Splintered Lives - Barnardo's

Child prostitution
�� having to limit/control their sense of shame and/or humiliation in order to do it;
�� having to 'expose' themselves in order to work;
�� knowing that it is their vulnerability, the fact that they are a child, which is
'attractive' to punters;
�� cutting off from their own emotional responses, and the shame of sexual abuse
being replaced and/or overlaid by the stigma of sex work.
Some commentators have suggested that it is harder for children and young people
who have been sexually exploited, especially those involved in prostitution, to see
themselves as victims, since they 'seek' custom. However, we know from children and
adults who have experienced other forms of sexual abuse that abusers often go to great
lengths, and are very successful, in making children take on responsibility for the
abuser's behaviour. On the other side one defence against feeling totally powerless is to
create a version of reality in which one believes there are other options. The logic of this
position is that one has chosen, and is therefore, responsible for sexual exploitation.
Whilst this is form of 'dissassociative defence' (Herman, 1994), for some children/young
people there is a form of 'choice' involved; in the face of minimal or no other options
they choose sexual exploitation for which they get paid rather than personalised sexual
abuse done in the name of love.
Both the conditions of sexual exploitation and the ways children and young people find
to survive it can result in them being unwilling, and at times unable, to talk about their
experiences. They are frequently seen and/or treated as 'unco-operative' witnesses in
investigations, where professionals have limited understanding of the issues involved.
The research evidence to date
Wolpert Burgess et al (1984) have explored in some detail the impacts on children
involved in sex rings, and theirs is the most substantive work to date which we can
draw on. In this series all the rings used pornography, and it was produced in over two
thirds of them. Some aspects of the rings have strong parallels with prostitution, and
several were involved in commercial child prostitution. Part of the entrapment process
involved the recognition and temporarily fulfilment of children's emotional and physical
needs. The fact that this is the case often results in strong ambivalence amongst
children/young people.
Interviews were conducted with the children and their parents/carers two years after
disclosure. All of the children had very strong traumatic responses including: intrusive
thoughts, flashbacks, vivid memories and dreams; almost all became increasingly
isolated and withdrawn from others. Other 'symptoms' reported two years later for
many included: hyperalertness; aggressive behaviour; and 'hypermasculine risk taking'
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