Longing to Belong: Relational Risks and Resilience in U.S. Prostituted Children (2012) Kate Price, M.A.

Prostituted children, like all people, require nurturing relationships and belonging, yet they are vulnerable to exploitation because of their lack of secure relationships and histories of betrayal. This paper explores how a lack of secure relationships can create a dynamic for children to become trapped in prostitution, how current cultural assumptions reinforce the crisis, and where hope lies in a culture that is ready to disregard and incriminate children who do not fit the innocence mold. - Abstract

Kate Price, M.A. is project associate for the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute and a social scientist specializing in the cultural construction of children and children's human rights. She has spoken on commerical sexual exploitation of children in the United States at Georgetown Law School, Suffolk University, University of Toledo, and numerous non-profit organizations. She authored a chapter, "Collapsing This Hushed House: Deconstructing Images of Child Prostitution in the United States," included in the textbook Global Perspectives on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: Europe, Latin America, and Global. Her current research and advocacy focus on developing relational skils and resilience with children who have experienced physical and emotional trauma.

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