Adolescents’ motives for selling sex in a welfare state – A Swedish national study

In addition to money or other compensation, other motives for selling sex may be important in a welfare country such as Sweden. The aim of this study was to carry out an exploratory investigation of adolescents’ motives for selling sex in a population-based survey in Sweden. A total of 5839 adolescents from the third year of Swedish high school, mean age 18.0 years, participated in the study. The response rate was 59.7% and 51 students (0.9%) reported having sold sex. Exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to identify groups of adolescents according to underlying motives for selling sex. Further analyses were carried out for characteristics of selling sex and risk factors. Three groups of adolescents were categorized according to their motives for selling sex: Adolescents reporting; 1) Emotional reasons, being at a greater risk of sexual abuse, using sex as a means of self-injury and having a non-heterosexual orientation. 2) Material but no Emotional reasons, who more often receive money as compensation and selling sex to a person over 25 years of age, and 3) Pleasure or no underlying motive for selling sex reported, who were mostly heterosexual males selling sex to a person under 25 years of age, the buyer was not known from the Internet, the reward was seldom money and this group was less exposed to penetrative sexual abuse or using sex as a means of self-injury. In conclusion, adolescents selling sex are a heterogeneous group in regard to underlying motives.     

才情与从良的双重桎梏——谢天香人物形象解读

本文采用文本细读的方法,试图对关汉卿杂剧作品《钱大尹智宠谢天香》中主人公谢天香的性格特征及精神世界进行审视观照,深入开掘该人物蕴藏的文化涵义。通过对谢天香人物形象塑造的解读,观察基于其个体的独特情感和人性真实,发现人物本身的复杂性和多面性,并进一步思考该人物所映射的其时代的生活常态和普遍问题。     

Rationalising predictors of child sexual exploitation and sex-trading

Although there is evidence for specific risk factors leading to child sexual exploitation and prostitution, these influences overlap and have rarely been examined concurrently. The present study examined case files for 175 young persons who attended a voluntary organization in Leicester, United Kingdom, which supports people who are sexually exploited or at risk of sexual exploitation. Based on the case files, the presence or absence of known risk factors for becoming a sex worker was coded. Data were analyzed using t-test, logistic regression, and smallest space analysis. Users of the voluntary organization's services who had been sexually exploited exhibited a significantly greater number of risk factors than service users who had not been victims of sexual exploitation. The logistic regression produced a significant model fit. However, of the 14 potential predictors – many of which were associated with each other – only four variables significantly predicted actual sexual exploitation: running away, poverty, drug and/or alcohol use, and having friends or family members in prostitution. Surprisingly, running away was found to significantly decrease the odds of becoming involved in sexual exploitation. Smallest space analysis of the data revealed 5 clusters of risk factors. Two of the clusters, which reflected a desperation and need construct and immature or out-of-control lifestyles, were significantly associated with sexual exploitation. Our research suggests that some risk factors (e.g. physical and emotional abuse, early delinquency, and homelessness) for becoming involved in sexual exploitation are common but are part of the problematic milieu of the individuals affected and not directly associated with sex trading itself. Our results also indicate that it is important to engage with the families and associates of young persons at risk of becoming (or remaining) a sex worker if one wants to reduce the numbers of persons who engage in this activity.     

The Prostitute's Voice in the Public Eye: Police Tactics of Security and Discipline Within Victorian Journalism

There was a shift in public rationality concerning prostitution in Victorian Britain, marked by the passing of the first Contagious Diseases (C.D.) Act of 1864. While the efforts of statisticians were critical in shifting public perception of prostitutes from “the fallen woman” to the more pedestrian harlot, popular discourse also had a part in generating this new rationality. Employing Foucault's conceptualization of police, the appropriation of the prostitute's voice within popular newspapers acted as a tactic of police. This is illustrated through a case study of anonymous letters to the editor of the Times of London in February 1858.