Adolescent Female Prostitutes on the Streets of Brazil

Abstract

This study developed a prototypical description of a sample of young female prostitutes in BraziL Twenty-one young, female prostitutes were interviewed while they were actively soliciting clients on the streets of PortoAlegre, BraziL Whereas the literature indicates that young women in first world countries enter into prostitution as a consequence generally of abusive socialization, the findings reported here suggest that a proportion of young prostitutes in a Third World country-Brazil-is drawn voluntarily onto the streets by prospect of financial reward. To the extent that the data are representative, they support the view that in Third World countries, like Brazil, economic considerations may be of greater significance than those of social stress in explaining the ontology of adolescent female prostitutes.