In all my travels and years in development work, I always find the plight of children to be disturbing. As a foreigner and tourist in developing countries, I can’t help but notice children in the streets begging or being involved in the flesh trade. It is the latter that I find most upsetting. I know that the main reason behind these activities is poverty. But I can’t also help but wonder if children engaged in sex work are pure victims, or do they exercise human agency in making sense of, and living in the social world of sex work? What aspects of sex work are open to their decision-making? And how do children decide and interpret their engagement in this occupation?
This is the last part of my 3-part post.
THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION
In all free societies, the right to self-determination is a fundamental right. As such, all people, adult and children alike, possess it. However, children being young and immature, are considered to be lacking in adult reasoning and knowledge, and are thus incapable of being responsible for their deeds or for making the rational decision for themselves. Adults, then, through the state, and primarily, the family, uphold the right of self-determination for the children and deny them the right to make a choice.
Thus, while children possess this fundamental right, they are unable to exercise it. Yet, the child is not a mere innocent and passive social actor. The children sex workers are not mere victims who do nothing about their circumstances. They may have limitations, but they are also active agents that actively participate in the production and reproduction of the social rules and structures in sex work, even if only at their level.
The mere recognition by the child that she is an agent, and by claiming her body as her own resource, the child has effectively shown that she is a knowledgeable and competent social agent, albeit a limited one. Whenever they disobey their managers, they always refer to their own body as theirs, and so the decision on what to do with it should only be theirs.
The children sex workers have also shown that they are capable of rational decisions based on the choices available to them. All of them underwent a rational decision-making process in choosing to remain in sex work and refusing assistance from government and other institutions. As stated earlier, both Two of the children find sex work as a better alternative to their past lives. One rationalized that sex work is better than begging or vending in the streets as it gives her security of shelter, food and stable income. The other prefers sex work over being raped by her uncle and step cousin. For her, sex work is purely an economic transaction between her and the customers where she can exercise her agency, while rape is actually a situation of abuse where her agency is repressed.
Findings of studies also demonstrate that the children sex workers are in fact very effective agents to the point of defeating the social welfare institutions with their refusal to cooperate. Most of the institutions that have attempted to help them have always asked them about their families. These institutions believe that the families should be informed of the children's plight. But this is exactly the opposite of what the children want.
Two children refused outside attempts to help them get out of sex work for fear that their families will be involved. Both know that sex work is considered to be deviant and unacceptable, and they are afraid that they will be ostracized by their own family and friends for being involved in sex work. Mary, for her part, did not want her family to know about her plight because of her uncle's threat of killing her parents and siblings if she reported the rape/abuse to the authorities.
I conclude that child sex workers are not mere victims of exploitation. They are victims of society’s perception of them. They are victims of the very theories and policies that seek to protect them. Yet, they are also active social actors in sex work who both break and follow rules that consequently keep them in sex work. Regardless of their lack of knowledge and skills, and despite their lack of resources, children sex workers are competent agents in sex work, who, like all adults in society, do not want other people to deprive them of their right to exercise their agency and self-determination.
The right to self-determination is a fundamental right that is central to the issue of children’s liberation. It is essential to all the rights of the child. Thus, society should acknowledge this right. However, the acknowledgment and acceptance of the right of the child to self-determination by society should also be balanced by the recognition of the limitations of the child’s agency. Therefore, it is imperative that policies and programs for possible interventions affecting children sex workers must take into consideration both the agency and structured constraints of the child.
This post (including parts 1 & 2) is based on the paper "Children in Sex Work: Is There Room for Social Agency" that I presented during the Fifth National Social Science Congress at the Philippine Social Science Council in May 2003. The views reflected on all parts of this 3-part post are mine alone and does not in any way assume to have the same ideals and statements of the Philippine Social Science Council . If you have any comments, please feel free to do so...
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