“In our society, due to the argument that we must view prostitution as a ‘personal choice,’ we now look at it as a ‘decision for the market to make.’ The argument that prostitution is a free choice is popular in this era of neo-liberalism, in which personal autonomy is emphasized and societal context ignored. Even within feminism, discussions sometimes overlook the fundamental violence of prostitution.”

 

Kim-Go Yeonju, Research Professor at EwhaWomans University’s Korean Women’s Institute, says we must exercise caution against a “voluntary choice” theory of prostitution. That is “because it shifts the blame for the ‘choice’ to the women who engage in prostitution.” Since they chose to sell their bodies for money, the rights violations, dangers, and societal criticism they face become things they “must endure” because they are the ones who made that choice.

 

As prostitution, which has been highlighted as a serious women’s human rights problem, has again become viewed as a matter of choice, people have become more indifferent to the situation facing female prostitutes. It is the same for teen girls, even though they are legally considered objects of protection as minors.

 

Kim-Go said that “voluntary choice” theory about prostitution is especially “used to criticize teenage girls who engage in prostitution without a pimp,” and that though they are legally objects of protection, in reality, “they are not seen as victims.”  Also, in her analysis, while society has been indifferent to their human rights, prostitution involving teen girls has increased, the conditions have worsened, and it has become more dangerous.

 

▲ image source: Japanese crime drama film <バウンス, Bounce KoGALS> Directed by Masato Harada, 1997

From wonjogyoje [“compensated dating”, a euphemism for teenage prostitution] to “conditional dating”

 

Longtime teen-prostitution researcher Kim-Go has published “Slightly Different Children, A Slightly Different Story” (Subtitle: A Record of the Prostitution Experiences and Healing of Teenage Girls / Publisher: Ihu / 2011), and has been calling for society to address the problem of teenage girls who engage in prostitution.

 

The foundation of the book is the stories of children the author met while counseling on the streets in 2002, and what she experienced while working at a shelter for a year in 2007. The central figures are nine teenage girls, but the overall contents of the book are based on the experiences of over 100 teens that the author met.

 

Teenage prostitution started appearing in the media in 1997 under the name “wonjogyoje.” The fact that teen girls were engaging in prostitution as a form of part-time work caused an uproar. After that, the Youth Protection Law was enacted to protect the sexuality of adolescents, and now, ten years later, “teen prostitution” isn’t talked about much. Is it because  its scalehas been reduced by the effectiveness of the law?

 

Definitely not. According to Kim-Go, on the contrary, teen prostitution has increased, the terminology and concept have changed from wonjogyojeas a part-time job to “conditional dating” [which is the same in practice – the “condition” is money] as a livelihood, cases in which a pimp is involved have increased, and the children’s circumstances have worsened and become more dangerous.

 

Cheap and dangerous prostitution

 

The reason that teen prostitution has increased is because of the continuous flow of poor children, children who need money, and children who are neglected by their families and schools into the prostitution market. In the book, the various psychological and situational factors of teens who go into prostitution are explained.  To summarize, prostitution is “a kind of survival of the fittest─a path teens can take in a society that asks how much money will be enough .”

 

The reason that the circumstances of teen prostitution have become more “malicious” is, ironically, related to the Youth Protection Law enacted in 2000.

 

Out of anxiety that their identities would be made public, men who purchase sex began to seek women in their 20s instead of teens, while the number of teens entering the prostitution market rose, resulting in a drop in the price of youth prostitution.

 

“Cheap prostitution” made the children’s situations even harder. In the process of men purchasing sex from teens “as a way to confirm their masculinity,” there are many cases in which they coerce unwanted sex acts or inflict physical or verbal violence, but the children endure it because they have to make money. The children, whose self-esteem is damaged in the process, grow accustomed to serious violence and insults.

 

Also, the number of instances involving pimps is rising. Having a pimp has the advantage of somewhat-steady protection from the violence of johns, but by being monitored and controlled and having to fill a fixed quota and give up some of the money, teens suffer another kind exploitation.

 

▲ A Record of the Prostitution Experiences and Healing of Teenage Girls (Ihu, 2011)

A protection law that doesn’t protect

 

Kim-Go Yeonju says that the physical and emotional damage of long-term sex-work to children is “similar to that of sexual assault.”And yet, the law that was enacted to protect the children doesn’t recognize them as victims, she criticized.

 

“Even though teens who engage in prostitution are specified as victims under the law, they get ‘punishment’ under the name of ‘protection.’ This is a kind of ‘protection penalty.’ It includes probation, prohibition from going out at night, mandatory schooling, penalty consignment to a protective facility, etc., and it is similar to the sentences given to teens who have been involved in theft or violence. Even probation officers make a habit of not only showing prejudice against the teens, but even openly sexually harassing them.”  

 

In contrast, for the men who purchase sex and are caught, their punishment usually ends with a fine, so in reality, the risk they bear is not great.

 

Kim-Go emphasizes that it is exactly here that society’s views on prostitution must change. Because it sees prostitution as a means of making money and thus a “voluntary choice,” teen prostitution is also something to “tolerate because they’re young,” and so real protection and help is not given.

 

“They say that it’s voluntary, it’s a choice, but nearly all of the children I met said, ‘I really hate it,’ with one voice. This is because of risk factorswhich come with prostitution like violent clients, exploitation by pimps, abortion, sexually transmitted disease, and apprehension by the police,  but they also say, ‘I hate having unwanted intercourse with older men in itself.’”

 

“Therefore, the thinking that goes, ‘It’s fine as long as youdon’t get trafficked, or you don’t get incarcerated, and you can just quit if you don’t like it,’ is wrong. There needs to be institutional support that makes engaging in prostitution unnecessary in order for it to become a ‘choice.’ The very fact that children keep doing this work disproves that it’s a situation in which they can quit.’”

 

Children who are desperately fighting to become “normal teens”

 

Kim Go said to stop talking about whether it is “voluntary” or “a choice,” and asked for “social responsibility” for the flow of women into the prostitution market.

 

“Even though children hate it, they keep doing this so-called conditional dating, and even when they quit, they often start again. On the surface, it is because they need money. However, the reasons are complicated. They include the absence ofsupportive relationships, the lack of a social safety net, and lax enforcement of the law.”

 

Children who have no social network, children who meet with violence and suffer its aftereffects, children who are poor. A society that says “family must take responsibility” for the problems these children have, and pushes them aside. Indifferent adults. In this environment, the deplorable reality of teen prostitution arose. Now, it is time for society to take action.

 

A large part of the book “Slightly Different Children, A Slightly Different Story” is devoted to describing the children’s process of self-support.

 

Kim-Go says she wanted to show how hard teens who have engaged in prostitution work to live as “normal teens.” She asks what society’s attitude towards teenagers who’ve engaged in prostitution is and what role it should play in the children’s self-support process.

 

Their relations with their families are broken off and their schooling ceases, and what teenage girls call “normalcy”, with its increased expenditures, is something they have to work very hard to achieve. The children are struggling alone to become normal teens, because society does not welcome their inclusion. However, even though they repeatedly fail, some of them keep fighting. Those children have people who support them, a belief in themselves, and  dreams for the future.

 

Translated by Marilyn Hook

Published: March 19, 2012

*Original article: http://ildaro.com/6000

 

◆ To see more English-language articles from Ilda, visit our English blog(https://ildaro.blogspot.com).

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