To not know whether I find this just plain vile or a better alternative....

[BigFatLeaf]

Sensitive content warning.

I do a lot of volunteer work, mostly with drug addicts who are predominantly young, homeless women involved in prostitution. In one of my counselling sessions the other day one of the girls (aged 21) confessed to me that a lot of the girls who she works with, including herself often lie about their age to "clients" and say they are 14 it 15 because they get more money. I was really, really shocked by this as whilst I know there is a demand for that kind of revolting thing I didn't realise it was prevalent enough to warrant its own warped form of special marketing!

She also told me that they often put on an act of being very naive, scared, afraid and that they've been forced into it, because apparently this is what the clients want. The "pimps" apparently often actively encourage this and the girls are told to "look young" so they get away with it.

What sickens me is that surely it is not a criminal offence to have sex with someone who is over 18 even if you think they are younger?

[Smoorikins]

In some ways I think this is a good thing. I'd far rather a guy have sex with a 21 yo pretending to be 14 and scared, than a genuine scared 14 yo.

But the 'men' deserve to be castrated.

[Chibbs]

.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Paying for sex and having sex for money is legal.

Advertising the service,kerb crawling,soliciting,a brothel, living off immoral earnings is not

Afair (been a long time since I was a sex worker leasion officer) a brothel is any property with a sex worker and any other female no matter the age also on the property,there always also used to be laws preventing using communication networks as well

[FreudiansSlipper]

but it is a fantasy

the fact a man is paying a woman to have sex is very wrong that he is playing out a fantasy makes no difference. it is not stopping him acting out his fantasy

i am sure she is disgusted as you are but you have to be careful of transferring those feelings do you get support at your work?

[Helpyourself]

Bring this up at your next supervision, not on an open forum. You do have clinical supervision don't you?

[LalyRawr]

I remember a case similar to this.

It boiled down to intention. It was the man's intention to have sex with an underage girl and as she said she was 15 a reasonable man would assume that he was, in fact, having sex with an underage girl.

The fact that she was 18 and not 15 was actually irrelevant.

He was convicted on the basis of his intention and assumption (thinking he was having sex with a minor), not the actual actions (having sex).

[LalyRawr]

Oh, but in this case, legally, if they know she is older and only pretending, then technically they have done nothing wrong (as long as they haven't curb crawled etc).

[mayorquimby]

Any idea what the case was called?

Not saying your wrong but as I've never encountered this in practice I would have assumed that regardless of their intention the actus reus of the crime is lacking so the offence hasn't taken place.
I can understand for inchoate offences I.e. attempted sex with a minor or seeking to procure sex with a minor for Internet predators who are actually chatting to online officers
But to say they've committed the actual offence of sex with a minor when the actus reuse has not actually occurred seems illogical to me.
Interesting though.

[maddening]

isn't under the age of consent classified statutory rape- so by having sex with a woman under the impression that she is a minor it could be statutory rape by proxy?

soliciting sex is illegal anyway - but statutory rape is a greater crime - and while not physically committing does is his intent become part of that? But intent eg with intent to murder is a charge so soliciting sex with intent to commit statutory rape could be similar?

Also - on some news clips a while ago there was a piece on a group pretending to be under age dc on the chat forums catching pedophiles . So this is similar too.

[mayorquimby]

As I say intent to procure sex with a minor etc could be arguable but that's different to being charged with the actual offence which is what I thought the other poster was saying.
If I've interpreted it wrongly I apologise.
Genuinely interested to see a judgment on such a scenario because as I say I've never encountered it and wouldn't have thought the prosecution would hold in the circumstances.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

In the uk we do not have statutory rape

[cosysocks]

Posting the content of a counselling session on an open forum shows a total lack of respect for your client.

[PrincessFlirtyPants]

That is a very fair point, cosysocks

[friday16]

He was convicted on the basis of his intention and assumption (thinking he was having sex with a minor), not the actual actions (having sex).

It would be nice to have a citation for that, because it's hard to imagine what they would actually be charged with for such a case to come to court. What were they convicted of?

[CharityFunDay]

"Statutory Rape" is a generic term, used in Common Law jurisdictions, it doesn't actually exist as a discrete offence anywhere.

Surely the 'John' in this situation (procuring sex with someone pretending to be a minor) has the mens rea but there's no actus rea? Both parties are of consenting age.

As far as I'm aware, the Sexual Offences Act (2003) doesn't cover statutory rape where the offence takes place only in the imagination. And perhaps that's a good thing, on the whole.

So: Very distasteful indeed, but not actively illegal.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, just an interested observer.

[KatyTheCleaningLady]

This doesn't surprise me. The punter can feel like a nice guy, giving that poor girl a break from the constant beatings or something.

And they enjoy the greater sense of power over the poor, helpless frightened girl.

Plus, a young girl is fresher and had fewer partners.

And a young victim type girl isn't as scary as an older, sexually aware woman with a perceived voracious appetite.

Helpless young victims are just more sympathetic and less threatening.

[seesensepeople]

I am concerned about the opening post, not because it outlines a girls lurid tales of a man's fantasy but because there seems to be no evidence of any training or supervision on this volunteer programme:

1. the OP does not seem to recognise any of the manipulation techniques commonly used by drug abusers;
2. the OP says the role involved "counselling" and yet there is none of the expected ethics associated with "proper" counselling - such as confidentiality, respect for the client, refusal to judge the situation, etc;
3. the OP displays a sense of disapproval that seems inappropriate to her role - the word "confessed" is used, was this a confession or a counselling session? there is also the emphasis on "really, really shocked" the term "revolting", etc, etc
4. It is not clear what the purpose of this volunteer work is - we have the target client group clearly described and we know there is some form of "counselling session" but it is unclear what purpose this easily shocked and naive volunteer is serving.

This is not a situation I would be happy about in any volunteer programme I was running.

And, I don't believe the OP has responded to any of the follow up comments.

Having said all that - what is the actual AIBU?

[ILetHimKeep20Quid]

Please call your volunteer supervisor and explain you are not suitable for the role, they should offer to counsel you out, then never put yourself in a position where people trust you again.

[Helpyourself]

Take note of theist few posts, OP. at the very least ensure you are clinically supervised at work.

[livinginwonderland]

Paying for sex or recieving payment for sex isn't illegal - but you can't kerb crawl or solicit sex.

[gigglestar]

cosysocks: "Posting the content of a counselling session on an open forum shows a total lack of respect for your client"

Really?! I disagree. It is no different (or any less disrespectful) to the rest of us posting-on an open forum-the private goings on in our relationships and families etc. So long as OP does not post anything that would identify them or their client there is nothing wrong in discussing one's experience.

[Helpyourself]

giggle it shows a massive lack of judgement and it also suggests she's not getting the support she needs to do the job.
I work in a similar field, not as a volunteer, and I'm pretty certain I'd be in serious trouble were I to discuss such details- mainly because I'd be not engaging with the support that is vital to do this sort of work.
If you're not adequately supervised OP, you shouldn't be doing this work.

[FreudiansSlipper]

of course it is different

what is discussed between client and counsellor should only be spoken about in supervision, or on the odd occasion you need to contact their gp or make a report for legal reason (highly unlikely) but you would still run this past your supervisor

you do not bring it on to a public forum. the op is struggling with an issue that came up (it happens and often takes you by surprise) you take it to supervision

i reported this thread but mn said it they did not feel it broke their guidelines

[festered]

I am not a prostitute but I do work in an industry that sells sexual fantasy.
All women who do my job have to be over 18 and rules to prove one's age are strict.
However, guys who want a girl to pretend to be underage are very, very high in numbers.
I'm not surprised at all at what the girls you work with are saying.
:(
It's interesting about the law, if a man has sex with a girl he thinks is underage-then he's obviously willing to have sex with a girl that's underage!

[FarelyKnuts]

I agree with cosysocks, helpyourself and freudianslipper... Discussing the details of a counseling session on an open forum shows a shocking lack of respect towards your client and in my job would definitely have you disciplined at the very least.
Supervision is there for a reason.