Study details child sex trade

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Writers and children's advocates Melanie Mark and Cherry Kingsley have completed a remarkable study on commercial sexual exploitation of Canadian Aboriginal children and youth in 22 communities. Their report, Sacred Lives, documents five months of meetings that gave a voice to youth on all issues arising out of the sex trade, including abuse, exploitation, prevention, healing, exiting, public attitudes, crisis intervention, harm reduction, and especially youth participation.

The result, they hope, is a solid base of recommendations from Aboriginal youth that will spur governments, service providers and communities to action to stop the exploitation.

The document has been welcomed by the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Matthew Coon Come, and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, both of which are pressing for more money from governments to help young people trapped in the street life. FSIN also says if governments and the people of Saskatchewan cut the demand for young Aboriginal people to exploit, the First Nations will cut the supply.

Sacred Lives points out that in Canada, national surveys show anywhere from 14 to 65 per cent of youth in the sex trade are Aboriginal. Recently, that number has been estimated as high as 90 per cent in some cities.

In addition, it says that although research studies, policy and laws have been created around the topic of commercial sexual exploitation, most of this has not led to viable programs to defeat the problem. Another failing Mark and Kingsley identify is that the studies of commercial sexual exploitation leave out Aboriginal youth as an identifiable group.

"There has never been any work done specifically with Aboriginal children and youth in the sex trade," Sacred Lives states. Their work begins to remedy that.

Several agencies working with current or former sex trade workers contacted by Sage were aware of Kingsley and Mark's study and some said they had just received a copy of Sacred Lives but had not had a chance to read it. Many of them too were in fledgling programs to help get youth off the streets.

All identified the sex trade as the purview of the young and agreed with the report's findings that no more than 20 per cent of prostitution takes place openly. Most indicated young people typically were drawn into it between the ages of 14 and 16, when they did not have adequate life experience to assess the risks until it was too late. While some said Aboriginal youth were greatly over-represented considering the percentage of Aboriginal people in the general population, they found it hard to believe their involvement could be anywhere near 90 per cent. Figures of 30 to 40 per cent were cited as more typical.

Lonny Slezina, a project co-ordinator for Sun County Child and Family Services' PCHIP project in Lethbridge - Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution - said commercial sexual exploitation of children is hidden in his town. Their project only started last May and they have seen eight to 10 youths, half of whom are Aboriginal.

He cites similar reasons for children ending up on the street as other front-line workers: the reasons are usually mixed and could include a "poor home life or a child not fitting in at home, alcohol, family violence, sexual abuse, substance addiction, mental illness, fear and coercion, and sometimes including youths with fetal alcohol syndrome because it is hard for them to make decisions."

Low self-esteem is always a factor.

Kari Thomason, who works with under-18s at Metis Child and Family Services in Edmonton, was among the resource people consulted by Mark and Kingsley and whose agencies are part of PCHIP.

"We voiced our opinions, our concerns, the programs needed. We're still actively involved in the PCHIP. We have two Aboriginal staff working at the safe house, and we also have an Aboriginal community follow-up worker."

Thomason said when she was a front-line worker, three out of the nine she tried to helpactually left street life during the time she worked with them.

"Many people don't indicate that. There are a nice percentage of children that have left the street life because of this program."