These concerns reinforce the importance of standards, supervision, on-going staff and supervisor training and the need for careful screening and hiring, then monitoring of staff. This has been the norm within settings where I have worked. Individuals who are not working with the best clinical interests of the youth in the program are quickly weeded out.

I agree with you also when you remind us that pimps often use violence to control youth. I suspect the populations with whom we have worked have made us cognizant of the many layers of needs, risks, and various unknowns which surround at risk and street youth and are perpetuated by the lack of value our society and governments appear to place on children and those who are marginalized for a variety of reasons.

It’s just that not providing the most basic of needs, as sadly many residential facilities do not, lead youth to feel uncared for.

Mind you, I’m not advocating for the appearance of caring but that it’s one way that youth realize that they are being cared for.

I’ve worked with young women who are survivors of emotional, physical and sexual abuse for most of my career. In my experience pimps are not successful in their targeting of these at risk young women because of the money the pimps initially throw at them, although, I’m sure the promise of lots of cash is an incentive. I believe the pimps’ success lies in their ability to make these often emotionally fragile young women feel loved, valued and special.

These young women come from life experiences where their own parents subjected them to abuse or chose an abusive adult over their own child. It’s understandable the at risk child is on a search for love and to feel wanted. They are vulnerable and a target for abuse of any type of power.

I believe it is important it is not only young women who are can be lured into the sex trade. Young men are also vulnerable.