Child prostitution…

C is a 15 year- old involved in prostitution who reported that she had been having sex from age eight years, “because I liked it”. According to her, “it was only after Watchie (school watchman) pay mi, dat mi start collect money fi it.”

This quote was taken from an International Labour Organisation (ILO) study, which highlighted the worst forms of child labour in Jamaica, with a specific focus on children in prostitution.

According to the study, conducted in June 2000, poor parenting and lack of parenting skills were major factors contributing to children becoming involved in sexual activities for gain.

The study said that in cases like C’s, parents helped to encourage such behaviour by not questioning where their child got extra money or turning a blind eye to certain warning signals.

“… parents knowingly or unknowingly colluded with these activities when they did not question the source of their children’s gifts, clothing and income that they did not provide,” the study said.

It also denounced the practice in some local communities of mothers supporting their daughter’s relationships with older men for material gain.

“In general, girls were required or encouraged to have relationships with older men in exchange for material goods to ensure their ‘betterment’. As such, school fees, lunch money and bus fare, school books and supplies as well as graduation-related expenses (hairdo, ring, gown, dress, shoes, etc) emerged as material goods and educational support that were exchanged for sex,” the study said.

It explained that while not all the children in prostitution were forced to do so, a significant number of them experienced their first sexual encounter through rape, incest or molestation.

“The actual numbers are difficult to estimate but are thought to be quite significant and reflect … the continuum from slavery to present. Then (as now) girls (especially) are treated as sexual commodities handed over to the master (or someone in a position of power and prestige) for ‘betterment,'” the study said. “Then they start to be sexually abused usually from the age of 10/11/12 years as they were considered the property of the master.”

The study reported that several children they interviewed had cases similar to Tania, the 15 year-old school-girl who faced sexual advances and eventual conquest by ‘Uncle Larry,’ the ‘sugar daddy’ in the popular local 1997 film Dancehall Queen. Tania’s mother deliberately encouraged her to ‘go along with the programme as much as possible … because it was (Uncle Larry’s) contribution that paid most of the bills’.

Another case highlighted in the study was that of 15 year-old Bridget, who at the end of her graduation ceremony, learnt that the man with whom she had been having sex with for gifts and pocket money, had had a private contract with her mother to hand her over after graduation. Unknown to her, he had also been giving money to her mother, and had now arrived, complete with a watch as her graduation present, to claim his ‘property’.

According to the study, many parents appeared unaware of the risks of abandoning their children or depriving them of basic needs.

“Migration or absent parents also emerged as factors that predisposed children to become involved in sex work. Some of the children interviewed said their parents had migrated and left them in the care of relatives and guardians.

“The situations they described made it clear that these adults were unable to adequately supervise them, or provide them with the love and affection they needed,” the study said. While it did not state definitively how many children were involved in prostitution, the researchers said they consulted 269 persons, 129 of whom were children. The remainder, 140, were adult stakeholders. All had links with child prostitution or related activities.

While the study said that girls were mostly involved in these ‘sugar daddy’ relationships, it also said that boys were also victims, but on a smaller scale.

“There were reports of older, affluent women who daily pick up their ‘chapses’ from high school in expensive vehicles, take them home, take them on holidays and provide gifts in exchange for sex,” the study said. “In some cases, their family also receives financial support. These women have been called ‘sugar mummies’ and the schoolboys are referred to as ‘chapses’.”

Among several recommendations made by the study was that there was a strong need for more parental education as well as health education programmes for adolescents.