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

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%...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of aggression, maltreatment & trauma maltreatment & trauma, 2016-10, Vol.25 (9), p.893-908
Main Authors: Cronley, Courtney, Cimino, Andrea N., Hohn, Kris, Davis, Jaya, Madden, Elissa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
African Americans
Child psychology
Employment
Employment opportunities
Females
Homeless people
homelessness
juvenile starters
Peers
Poverty
Prevention
Prostitution
sex work
Shelters
survival sex
Youth
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1092-6771
1545-083X
DOI:10.1080/10926771.2016.1223246