When protection is punishment: Neo-liberalism and secure care approaches to youth prostitution.

The last fifteen years of the twentieth century have witnessed fundamental changes in approaches to the issue of youth prostitution in Canada. During this period there has been a growing recognition that young prostitutes should be treated as victims in need of protection, not deviants requiring punishment. The most recent and controversial policy response to this victimization framework has been the introduction of secure care legislation in the province of Alberta. Discussions around the possibility of introducing similar legislation has taken place in British Columbia and Ontario. This paper argues the secure care movement in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia represent neo-liberal responses to the (re) conceptualization of youth prostitution as a form of sexual abuse and exploitation. Of particular interest is how secure care advances neo-liberal forms of governance by supporting what Garland refers to as ‘responsibilization’ strategies. In the process, the youth prostitution ‘problem’ is governed at a distance, the onus for combatting the youth sex trade is placed upon the individual prostitute, community and family, and the meaning of ‘success’ in addressing the youth prostitution phenomenon is redefined. At the same time, relations of power that give rise to the youth sex trade remain unchallenged. The paper concludes by suggesting ways of challenging neo-liberal strategies of controlling the youth sex trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]