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> * Can a teenager truly and freely choose prostitution? Does she have an alternative?

In Sweden, there are more teenage boys that have prostituted themselves than teenage girls. The majority of these are middle-class kids who use this extra income to buy themselves status items such as clothes, gadgets, or jewelry.

This issue is very nuanced, and you should be skeptical of anyone making definitive claims about all prostitutes, or all prostitution.

So one answer to your questions would be 1) Yes, see above, and 2) Yes, these kids could get any number of legal part-time jobs, but they freely choose this. They're not stupid, they're not poor, they're not forced, yet this is the choice they make knowing, or thinking they know, the full consequences of it.




Not just in Sweden, it's a global phenomena, some call it Designer Sex. In many cases there are predators involved who seduce the children, predators who have developed some very sharp sensors to detect the child who will consent because it's not always just about the money. What do you consider the appropriate age of consent to this kind of proposition? 17? 16? 14? why not 10?

One of the major obstacles to leaving prostitution, and not just for kids, is the addiction to money. However, it is not an easy money and it does not bear good memories and in many cases people in prostitution would get rid of it very quickly and spend it on stuff they don't need.




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