Family affiliation and prostitution in a cultural context: Career onsets of Taiwanese prostitutes

Abstract

American researchers emphasize family disaffiliation resulting from negative experiences as an important career contingency for prostitutes. They suggest that cohesive families insulate daughters from entering prostitution, an implication that ignores cultural variations within the United States and worldwide. This study examined the nature of family affiliations among prostitutes in Taiwan, a nation characterized by strong family cohesion and widespread prostitution. The traditional status and role of daughters in Taiwanese families is described. A sample of 89 prostitutes were interviewed in Taipei. The majority had good or very good relationships with their parents before the women left home and continued to maintain such relationships. Only 10% mentioned negative family experiences as precipitating factors in the decision to enter prostitution. A typology of career onsets was drafted. About one third of the sample entered the occupation out of a sense of filial obligation toward their families of origin. Other precipitating factors included paying off their own or husbands' debts, upgrading their financial status, deriving other satisfactions from the life-style, escaping from difficulties with parents or husbands, and being victimized by force or fraud. Several social changes are likely to lessen the importance of filial obligation as a career contingency of prostitution. Speculations about the future of Taiwanese prostitution are offered.

Social Work Challenge: Sex Workers and their Families in Prague and South Bohemia Region

“…The fact that a family member mediated the first contact with the sex business to the respondent is not rare at all, as Demleitner (13) states. At the same time, for example according to the findings of Taiwan police, a half of the woman approached entered sex business due to pressure from the family (14). The women also often support their family financially through sex work (15), which was stated by some respondents in our study too.…”

Juveniles' Motivations for Remaining in Prostitution

“…Two more aspects of identity formation specifically in relation to Taiwanese culture deserve consideration. Research on American prostitution “has consistently emphasized the importance of family disaffiliation as a career contingency” (McCaghy & Hou, 1994). Likewise, the majority of prostituted juveniles in Taiwan have run away from their families.…”

Prevalence and Levels of Severity of Childhood Trauma among Mexican Female Sex Workers: A Comparison of Two Mexico Border Cities

“…The scarce research that exists has often focused on the rural-urban migration patterns of women who enter prostitution as a result of economic motivations (McCaghy & Hou, 1994;Mensendiek, 1997;Phongpaichit, 1982). For instance, researchers found that women who migrated to cities from rural areas of Thailand and entered prostitution reported social (matrilineal family structure), economic, and environmental factors (loss of land and resettlement) as motivations for their migration (Mensendiek, 1997).…”