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The Unseen Victims Caught in the System |
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Posted on October 30, 2007 by damcnamara
Nola Brantley of the Scotland Youth and Family Center in Oakland works with sexually and commercially exploited teens and has recognized the increase as an epidemic. She chastised those who refer to the victims as “teen prostitutes,” because treating them as criminals only reinforces what their abusive pimp/boyfriends tell them.
“These children are under 18, so it’s impossible for them to be prostitutes. They are victims of abuse that takes the form of prostitution. Most often they were abused at a younger age then re-exploited at adolescence. There’s a continuum of abuse. We must recognize them as victims.”
Brantley said the children get stuck in governmental systems like probation and foster care, which become cycles for abuse because strong adult relationships and permanent and safe housing are rare. Of the girls her center treats, 62 percent were on probation when they were referred, 53 percent had been in foster care, 88 percent had run away at least once and 35 percent they were afraid of someone at the time.
–Danielle McNamara and Brian Aguila
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