The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is committed to improving the justice system’s response to crimes against children. OJJDP recognizes that children are at increased risk for crime victimization. Not only are children the victims of many of the same crimes that victimize adults, they are subject to other crimes, like child abuse and neglect, that are specific to childhood. The impact of these crimes on young victims can be devastating, and the violent or sexual victimization of children can often lead to an intergenerational cycle of violence and abuse. The purpose of OJJDP’s Crimes Against Children Series is to improve and expand the nation’s efforts to better serve child victims by presenting the latest information about child victimization, including analyses of crime victimization statistics, studies of child victims and their special needs, and descriptions of programs and approaches that address these needs.
Introduction
Little statistical and research information exists about the prostitution of juveniles in its various forms. However, the emerging National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) provides a new opportunity for analyzing incidents of this problem that come to the attention of police. In the absence of other sources of information, the data about a limited number of cases from the 76 agencies in 13 states that are represented in NIBRS suggest some patterns of possible utility for those trying to identify and respond to the prostitution of juveniles.1
The following are highlights of the analysis presented in this Bulletin:
- Juvenile prostitution as encountered by police is more likely than
adult prostitution to involve multiple offenders and more likely to occur
indoors and in large urban areas.
- Police report more contacts with male juvenile prostitutes than with
female juvenile prostitutes.
- Male juvenile prostitutes tend to be older than female juvenile prostitutes
and more likely to operate outdoors.
- Police are less likely to arrest juvenile prostitutes than adult prostitutes,
but more likely to arrest male juveniles than female juveniles, and more
likely to refer female juveniles to other authorities, such as social
services agencies.
- Police are more likely to categorize juveniles involved in prostitution
as offenders than as crime victims, but those categorized as victims
are more likely to be female and young.
- Law enforcement agencies and policymakers need to engage in more
analysis, planning, and coordination about how to respond to and record
episodes of juvenile prostitution.
- Given the limitations of NIBRS data and the current lack of systematic information about the prostitution of juveniles, considerable additional research is needed.
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