Mother Prostituting Child out for Money/Drugs

My blog entry yesterday about the man who encouraged women over the Internet to sexually abuse their own children on camera and send the footage to him got me thinking about another topic I don’t think I have addressed on this blog. Several child abuse survivors have told me about mothers who did not abuse them directly but, instead, prostituted the child out for money or drugs. Sadly, this scenario happens much more frequently than people want to talk about, and the mother’s betrayal is extremely damaging to the child. (The same comment applies if it was the father, sibling, or anyone else who profited from the child being abused by a third party.)

When I was an active member on Isurvive, I became close online friends with one woman whose mother prostituted her out for drugs Even though her mother did not directly sexually abuse her, we had so much in common in our feelings toward our mothers. The level of betrayal she felt at being “sold” for drugs was the same level of betrayal that I felt at being sexually abused directly by my mother. Both of us struggled with an enormous amount of rage toward our mothers, and we walked hand in hand through the healing process together. This form of sexual abuse is very emotionally damaging to the child.

Other abused children are prostituted out for other reasons. I, myself, was prostituted out by a child pornography and prostitution ring that disguised itself as a satanic cult. I suspect the reason for this was (1) to protect the identities of the abusers; and (2) to discredit me if I ever told anyone about it. The difference between my situation and my online friend’s situation is that (I believe) the ones profiting from the child prostitution and pornography were S & L, my most sadistic abusers, rather than my mother. While what I suffered was terrible, the added layer of your own mother being the one to profit from prostituting out a child makes the betrayal even deeper.

If someone you loved received money or drugs in return for allowing someone to sexually abuse you, you are not alone. Sadly, this happens a lot. When someone suffers from an addiction, he or she will sometimes do anything to get the next fix. People mostly think of people with addiction problems committing robbery or perhaps prostituting out themselves, but children are sometimes the commodity that is sought by those providing the drugs. Of course, not every addict will do something so despicable, but some do. Those who were abused due to this scenario need our loving support.

Photo credit: Hekatekris