dlowan wrote:
Perhaps one might consider differentiating sentencing for a starving teenage parent in some slum, and a rich businessman running a string of underage brothels?
I couldn't fing newer satistics, but these are as old as some others ...:
Girls involved in prostitution are increasingly getting younger, dropping from 14, to 13 and 12 years of age. Child prostitution in the United States began to escalate in the late 1980's after new laws made it more difficult for officials to detain runaway children. (Lois Lee, founder of Children of the Night, Brad Knickerbocker, "Prostitution's Pernicious Reach Grows in the US," Christian Science Monitor, 23 October 1996)
In Ohio, over the past seven years, the average age when a girl enters prostitution has decreased from 16 to 14. The demand for prostituted children is increasing, as men feel safer from AIDS with younger girls. 75 to 95% of all prostitutes were sexually abused as children. Many prostitutes are high school dropouts, come from poor and abusive homes, move from place to place and are alcoholics or drug addicts. (Debra Boyer, U. Washington, Susan Breault of the Paul & Lisa Program, "Danger for prostitutes increasing, most starting younger," Beacon Journal, 21 September 1997)
2,632 youths were reported missing, more than 60% of them are listed as endangered runaways, who often end up as prostitutes in Ohio in 1996. Attacks against prostitutes were increasing as of September 1997. (State Attorney General, "Danger for prostitutes increasing, most starting younger," Beacon Journal, 21 September 1997)
16.9 is the average age of entry into prostitution for girls. (Delancey Street Foundation, San Francisco, "The lost boys," Sarah McNaught, The Boston Phoenix, 23-30 October 1997)
14 years is the average age of entry into prostitution for boys, 25 years of age is the average age that men leave prostitution. Male prostitutes usually do not have pimps. (Sean Haley, Director, Adolescent Services, JRI Health, Boston, "The lost boys," Sarah McNaught, The Boston Phoenix, 23-30 October 1997)