Carmita O’Bryant and April Corcoran were some of the most infamous names in America within the course of 2016, due to their contribution to the vice of child prostitution (Prestwich, 2016; Worley, 2016). Their involvement in the vice changed the traditional notion that when child prostitution is mentioned, it mainly involved children trafficked from outside the USA by large international crime syndicates. Carmita and April abused one of the most sacred relationships in the word, motherhood, by offering to sell and actually selling their children for prostitution. What made their cases so infamous was because their crimes were driven by a passion for narcotics for whose exchange they offered their daughters. The scenario, however, begs the question of how mamy mothers offer their children as prostitutes, for basic needs such as food and clothing, thus how many children are suffering from this vice (Farvid & Glass, 2014). Another fundamental element is what makes the involved children vulnerable, how to curb the vice, and how to rehabilitate the affected children. Having a sound understanding of the problem of child prostitution is the only way to root it out of the society.
Factors that Make a Child more Vulnerable to this Type of Exploitation
Poverty and Legalization of Prostitution
The principal focus of this essay is not the kind of child prostitution that is perpetrated by organized gangs but the kind that happens in a home setting, mainly perpetrated by a parent. For this kind of prostitution to happen, general prostitution must be common within the society. Among the main reasons for prostitution being common in the society is the legality thereof. In recent years, prostitution has become an acceptable, licensable and in some quarters even respected profession (Farvid & Glass, 2014). Just like with other professions, there will be successful and unsuccessful prostitutes. A player may fail because the customers find her too old and prefer a younger member of her household. If at the same time the family is facing a lack of basic needs or the parent has an urge for items such as drugs, the temptation to give up the child is very compelling. According to Farvid and Glass (2014), the monster is not the one who offers a child as a prostitute but the society that makes this misfortune possible. As Carmita and April became one of the most infamous names in America in 2016, the government continues to generate money from prostitution in form of taxes. Further, thousands if not millions of children continue to go hungry in America even as their desperate mothers find a viable option in prostitution. It is for this reason that these mothers incorporate their children into prostitution, making it a family venture. This makes children from poor families in areas where prostitution is legal as some of the most vulnerable to parent propagated child prostitution.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Substance Abuse by Parents
Substance abuse, more so when it becomes an addiction is recognized as a mental disorder by the Association of American Psychiatrists (APA, 2017). When a person has abused narcotics to a point of addiction, two main psychological factors ensue. First, this individual will have a mental impairment that affects rationalization of issues, especially when it comes to making of important decisions. Secondly, addiction is a powerful motivator when the urge to take more drugs set in and at this point, the addict will be willing to do almost anything to fulfill the urge (APA, 2017). The fact that Carmita was willing to offer her six-month-old baby for prostitution may be considered as more of a sign of mental illness than it is about greed or evil. Many children have been left in the hands of mothers who are literally non-compose mentis , putting the children in grave danger. Among the outcomes of the same is having these innocent children exposed to child pornography.
Strategies that can Prevent this Vice from Happening
Proper Regulation of Prostitution
The first point of vulnerability canvassed above was children of poor people who indulge in prostitution. It is a fact that prostitution is one of the least regulated industries in America because civilized societies pretend it does not exist. Indeed, one of the most serious crimes kindred to prostitution is a solicitation, being the easiest way of causing the general public to notice the vice (Kamruzzaman & Hakim, 2016). Even the law allows prostitution to be kept a secret but does not want to ban it. Banning prostitution would have the same effect as the infamous alcohol prohibition that created a criminal empire out of a simple vice, hence becoming untenable. The solution lies in closer regulation especially to players who are parents. For example, operating from a house that also has children must be protracted, so is exposing underage children to any form of the vice. Further, a social worker or children’s officer should pay closer attention to the welfare of children born of those who practice prostitution (Kamruzzaman & Hakim, 2016).
Paying Closer Attention to Children of Substance Abusers
Substance abuse and other forms of mental illness have resulted in a heavy burden on the nation’s economy. Unfortunately, the bulk of government intervention goes into the already lost cause of preventing drugs from getting to the USA. As a means of curbing vulnerability to prostitution, some of these finances and attention can be extended to the children who fall victim to this unfortunate scenario. Being a parent is a very important obligation that should only be allowed to those who are capable of performing it (Kamruzzaman & Hakim, 2016). One of the very first thing that should be done to substance abusers as and when realized it to get children from under their care, even if it may be temporary. It takes only one incidence of sexual abuse to completely ruin a child’s life unless comprehensive and expensive intervention is made. Substance abusers have been known to sell everything they possess in order to buy narcotics and satisfy an addiction (APA, 2017). Children should never be made available for sale to such in their moment of desperation.
Reintegration Strategies
Physical Healing
Being able to move forward is one of the most important steps for children who have been abused through child prostitution. It is, however, impossible to move forward when at the same time having a reminder of the harm as powerful and consistent as physical pain. The first step in ensuring the healing of these children, therefore, is to ensure that all physical injuries suffered within, and around their genitalia is properly treated and healed (Haileselassie et al, 2014). This might even necessitate reconstructive surgery to remove the scars caused by the maltreatment. Once physical reminders are eliminated, emotional and psychological healing can commence, making reintegration into the society possible.
Rejuvenation of Trust
Rape is one of the most painful experiences in life for anyone including a little child. When the same is perpetrated by a loved one, the emotional pain is augmented. Children who have been through child prostitution their own homes will have a major problem trusting anyone. This happens when the child believes that several people knew and/or ought to have known but took no interventional steps. The best cure for this is to establish a parental figure that the child can trust. Counselling is one of the greatest ways of achieving this (Haileselassie et al, 2014). The counselor should be able to convince the child that what happened was an exception, rather than the norm. Further, providing a loving and caring family for the child can also be another way of rejuvenating trust. Learning how to trust is integral to being a member of the society, thus fundamental to the reintegration of the affected children.
When faced with an issue of grave and cruel impact as child prostitution, it is easier to succumb to the temptation of anger and trading of the blame. The harder but right option of facing the problem in a level manner, and seeking to establish a plausible solution for and on behalf of the children should be involved. Jailing the perpetrators is a good move but by the time it happens, the damage has already been done. Focusing on why the problem has been coming up and seeking to curb it is the best possible approach. For a parent to involve a child in the vice of child prostitution, something must be wrong with the parent, the society as well as the system itself. A system that legalizes prostitution then acts as if the vice does not exist is wrong and contributes to the perpetration of kindred vices such as child prostitution. A system that would rather punish perpetrators of child prostitution rather than take steps in ensuring that substance abusers do not have children to abuse as a means of meeting their drug needs is also wrong. A sober, rational, and balanced approach to this problem includes seeking to understand the process, not just the outcomes then arriving at an effective solution thereto.
References
APA. (2017). What is Addiction? Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/addiction/what-is-addiction
Farvid, P., & Glass, L. (2014). 'It isn't prostitution as you normally think of it. It's survival sex': Media representations of adult and child prostitution in New Zealand. Women's Studies Journal , 28 (1), 47-66
Haileselassie, B., Wassie, C., Kahsay, T., & Fisseha, Y. (2014). Psychosocial problems and coping strategies of female sexually abused children: Issue for policy implication and empowering the victims. American Journal of Applied Psychology , 2 (4), 82-89
Kamruzzaman, M., & Hakim, M. A. (2016). Prostitution going spiral: The myth of commercial child sex. Children , 8 , 1-6
Prestwich, E. (2016, July 20). April Corcoran, Ohio mom, gets 51 years to life in prison for trading daughter for heroin. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/07/20/april-corcoran-daughter-heroin_n_11084648.html
Worley, W. (2016, September 25). Mother accused of sex trafficking her own baby for crystal meth . Retrieved September 25, 2017, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/oklahoma-mother-carmita-o-bryant-accused-of-trying-to-prostitute-her-baby-for-crystal-meth-a7327881.html
