Children in Prostitution

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• Children in Prostitution
• Montgomery Bales

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(No Transcript)
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Children, Prostitution, and IdentityHeather
Montgomery

• 1. The Context
• Where Thailand (No city mentioned)
• Are the children in her study trafficked?
• Where do they live?
• Why do children engage in prostitution?

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• Montgomerys Key Points
• Challenges popular characterizations of this
  practice?
• Passive voiceless Victims
• Vs.
• AGENCY (The crux of her argument)
• Agency Defined
• Capacity to interpret and give meaning to ones
  world.
• Capacity to act.

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Agency

• 1. Children chose prostitution.
• Montgomery recognizes choice is constrained by
  economics.
• 2. Children interpreted their actions against the
  grain of dominant depictions of child
  prostitution.
• Bolstered esteem
• Highlighted positive roles/contribution to the
  community.

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Because She Looks Like a ChildKevin Bales

• Context
• Trafficking (different population than Montgomery
  studied)
• Motive for engaging in the practice
• Economic
• Newly industrializing higher wages for some.
• Enduring problems of poverty (esp.. In North)
  pulls children into prostitution.
• Childrens wages for survival and family status.
• Increase in migration from Burma Laos

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Discussion Questions

• Do Montgomery and Bales differ in their
  perspective on children in prostitution? How so?
  
• If, you said yes, are there any points that these
  authors might agree upon?
• What might Montgomery say to Bales?
• How might Bales respond?