 Prostitution of children in the form of survival sex occurs in both undeveloped and developed countries . In Asia , underage girls sometimes work in brothels to support their families . In Sri Lanka parents will more often have their sons prostitute themselves rather than their daughters , as the society places more weight on sexual purity among females than males . Jaffe and Rosen write that prostitution of children in North America often results from " economic considerations , domestic violence and abuse , family disintegration and drug addiction " . In Canada , a young man was convicted of charges relating to the prostitution of a 15 @-@ year @-@ old girl online in 2012 ; he had encouraged her to prostitute herself as a means of making money , kept all of her earnings , and threatened her with violence if she did not continue . 
