Pathways Into Prostitution Among Female Jail Detainees and Their Implications for Mental Health Services

TLDR

Prior research has examined only one or two of these pathways, leaving the relationships among all three points of entry unclear. The authors aimed to explore the service needs of women in jail by examining three pathways into prostitution—childhood sexual victimization, running away, and drug use. They analyzed data from 1,142 female jail detainees to assess how childhood sexual victimization, running away, and drug use influenced entry into prostitution across the life course. The study identified two distinct pathways into prostitution: childhood sexual victimization, which nearly doubled the odds of entry throughout life, and running away, which had a dramatic effect only in early adolescence; drug use was more common among prostitutes but did not predict entry, suggesting that mental‑health interventions should be tailored to the specific pathway.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To explore the service needs of women in jail, the authors examined three pathways into prostitution: childhood sexual victimization, running away, and drug use. Studies typically have explored only one or two of these pathways, and the relationships among the three points of entry remain unclear. METHODS: Data on 1,142 female jail detainees were used to examine the effects of childhood sexual victimization, running away, and drug use on entry into prostitution and their differential effects over the life course. RESULTS: Two distinct pathways into prostitution were identified. Running away had a dramatic effect on entry into prostitution in early adolescence, but little effect later in the life course. Childhood sexual victimization, by contrast, nearly doubled the odds of entry into prostitution throughout the lives of women. Although the prevalence of drug use was significantly higher among prostitutes than among nonprostitutes, drug abuse did not explain entry into prostitution. CONCLUSIONS: Running away and childhood sexual victimization provide distinct pathways into prostitution. The findings suggest that women wishing to leave prostitution may benefit from different mental health service strategies depending on which pathway to prostitution they experienced.