 A study commissioned by UNICEF and Save the Children and headed by sociologist <unk> <unk> conducted research on prostitution of children in post @-@ war Bosnia and Herzegovina . <unk> reported that poverty was a strong contributing factor . She stated , " The global sex trade is as much a product of everyday people struggling to survive in dire economic straits as it is an organized crime problem . Attacking the crime and not the poverty is treating the symptom but not the disease ... It 's not uncommon for girls to know what they 're entering into , and to enter voluntarily to some degree . Maybe they think they 'll be different and able to escape , or maybe they 'd rather take the risk than feel powerless staying at home in poverty . " Jaffe and Rosen disagree and argue that poverty alone does not often force children into prostitution , as it does not exist in a large scale in several impoverished societies . Rather , a number of external influences , such as poor family situations and domestic violence , factor into the problem . 
