Evan Urquhart

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be alert to protect children from exploitation, because we should. But I don’t know of anything that you would need to *read* especially to be on the lookout for that? Let’s ask @Maggie_McNeill ?

The problem is that under federal law, ANY sex work by a legal minor is considered "sex trafficking", even when (as in 90% of the cases) there is no "trafficker". The great majority of underage sex workers do it as a survival tool to survive on the street, because the great...

...majority are homeless runaways or throwaways. Most of these kids would be happy to leave sex work if their needs were taken care of by supportive foster parents. Unfortunately, the foster care system is by an large a shitshow, and foster parents who are both financially...

...and emotionally supportive are a small minority. The "authorities" know how bad the system is, but their jobs depend on hiding & denying it. So when a foster kid who's being maltreated, used as a servant, repressed by Christian "spare the rod" fetishists, or even sexually...

...abused says "fuck this, I know how to make it on the street" runs back to that rather than endure the abuse, both the state and the abusive foster parents are highly motivated to blame imaginary "pimps" for abducting the kid again, when in reality she's doing what she needs...

...to survive in the way she learned after running away from her birth parents. "Lists" like this are especially vile because they encourage foster parents to engage in *exactly* the kind of snooping, repression and social control that is most likely to drive an independent...

...teenager back to the street. My advice to foster parents who really, truly want to help is to ignore this BS. Respect this young person you've volunteered to help; remember that they're a young adult, not a "child", and has probably lived on their own for at least some...

...period of time. You can't put them back in the nursery, or monitor their every move, or "cure" their queerness (the majority of underage sex workers are LGBT), or spout this "tough love" BS, or they will bolt. Support them, talk to them, trust them to the extent...