Should Young People Involved in the Sex Industry Be Seen as Victims?

Abstract

This article highlights the contradictions in government legislation that simultaneously see young people involved in prostitution as innocent victims and willing criminals. It challenges the recent victim theory that is not only contradictory when we look at other government policy, but by being accepted as the government line on prostitution it has negatively defined young prostitutes as naïve and helpless. This female-focused victim philosophy excludes males and doesn't account for the reality of the situation for many girls who don't see themselves in this passive way. By hiding behind the victim philosophy the government ignores societal factors that deny young people legitimate economic subsistence and sexualise them in the media. The article thus argues for a theory of empowerment for young people in contradiction to the victim philosophy so that they are seen as survivors rather than victims without making them penalised in the criminal justice system.