the lives and social networks of many girls. There exists a range of pimps, from those who control every financial aspect of the girls' lives (paying for housing, clothing, and food) to pimps who were more frequently described as "boyfriends" and who might request money from the girls but who have less decision making power. The distinction between pimp and boyfriend, then, is not definitive and several of the women interviewed indicated that it was only after they stopped working as a prostitute that they could appreciate the extent to which their boyfriend was indeed their pimp. Looking back on her personal relationship with one man, for example, a Manitoba woman noted, "I was cash, I was a cash cow for him, you know? He was becoming more possessive and seeing me more [as] … his drug money." Such references to similar kinds of possessiveness were common and it appears that these girls' social networks were more restricted than were those of girls of who worked independently or with successive pimps to whom they were not attached romantically.
Programs and helping agencies played both positive and negative roles (depending on their mandate) within the social networks forged by the women participating in this research. Generally, respondents spoke negatively of child welfare agencies which evoked a fairly consistent sense of indignation and distrust. Although a few respondents indicated that secure treatment facilities assisted in (as one woman put it) "scaring them straight," agencies that were perceived to be less coercive, more flexible and that allowed youth to have greater input into programming were regarded more positively.
Families of origin figured less prominently in the lives of street involved youth. Generally, the women interviewed came from non-supportive and dysfunctional homes where they experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse. While many were taken away from their homes and placed in state care, they reconnected at some point with their families. Most often, they turned to their families of origin for occasional economic support or for temporary shelter but had little emotional connection with them. In some cases, the women were embarrassed to admit their involvement in prostitution to their families; this appears to be particularly so for some Aboriginal women for whom shame has significant cultural implications.
Issues of cultural heritage, specifically Aboriginality, were not explicitly discussed by many of the women interviewed, but it clearly underlies many of the experiences they had as youth and the social identities that resulted. One Saskatchewan woman, for example, recognized that she did not "fit in" with the "White kids" at her school and she attributes her intensifying involvement in prostitution to this sense of alienation:
Like, I look White but I knew I was Indian … I just didn't fit in with the White people. … But I feel like I fit in with the Indians on the street.
Conversely, some Euro-Canadian girls became well aware of their racial privilege. One Manitoba woman, for example, recalls the street advantage that her Whiteness ensured:
The tricks that I had sex with, they adored me. Some of them had come back specifically to look for me. I was White in a highly Native population on the street. … I was blond. I was White. I was 16. I was … Prime.
Whereas the street community gave the Saskatchewan girl a sense of belonging because it allowed her "fit in" with other Aboriginal people, the parallel community in Manitoba allowed this Euro-Canadian girl to overcome feelings of inadequacy and to feel esteemed by those around her (including pimps, drug users and other prostitutes). However, in both cases - as in most others - using drugs and being part of a drug-using community also influenced the girls' sense of belonging.
The rate of previous and/or current drug use among the women interviewed is very high. Virtually all of the respondents had used alcohol and other drugs while involved in prostitution. For some, being a "drug user" (or "junkie") was very much integral to their identities in that the women said it was who they were, not what they did: "I was just addicted, born addicted. It's who I am." For others, using drugs was a way to cope with the recurring sexual exploitation they faced: "I [took pills while working] so I wouldn't feel nothing. It was awful, like, I needed something." And still others explicitly equated prostitution with drugs: "My drug is my pimp. I work for it, I can't live without it." The definition of drug user, however, appears to have little consistency among respondents; some recalled only becoming a "user" when they began to inject drugs while others identified their first drink or drug as the genesis of their "user" identity. Regardless of this diversity, it is clear that (ab)using drugs greatly informs how youth on the street see and value themselves.
Pregnancy and motherhood were the most common life occurrences that led the women to question their commitment to the "junkie life." With several notable exceptions, most women indicated that becoming a mother allowed them to embrace an alternative identity and to commit to redressing the addiction and sexual exploitation that marked their lives: "I threw myself into mothering. And I was a good single mother." Those same respondents noted that the agencies and programs that assist with child care and that do not threaten to remove the children from the women's care are more likely to have a positive impact than are those that deny the importance of motherhood.
Since the mid-1980s, public health officials world wide have claimed that the health and well-being of youth exploited through systems of prostitution are of paramount concern (see Brock, 1998; Brussa, 1998; Farmer, 1999). However, little is known about how these youth actually experience, assess, prioritize and respond to health threatening conditions. Nor is much known about how service providers facilitate health-seeking behaviours among clients affected by prostitution. Throughout this research, reference to health related conditions were repeatedly raised by the experiential women and, to a much lesser extent, the service providers interviewed. Therefore, while we cannot assess the actual health status of girls on the street, we have the information to redress the gap in knowledge about how these girls perceive and attend to health related matters.
HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, addiction, and violent injuries were the specific conditions most commonly mentioned by respondents and service providers. However, descriptions of vague ill-health and generalized fatigue were more commonly offered by respondents. This suggests that, in their youth, these women had an understanding of specific medical conditions but were more likely to assess their overall well-being in general rather than particular terms. Indeed, even the references to specific conditions were frequently couched within broader complexes of diseases. Sometimes conditions, such as herpes, were folded into biomedically recognized categories (e.g. "STDs"), but informal compilations of like-diseases were more commonly put together by the respondents: "HIV, Hep C are part of … the other fifty odd things that are out there."
As noted in the relevant literature (Downe, 1997), infectious diseases were often linked with violence (most commonly with rape) and with addiction. One Saskatchewan woman explained,
Definitely like AIDS, STD's, Hepatitis C [go with] sharing needles. It's all part of the life. It's like … I was so careful with condoms and stuff, um, until the first time I was raped.
Wrapping these conditions together as "part of life" speaks again to the ways in which the specific health conditions - around which there is often a great deal of narrowly focused health education - are superseded by the girls' continual recourse to more generalized well-being or ill-health and to broader and determinant social context. Correspondingly, there is greater receptivity to those programs or treatment regimes that could address those general feelings of ill-health rather than those that had a specific preventive focus.
While very few health-related practices or practitioners were mentioned by respondents, quite a few service providers indicated the need and support for condom distribution and needle exchange programs. When questioned about these resources, respondents indicated that they were indeed a good idea even if they themselves did not use them:
I didn't use clean needles, and most of the time I used a condom, but sometimes I didn't … [The threat of AIDS] was so remote, it didn't phase me. … But those services, I think they're good. They're not enabling, but they definitely help out.
However, the provision of basic hygiene was occasionally mentioned as being equally important. One Saskatchewan woman, for example, felt that providing a safe place where prostituted girls could sleep, shower and wash their clothes would give them "some dignity."
Some respondents and service providers indicated that offering food to help counter the malnourishment that accompanies chronic drug and alcohol use should be a priority. However, it was clear that given the women's experiences in secure treatment centres where routines are highly regimented, they came to equate food with coercion and force:
They'd make me eat or send me to my room … because I wasn't used to eating, I was in my room a lot. I just could not bring myself to eat … I was used to eating maybe one meal a day, and a small one at that.
Programs that offered more flexibility in this regard would undoubtedly
have greater success in meeting the girls' nutritional needs.
It's just too bad that life involves so much abuse and violence. Everywhere you get it, the police, everywhere. You get battered around, even if it's just with words. It gets to you. It gets to your spirit and you start feeling like you don't want to be around anymore. (Saskatchewan)
The women respondents described high rates of violence perpetrated against them, both when they were children and as youth working on the street. As prostitutes, they were victimized by pimps, johns, other prostitutes, and intimate partners, as well as representatives from mainstream society and members of the police. A number also reported incidents in which they behaved violently to others and themselves. This section describes their experiences of violence in more detail.
As mentioned previously, almost three quarters of the respondents who commented about abuse as children had been sexually abused, most often by a family member. The perpetrators included parents, stepparents, siblings, and relatives such as uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Sixteen of these children were victimized by numerous offenders. Some respondents had been sexually abused by family friends or neighbour; others reported significant physical abuse by parents. Several reported being either physically or sexually abused by caretakers while living in foster care or group homes. After they began working as prostitutes, the women continued to experience violence so commonplace that it almost seemed almost "normal". A number spoke of being either desensitized to the violence or having to become numb to deal with it. Many had friends or acquaintances who had been murdered while they had been working on the streets.
Almost half of the women had experienced violence or threats of violence from pimps. Many of the women had been forced into prostitution by pimps and were severely beaten if they refused to work. Several respondents described being frightened to leave prostitution because their pimps might retaliate. Other women were afraid to access services because they would be punished if their pimps found out. These pimps were very controlling and constantly watching the women. Only one respondent had never been threatened or assaulted by her pimp.
Women were also abused by johns or dates. Thirtyone of the thirtythree respondents who mentioned bad dates, reported experiencing at least one "bad date"; most had numerous incidences of violent acts perpetrated against them. Such acts included being stabbed or cut, raped, gangraped, raped at gun point, forced to engage in degrading sexual acts, choked/strangled, beaten, kidnapped, stalked, gun held to head, tied up, tortured, beaten with objects (i.e. baseball bat, crowbar), and run over. These violent incidences often resulted in hospitalization or serious injuries such as miscarriages, stitches, paralysis, broken bones, and fractures. The respondents also considered being robbed (i.e. refused to pay after sex or stole respondent's money) or being stranded (i.e. taken and left outside and the city) as bad dates. Only three respondents had never had a bad date.
Several women commented that they were quite fearful of "bad dates", worrying about not knowing the men they accompanied or whether they would come back alive. Numerous respondents commented that they needed to be intoxicated or high while prostituting because their fear was so overwhelming. Perhaps surprisingly, an equal number of women prefer to work sober because they need to stay alert so that they might escape if a dangerous situation arose.
The women described abuse not only from pimps and johns, but also from other women working on the street, including being physical assaulted, threatened, robbed, and forced "off stroll". Several women acknowledged that their pimps protected them against the violence from other women and their pimps. A large proportion of the women respondents described physical, sexual, verbal, and financial abuse by their intimate partners. A number of these had been forced into working by their boyfriend or partner and/or handing over some or all of their money to them. Although these men exhibited the characteristics of a pimp (i.e. forcing the women to work, taking their earnings), the women rarely referred to them as such.
The research participants commonly reported fearing the police based either on their own negative experiences with police or having listened to others. While working, several women had been abused or harassed by police. They described being beaten up; handled aggressively, and verbally assaulted by police. In addition, two women reported being raped or sexually assaulted by police officers.
The women also experienced violence from the mainstream or "straight" culture when they were working. Some were demeaned by having eggs or pennies thrown at them by passersby, being called derogatory names, or being groped. In addition to the violence experienced while working, several women experienced harassment by other students when they returned to mainstream schools after they had left the streets.
Seventeen respondents admitted being physically violent towards others. They directed their violence at intimate partners, other women working on the street, johns, group home staff, and police. Many of the women had criminal records for assaults or weapons offences. Some attributed their violence to drug use or because they became hardened in response to their time on the street. However, although some were violent towards others, they more often directed the violence internally. Numerous respondents reported incidences of selfharm, selfmutilation (i.e. cutting), and suicidal ideation. Seven respondents had attempted suicide; three reported multiple attempts.
In contrast to the women's descriptions of fear and response to the commonplace violence in their lives, the service providers spoke mainly of the childhood abuse that preceded their path to the streets. Although the majority of service providers conceptualized prostitution as a form of sexual abuse and exploitation, only a few providers spoke of the daytoday violence that the young women experienced from pimps, johns, and others.
Most provincial child welfare or child and family services acts (CFSA) and, in British Columbia and Alberta respectively, the Secure Care Act ("SCA") (which is not yet in force) and the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act ("PCHIP") provide for various intervention strategies, including non-consensual holding of minors involved in prostitution. This section of the paper will briefly review the traditional CFSA model, contrast it with newer models adopted in Alberta and British Columbia and then set out the potential Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ("Charter") violations that could arise with protective confinement models. It will conclude with an analysis of whether the Charter violations can be justified as a reasonable limit in a free and democratic society.
The traditional CFSA models vary slightly from province to province, but most permit the apprehension of a "child in need of protection" which is defined as a child whose "life, health or emotional well-being is endangered." The definition would include children involved in prostitution and non-therapeutic drug use. Although both Alberta and British Columbia have traditional CFSAs, they have adopted more specific legislation. PCHIP is solely concerned with children engaging or attempting to engage in prostitution whereas the SCA covers children who severely misuse drugs or who are sexually exploited. Thus girls involved in prostitution across Canada can be apprehended under provincial legislation. Sixty percent of the women interviewed in this study were or had been in the care of child welfare agencies before they became involved in prostitution and therefore were already within the definition of a "child in need of protection."
Emergency apprehensions are permitted under traditional CFSAs where there are "reasonable and probable grounds [to believe that]...a child is in need of protection." In Manitoba, this power is used to apprehend girls involved in prostitution when a very serious problem arises, like a life-threatening drug overdose. All but four of the Manitoba women interviewed had been apprehended after becoming involved in prostitution on an emergency basis because of prostitution or drug related activities. PCHIP permits apprehensions when there are "reasonable and probable grounds to believe ... the child's life and safety is seriously and imminently endangered because the child has been engaged in prostitution." While the serious and imminent requirement seems to suggest a higher threshold for intervention than the Manitoba CFSA, the police in Alberta have interpreted this section as meaning that the life or safety of any child engaged in prostitution is seriously and imminently endangered.(26) The SCA permits emergency apprehensions only if there is an "immediate risk of serious harm or injury to the child, less intrusive measures are not available ... and detainment is necessary to ensure the child's safety." As SCA is not yet in force, it cannot be said whether it will be interpreted to apply to life threatening situations, like the Manitoba CFSA, or as a general statue permitting apprehension of any child involved in prostitution like PCHIP. The Supreme Court of Canada held the apprehension of children does not violate the right to liberty and security provisions of the Charter, even in non-emergency situations, if there is a serious risk of harm.(27) Thus a statute which establishes a relatively low threshold for apprehension will probably survive a constitutional challenge.
All three legislative models permit warrantless searches if there is reason to believe a child is on the premises who is in immediate danger but none of the statutes provide for a post-warrant judicial review of the necessity of the search. However most acts require the agency to make an application to a judge or independent tribunal within a short period (usually less than a week) to justify or "show cause" for the emergency apprehension and to justify continued detention. No show cause hearings are required if the initial apprehension is permitted by court order even though these orders are made without notice to the affected child. In the first year that PCHIP was in place, the director did not apply to the court to justify continued detention, rather most children usually apprehended under PCHIP were released after the initial three day (now five day) detention. Many girls were apprehended more than once. Some, but not all, provinces require that mature children be specifically advised of the right to counsel for the post-apprehension hearing and a few even permit the court to appoint counsel. Legislative regimes that fail to provide for post-apprehension reviews of searches and apprehensions or which fail to require that apprehended mature minors be advised of the right to council and be provided with council may violate Charter rights.(28)
Under CFSA models apprehended children usually are to be taken to a "place of safety" although in Manitoba, the legislation specifically provides that they cannot be taken to a "detention centre." Under PCHIP, apprehended children are to "confined at a protective safe house" and under the SCA they can be "detained at a secure care facility". Neither PCHIP nor SCA specifically set out the standards for these facilities. However the use of "confined" and "detained" indicates that non-consensual detention in locked facilities is contemplated by the legislation. Locked confinement, especially in the absence of clear legislated standards for the facilities (like, for example, how detention is to be enforced against a non-compliant minor) and other safeguards around the apprehension, may violate the child's Charter rights to liberty and to freedom from arbitrary detention.
While the traditional CFSAs vary significantly regarding third party consent to health assessment and treatment of apprehended children, the Manitoba CFSA provides that minors over 16 cannot be subjected to a medical examination or treatment without their consent or on a court order. Such orders can only be granted if the child "does not understand relevant information or cannot appreciate the consequences of the decision being made." In contrast, PCHIP provides that the "director has exclusive custody of the child and is responsible for the child's care, maintenance and well being while the child is being confined." This provision therefore gives the director the power to consent on the child's behalf to a medical assessment and treatment. The SCA clearly states that the director may "authorize" health examinations, "consent to health care if the health care is directly related to the risk that lead to the detainment" and share this information with others including service providers and parents.
Since the primary areas of health risk identified by service providers for girls involved in prostitution are HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, drug addiction and violence including sexual violence, the medical assessments would likely include highly intensive procedures like gynecological examinations and blood tests. In the absence of clear standards and external review mechanisms for third party consent to the medical examination and assessment of mature minors, these legislative provisions may violate, amongst other constitutional rights, the liberty and security of the person and the equality guarantees contained in the Charter.
The potential Charter violations described above can be justified (and therefore are not unconstitutional) if the government can establish that it, first, is attempting to address a pressing and substantial problem and, second, the legislation has a rational connection to the objective it seeks to achieve; it minimally impairs the affected rights; and strikes a balance between the deleterious and salutary effects of the legislation. Four young Albertan women who participated in a focus group for this study were asked what they thought about the secure provisions in PCHIP. They said,
"The doors are locked." "They are going right out on the street again." "That's going to piss them off." "Or even better you're going to piss the pimps off." "That's true." "They are going to resent people trying to help them." "You're not helping them. … It's not going to solve anything."
Governments could easily establish that exploitation of children through prostitution is a serious and pressing problem. However, this interchange raises some of the reasons why a government may not be able to establish the second set of criteria. The next few paragraphs will focus on some of the problems governments may have in justifying PCHIP statutes.
Apprehensions may not be an effective tool to help get girls out of prostitution, especially since many of the girls apprehended under PCHIP are angry about the apprehension and simply sleep out their time before being released back to the street. Moreover, there is a very serious concern that the possibility of being subjected to secure confinement will drive girls away from accessing voluntary services. Girls are already distrustful of these services; as one respondent stated, "I don't want to go to [a particular service] because they take your picture and give it to the vice squad." Lost contact with voluntary services means lost opportunities to identify and foster other motivations to leave the street like pregnancy, burnout or violence. Successful programs need to focus on taking advantage of the window of opportunity that opens when these situations arise.
Many of the young women interviewed stated that they preferred to be on the streets rather than hidden in trick pads, massage parlours, and hotels. Why? Because that is where their friends are, they are less isolated; they can learn the ropes from each other; they can look out for each other and they know that street services are keeping their eyes open too; they can share information about bad dates; and, they can find out about available services. One young woman said about PCHIP,
You're going to push the prostitutes so far into an isolated area that bad stuff is going to end up happening again … they're going to go out there and the cops won't see them, and then they're going to get screwed up just because of that.
An Alberta service provider echoed this problem stating,
The girls I have talked/worked with since PCHIP has been in place, all of them talk about being driven underground, they are doing more work than ever before.
As well, she said,
I've had a couple of girls who were picked up and taken to safe houses, and those girls got absolutely terrible beatings when they were back on the street because they had been out of circulation, hadn't been making the money they need to make …
Thus according to some interviewees it seems that an effect of PCHIP may be that it pushes young women underground and back to abusive pimps, isolates them and makes it harder for them to escape from sexual exploitation. Given the serious, albeit unintended, consequences secure confinement regimes may have, this outline shows that .a good case could be made that the constitutional violations in the legislation cannot be justified. However more research is required on these issues.
This section is based on our review of programs across the country using two different interview strategies: 1. Detailed, in-person interviews with service providers. 2. Telephone interviews with agency staff to obtain program descriptions in specific communities. The in-person interviews collected program information and provided a forum to discuss key policy and funding issues from a service provider perspective. The majority of the detailed interviews were conducted in the three prairie provinces to complement our interviews with individuals who had been involved in prostitution as minors. There were 8 interviews in Manitoba, 11 in Saskatchewan and 24 in Alberta. In addition, we undertook site visits in 3 other provinces resulting in 3 interviews in Toronto, 4 in Vancouver and 4 in Quebec. In total we drew on the experience and wisdom of 54 service providers working in 10 cities across the country. The telephone interviews collecting program information were done in the 10 provinces and 27 cities.. Working from east to west, we conducted 18 interviews in the Atlantic provinces, 17 in Quebec, 69 in Ontario, 8 in Manitoba, 11 in Saskatchewan, 24 in Alberta and 26 in British Columbia, for a total of 170 agencies canvassed. A very small percentage of the agencies canvassed were specialized in service delivery for children/youth exploited through prostitution. Most of the experiential youth received assistance from generic street youth programs or from programs for prostitutes not specific to youth. As a result although we identify a large number of agencies who have provided services to experiential youth very few were specialized in such programming.
Based on the 54 in depth interviews and the 170 program descriptions a number of patterns emerge. To begin from an administrative perspective there appear to be three major sources of program delivery to children exploited by prostitution:
1. Mandated child welfare agencies, for example Child and Family Services or Children's Aid Societies who are mandated under their provincial child welfare legislation to provide child protection services;
2. Recent special legislative initiatives, like the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act ( PCHIP) in Alberta which has been tied to program and funding initiatives;
3. A variety of non governmental organizations (NGOs) which provide
a range of services from generic street youth programs to prostitution
and gender specific programs.
These administrative distinctions, however, are loaded with program and policy decisions and implications which shape the terrain of service delivery across the country and have a profound impact on the children and youth in need of service. The order of service types presented reflect policy and funding patterns of great significance. The first two types of programs, child welfare and PCHIP programs have the most secure funding because they are built into the base line budget of provincial family services departments. The third category of programs, the NGOs have the most precarious source of funding with most agencies dependent on short term, often pilot project, funding and fund raising initiatives. Clearly provincial governments take greater 'ownership' of programs with a legislative foundation and provide more secure funding to permit the agencies to fulfil their "mandate".
At the administrative level the distinction between mandated and non-mandated services is very clear, however, at the program level these distinctions often become blurred. For example, in Alberta, funding through PCHIP is directed to a number of NGOs that provide a range of voluntary services and in other provinces child welfare agencies may support or fund NGOs providing specific services for children exploited through prostitution. Despite the fact that the boundaries between mandated and non-mandated services may be blurred at the program delivery level, the funding priorities are clearly distinct.
The policy implications of this funding 'divide' are significant. The programs with a legislative foundation, (child welfare and PCHIP) are also tied to an 'apprehension' or protective confinement function regardless of the wishes of the child/youth. From numerous studies and our own interviews we know that the majority of children on the street have been involved with the child welfare system. Many of these youths report bad experiences with child welfare.
From a policy perspective there is a conundrum, the category of children most in need of services are often children suspicious of 'controlling' agencies ... which are the agencies most securely funded to provide the services. Thus the evolution of securely funded programs with a mandate to protect child sexual abuse victims may have the unintended effect of frightening these children/youth away because of their fear or aversion to the 'control' components of these services.
When we consider the non governmental organizations they have greater degrees of freedom in the provision of services, however, for the most part the cost of that freedom is insecure funding. NGOs that are not tied to a legislative mandate encompass a wide range of services and diverse service philosophies, it appears that insecure funding is their only common denominator.
Among the NGO service agencies there are two major categories. The first category are generic services designed for street youth in general and the second category are programs designed specifically for children and youth exploited through prostitution. Across the country there are many more generic agencies than specialist agencies, which appear to be a more recent development. One strength of the generic approach lies in the ability of youth to access the services without the 'stigma' of prostitution attached to the program. A second strength is the range of issues street youth programs are designed to deal with. The services speak to the broad range of needs from the basics of food, showers, housing, to employment, health and education concerns. Their greatest limitation is that few specifically address issues of sexual exploitation or previous abuse at home and few of the street youth projects have gender specific programs. Given that studies indicate that girls are the most frequent victims of exploitation through prostitution the lack of gender specific programming is of serious concern.
The specialist programs for children/ youth exploited through prostitution tend to be gender specific. In addition to addressing basic needs they focus on the specific needs and concerns of children involved in prostitution, including a therapeutic component. These specialized programs are divided among the legislatively based services, such as PCHIP and child welfare and the non-legislatively based programs. As a result they reflect a diversity of service philosophies. Considering both the generic services and the specialist services (including legislatively based and non mandated programs) we can identify a continuum of service philosophy and delivery ranging from protective confinement to harms reduction to advocacy. Within this range there are also many subtleties of interpretation, some agencies provide services from a variety of approaches with considerable flexibility in gearing their services to the specific need of the client. Many agencies, with a very clear service philosophy will cooperate with other agencies utilizing a different service philosophy when it is in the best interests of the client. Despite the variety and overlap it is helpful to distinguish the continuum of service philosophy which speaks to the differing levels of control a child/youth might encounter in using the service. The three different approaches were reflected in the interviews with service providers.
From the protective confinement perspective the emphasis is upon the imminent danger to the child and their approach is informed by an urgency to remove children from danger, (off the street and out of prostitution). This sense of urgency and emphasis on protection results in decisions being made 'for the child rather than by the child'. This perspective is congruent with traditional child welfare models of "protection" and with the concern for protection articulated in the Alberta legislation.
These are victims of child abuse and sexual predators. … It's a violent, drug addicted, poverty ridden choice where prostitutes are both victims and offenders. … Yeah, we have to protect people. And no, I don't believe a 14 or 16 year old has the mind to say "I want to go out there and have sex … for money." There is an onus on police and governments to protect these people until they are able to make choices. Are we punishing kids for locking them up or are they being punished on the street? It's a tough choice! (Manitoba)
The harms reduction approach attempts to balance a view of the children as victims and survivors. They undertake a complex balance of recognizing the dangers and respecting the child/youths autonomy, resisting 'for the child' decisions and facilitating 'decisions by the child'. Their emphasis is upon reducing the harms associated with prostitution without necessarily taking steps to stop the child/youths involvement immediately. Services often include provision of condoms, needle exchanges, bleach kits, street wise work shops and bad date sheets. In our review of programs we did encounter a number of agencies that defined their role as harms reduction, however, they took a strong stand on refusing services they deemed enabling, for example needle exchanges, condoms and bad date sheets.
My experience is, you can't make a kid do what they don't want to do, but certainly if you give people opportunities then they can make better choices and quite often (they) do. … With a 16 or 17 year old (if) you say you are prostituting and you can't do that and I won't allow you to do that … it can be a shaming message … that is not a helpful message for kids that are being exploited out there. It is really important to provide them with opportunities for safety, for a roof over their head, for food, for those kind of things and to reel them in, rather than think we can just snatch them and lock them up or tell them what to do. (Manitoba)
At the other end of the continuum is the "advocate" approach. This perspective is critical of programs designed to get clients out of prostitution. They advocate for street workers rights. They are strong opponents of mandated services and strong advocates of decriminalization. They provide a range of harms reduction services and are active educating community and professionals about the realities and complexities of street prostitution. Their emphasis is on the agency and rights of their client, not protection when protection is imposed.
I find programs that target people to get out of the field offensive. Most programs don't try to help prostitutes, they are services for people or (the) public at large who don't want to have this dirty problem of prostitution. How much of this is a political response to a morality issue of the right and does not reflect the needs of children? There is a mentality the people have to Save the Children! Our mission statement is to enable people and provide support and legitimize the work and decriminalize it. We want to assist sex workers in their effort to live and work safely and with dignity. Sex for money is not an inherently dis-empowering situation to be in. (Ontario)
Our interviews encompassed service providers at all points on the continuum. We were impressed with the compassion and commitment of people who work in this field regardless of where they fit on the continuum. They have articulated the extraordinary challenge of their work and children's struggle to survive on the street. The risks are the highest they could ever be in the social services. Therefore we must ask the hard questions. If we are driven by the urgency of protection do we run the risk of losing the most wounded children on the street? Will they be afraid to seek help because of their fear of apprehension? Conversely, if we are driven by "rights principles" do we run the risk of failing to intervene when young lives are at stake? The appalling statistics on homicides among youth exploited through prostitution is a reality we cannot ignore. It is a terrible indictment on our society.
Our interviews with the women who had been involved in prostitution as children revealed that very few such "experiential" youth actually used programs. When asked about this there were two frequent responses. The first, was their previous negative experiences with child welfare agencies which left them angry and suspicious of any "helping" agency. The second, was their lack of knowledge about services, in large part because of a real lack of services. For those who did use services their views echoed the views of service providers. Voluntary services were the ones most likely to be approached.
The majority of women who had been apprehended under child welfare legislation were very supportive of voluntary services and suspicious of mandated services. For those who had never been apprehended there was greater acceptance of a range of services, including involuntary confinement. "[It] will keep them safe physically, mentally and maybe the girls will wake up and say, hey, these guys are trying to help" (Alberta). Despite this general divide there were some women who had been apprehended who were supportive of a protective confinement approach.
A number of participants spoke in favour of programs run by women for women and the overwhelming majority supported programs with staff who had previous experience on the street.
Having one on one with someone whose been there. … And let them talk with each other because they'll understand more than from someone who reads a book. (Manitoba)
The fundamental challenge for policy makers is to determine how to strike the right balance between respecting the rights and autonomy of the children/youth exploited through prostitution and how to provide safety and alternatives. Our research has suggested several critical questions to ask our policy makers. First, it is disturbing to find that the most secure funding tends to be limited to programs with an apprehension or secure confinement mandate. In contrast, the one unified message we received from survivors and service providers alike is that one model does not serve all! Policy makers need to insure that program variety exists and this can best be achieved now by providing more secure funding to the NGOs that provide a range of voluntary services along the 'harms reduction' and 'advocacy' continuum. These are the programs that children/youth find most accessible and most acceptable. Yet they are the most insecurely funded.
Secondly, a dominant theme in our survivors stories was the issue of violence. Canadian service providers have developed an impressive expertise in developing programs for battered women through shelter, second stage and counselling services. They have also learned to respond to the challenge of women choosing to go back to their abusive partners. These patterns are very similar to the process of children and youth moving in and out of prostitution as they search for solutions for themselves. It raises the question of why services to women and children involved in prostitution cannot be understood as similar to services for battered women? The programs would need to be specialized but the goal is the same, the prevention of violence and abuse against women and children. The culture of services for battered women has much to teach us about respecting the rights and autonomy of survivors while promoting protection and safety. The history of services for battered women has also taught us how critical secure funding is to support the (often) lengthy process of disengaging from abusive relationships. Finally, both programs could benefit from an exchange of ideas and program models between shelter workers and street workers.
Third, what role can the federal government play in addressing these complex issues given the jurisdictional divide between federal and provincial responsibility for social services? There are a number of areas which lend themselves to an active role for federal departments.
1. The federal government can play a more directive role in promoting secure funding for NGO's by utilizing their 3 year pilot project funds to lever a greater commitment on the part of provincial governments to maintenance of services demonstrated to be effective.
2. The federal government can fund the very studies required to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs.
3. The federal government can sponsor national and regional workshops and conferences to assist service providers to share and develop best practices in the field.
4. The federal government can allocate a percentage of their "housing for the homeless" funds specifically to street youth and children and youth at risk of involvement in prostitution. Shelter services and safe homes are desperately needed in many communities. The previous program for battered women "Safe Haven" could be an operational model for a street youth initiative.
5. The federal government can allocate enriched funding for employment
readiness and employment training courses for children and youth
exploited through prostitution.
The problem is complex and the challenge is great, however, the
first step towards solutions is creating the political will to
take action. We hope that this study will contribute to that
process and provide some suggestions of where to begin.
Endnotes 26.
For example, in K.B. and M.J v. Alberta
[2000] AJ No. 876 (Prov. Ct.), reversed [2000] AJ No.1570 (Q.B.),
one of the apprehended girls had never been involved in prostitution
and the other had been out soliciting on the street earlier in
the evening when an officer had approached her and suggested
that she go home. About an hour later he showed up at their apartment,
one girl was sleeping, the other watching tv. According to the
Director of child welfare, the apartment was a trick pad, the
police went there to look for stolen goods. No one alleged that
either girl was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Apprehension
in these circumstances suggests that the threshold for serious
and imminent danger assessments used by the police is very low.
27.
K.L.W. v. Winnipeg Child and Family
Services (2000) SCC 48.
28.
Portions of the PCHIP legislation were
struck down in the K.B. case (ibid.) by the Alberta
Provincial Judges Court but this decision was overturned by the
Alberta Court of Queen's Bench and PCHIP was held to be
constitutional. As little evidence was presented at these hearings
on the efficacy of the PCHIP and it was subsequently amended,
the result could easily be different in another case. In any
event, since the decision comes from the lowest superior court
jurisdiction, it does not have significant precedential effects
and even another Queen's Bench judge is free to come to a different
conclusion on the constitutionality of the legislation.
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