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New report highlights survival sex among LGBTQ outh
In the context of a society that continues to promote harmful stereotypes about LGBT sexual behavior, sex work is a topic advocates are sometimes hesitant to discuss; but a recent report by the Urban Institute on LGBTQ youth who engage in survival sex demonstrates that these are conversations we need to have more often if we are going to fully address the needs of LGBTQ youth.
“Consider, for a moment, the idea of ‘survival sex,’” says Ellen Kahn, director of HRC Foundation’s Children, Youth and Families Program. “These kids are engaging in sex as a means of acquiring the basic necessities that we take for granted like food, clothing and shelter. Most of us can’t imagine being in a situation like that. We have to do better for these youth.”
The challenges facing these youth are significant and often begin with parents or guardians who are not accepting of their children’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Many of the 283 LGBTQ youth in the Urban Institute’s study – which was recently presented at the HRC Foundation’s Time to THRIVE conference – had experienced family rejection, homelessness and poverty, as well as physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
When attempting to access safety nets like public housing and shelters, food relief and gender-affirming health care, many were denied service, and others reported discrimination or feeling unsafe in these environments.
The survey also reveals racial and gender disparities prevalent among LGBTQ youth that are mirrored in the LGBTQ adult population. Only five percent of the youth identified their race as white, and about 90 percent were LGBTQ youth of color.
While male-identified youth made up the largest gender group in the study, nearly twenty percent of the LGBTQ youth were transgender or gender-expansive, making them disproportionately represented among their cisgender LGB peers engaging in survival sex.
These findings are consistent with studies that show adult transgender people of color being more likely to experience levels of employment and housing discrimination, poverty, and lack of access to safety nets that force them to engage in survival sex work, which puts them at increased risk of fatal violence.
Despite all of this distressing data, the futures of these LGBTQ youth are not foregone conclusions.
“Youth are extremely resilient in the face of external challenges (such as violence and lack of housing and employment) and internal challenges (such as emotional and physical trauma and gender and sexual identity issues),” the report reads. “They find ways to survive, often relying on their informal networks, street savvy, and quick learning abilities to share resources and skills and to adapt to difficult and often dangerous situations.”
"They don't see themselves as victims ... but it's not empowering for them to be doing this," explained Meredith Dank, the report’s main author, in an Associated Press interview. "These are kids in very desperate situations who will do what they need to do to be able to survive."
Programs like HRC Foundation’s Youth Well-Being Project and the True Colors Fund are working to address issues like family rejection and homelessness among LGBTQ youth, which lead them into such difficult situations.
“If we are truly concerned with the overall well-being of LGBTQ youth, we must have a full understanding of the unique challenges and disparities they face so that we can do the preventative work to create positive change,” explains HRC Foundation’s Youth Well-Being Director and Time to THRIVE Conference Chair Vinnie Pompei.
“That is why over 40 national and grassroots organizations – including the Urban Institute – were selected to present workshops at Time to THRIVE, covering a wide-variety of topics. If all youth-serving professionals were culturally competent around the unique challenges of LGBTQ youth, I am convinced we can drastically improve these troubling statistics.”
http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/new-report-highlights-survival-sex-among-lgbtq-youth
