Mary Finn’s study in Atlanta was equally fascinating – and in many ways more so. She did intend to follow the NY study to the letter, as part of an expansion of the NY sytudy, but was not able to for ethical reasons. All of the services in Atlanta were unable to provide support for any child who asked for help getting off the streets. If Finn was asked for help during contact she could not provide it. “The city of Atlanta, located in Fulton County, Georgia, is purported to be a “hub” for CSEC in the Southeast United States,… Read more »
“I had to argue that this was maybe a small but significant population we had to look at.”
It’s sad when you have to argue that 45% is a small minority because your audience is so prejudiced against the facts. 45% is a minority, but quite large.
Being a unicorn; male victim of rape, this doesn’t surprise me. It’s no different than the State of North Carolina wanting to insure that my son was sexually abused by my ex-wife. It is a very human reaction to ignore what is different from your precived reality. Consider all of the scientists that are going to fundimentalist churches.
Guest
Copyleft
11 years ago
No fair using facts, Jacob. That can mess with people’s prejudices!
Seriously… good article. Thanks for writing it. The abandonment and exploitation of children–even if they wind up selling themselves–is a national problem that warrants serious attention and discussion, not hysteria and prejudice.
Guest
Jessica
11 years ago
The hyperlinks that give supporting evidence for this article are broken or corrupt. Please remedy.
This is eactly what happens when people profit from the issues they “care about” it creates a wall in which only a certain type of victim is acknolwedged. “I’m a feminist scholar,” she goes on. “I understand the importance of these advocates—who are predominantly women, predominantly concerned about the plight of girls—wanting to retain that focus on that issue. But as a researcher, knowing that this is labeled as ‘child exploitation,’ and knowing that there are numbers in other cities showing boys are being victimized, I had to argue that this was maybe a small but significant population we had… Read more »
Danny, while I was not surprised to see such a hostile reaction to the findings, I was shocked that the study got buried the way it did. Even if the study did not find the results people wanted, it makes no sense to ignore the needs of the children people claim to care about it. I was also shocked that no one but the researchers had a problem with the shelters essentially being pimping stations for these kids. If there were ever a neutral issue, that would be it, yet no one did anything about that either.
Yeah it is shocking. You would think that if was all about helping the kids then they would take the info from that research and at minimum look into it. I think this speaks to just how far people are willing to go to protect their interests and how far people are willing to go to maintain the narratives needed to keep their interests alive.
Mary Finn’s study in Atlanta was equally fascinating – and in many ways more so. She did intend to follow the NY study to the letter, as part of an expansion of the NY sytudy, but was not able to for ethical reasons. All of the services in Atlanta were unable to provide support for any child who asked for help getting off the streets. If Finn was asked for help during contact she could not provide it. “The city of Atlanta, located in Fulton County, Georgia, is purported to be a “hub” for CSEC in the Southeast United States,… Read more »
“I had to argue that this was maybe a small but significant population we had to look at.”
It’s sad when you have to argue that 45% is a small minority because your audience is so prejudiced against the facts. 45% is a minority, but quite large.
This is society’s dirty little secret in regards to their claims of caring about boys in the first place.
Being a unicorn; male victim of rape, this doesn’t surprise me. It’s no different than the State of North Carolina wanting to insure that my son was sexually abused by my ex-wife. It is a very human reaction to ignore what is different from your precived reality. Consider all of the scientists that are going to fundimentalist churches.
No fair using facts, Jacob. That can mess with people’s prejudices!
Seriously… good article. Thanks for writing it. The abandonment and exploitation of children–even if they wind up selling themselves–is a national problem that warrants serious attention and discussion, not hysteria and prejudice.
The hyperlinks that give supporting evidence for this article are broken or corrupt. Please remedy.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City …
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/225083.pdf
Sorry about that, Jessica. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve fixed the links.
I read the Village Voice article months back, it’s really shameful how much schtick they caught for questioning the status quo.
This is a great article Jacob. Startling stuff.
This is eactly what happens when people profit from the issues they “care about” it creates a wall in which only a certain type of victim is acknolwedged. “I’m a feminist scholar,” she goes on. “I understand the importance of these advocates—who are predominantly women, predominantly concerned about the plight of girls—wanting to retain that focus on that issue. But as a researcher, knowing that this is labeled as ‘child exploitation,’ and knowing that there are numbers in other cities showing boys are being victimized, I had to argue that this was maybe a small but significant population we had… Read more »
Danny, while I was not surprised to see such a hostile reaction to the findings, I was shocked that the study got buried the way it did. Even if the study did not find the results people wanted, it makes no sense to ignore the needs of the children people claim to care about it. I was also shocked that no one but the researchers had a problem with the shelters essentially being pimping stations for these kids. If there were ever a neutral issue, that would be it, yet no one did anything about that either.
Yeah it is shocking. You would think that if was all about helping the kids then they would take the info from that research and at minimum look into it. I think this speaks to just how far people are willing to go to protect their interests and how far people are willing to go to maintain the narratives needed to keep their interests alive.