Abstract
<em>Utilizing an ecological risk framework, this study investigates individual, familial, and extra familial risk factors that correlate to involvement in Enjo Kousai (school girl/boy prostitution) among Japanese youth. The sample (N=802) for this study is a diverse and fairly representative sample of post-secondary students from a range of vocational schools, colleges, and universities in the Sapporo area of Hokkaido, Japan. Nearly one out of 10 males and one out of 25 females reported engaging in this behavior. This research suggests that both females and males who experience certain life events are at higher risk for being involved in Enjo Kousai. For females, a history of sexual abuse, drug use, depressive symptoms, a parent who has been in prison, and a father who visits Fuzoku (brothels) were significant predictors of involvement in Enjo Kousai. For the male sample, a history of sexual abuse, drug use, a parent who has been in prison and living in an unsafe neighborhood were significant predictors of participating in Enjo Kousai.</em>
Highlights
Enjo Kousai has been loosely translated into English as “amateur prostitution” (Sakuraba, Matsui, Fukutomi, Narita, Kamise, Ui, & Kikushima, 2001), “juvenile prostitution” (Kiyonaga, Tsukimura, Tozaki, & Uchiyama, 1989; Uchiyama, 1996), “child prostitution” (Takeda, 1998), “compensated dating” (Amakawa, 2003; End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism Online Data Base (EPCAT), 2006; US Department of State, 2014), and “school girl prostitution” (EPCAT, 2006; Ito & Okabe, 2006)
The results of the logistic regression analysis are shown to determine which of the risk factors are predictive of the outcome variable when other predictor variables are controlled. 3.1 Enjo Kousai—Descriptive Statistics As an initial step in the analysis, descriptive statistics were computed for the Enjo Kousai measure
The logistic regression analyses indicated that sexual abuse history, drug use, depressive symptoms and father’s involvement in Fuzoku, increased the likelihood that they were involved in Enjo Kousai
Summary
In a rare study that included male youth, Arimoto (2000) reported that males were more likely than females to engage in Enjo Kousai that involved sexual interaction (5.2% vs .03%). We integrated risk factors that have been suggested in the Japanese popular press as contributing to the aberrant behavior of Japanese youth but have not been empirically investigated These variables included father’s involvement in Fuzoku (brothels), and mother’s involvement in Telekura (telephone sex). Both have been suggested in the Japanese popular press as increasing sexual behavior in youth. This research represents a team effort between American and Japanese researchers to explore an important but largely neglected topic
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