Police and professional helpers are constrained by legal and social sanctions, but pimps aren't. Naivety is combined with a sense of invulnerability. Since there are no rules, pimps will also control their girls with brutal physical attacks or threats to attack the young person or someone dear to them. Although drawn to a flashy lifestyle and the promise of freedom, the tragedy and the irony is that young girls working the street are usually experiencing the ultimate in being controlled. Although both male and female prostitutes can become involved in prostitution at an early age, the experience is different for boys.
Boys often become involved on their own initiative.
Although a young girl or boy may be working for money, their own internalized anger is revealed in the fantasies they have about harming their dates. There is evidence that young people running from something are very often running away from sexual abuse in the home. The insidious effect of any form of abuse is the erosion of children's trust in adults. Early sexual abuse also adds guilt to ensure the child's silence. The cumulative impact is that a child can begin to dissociate from the reality of the early experiences.