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The "hard core" homeless youth may number as high as 500,000 in the United States, but
services meet only a fraction of that in need (Baggett and Donough 1988).
Additionally, 500,000 juvenile prostitutes roam streets, many of whom are among the
covert homeless and thus not included in statistical reports, because they ostensibly have
shelter (Sereny 1985). In reality, they live a precarious existence with pimps or a series of
boyfriends, or with other prostitutes (King 1991). On a global level, sexual exploitation is
an enduring condition for girls.
In Australia, a country of under eighteen million people, the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission (Burdekin 1989; O'Connor 1989) estimated that between fifty
thousand and seventy thousand youth were homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
The same report stressed that homelessness was not merely a condition of being on the
streets or the threat of homelessness, but in addition having a highly mobile life or
otherwise lacking security without dependable caregivers.
The Youth Accommodation Association in 1991 estimated that prostitution varies from
individual cases to mass victims of organized crime. This may encompass a selection of
children; some run away from home or from situations, some are sold by their parents,
some are forced or tricked into prostitution, some are street children, some are working
part-time and some full-time, some are amateurs, and some are professionals.
The effects of tourism on child prostitution have led to dangerous developments.
Children of both sexes are involved in satisfying the sexual appetites of organized bodies
of tourists; with paedophile tourists, they are able to obtain profusely illustrated guides
containing extensive information, including local agent, legal practices, and the "legal
limits" of contact with children in each country.
Prostitution of very young children is known to occur in Asia, Latin America, Europe,
and North America. In Bangkok, 30,000 children under 16 years of age and some as
young as six years old are estimated to work as prostitutes. Anti-Slavery International
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