Websites, applications, social networks… Student prostitution is a taboo and underestimated phenomenon because of its invisibility. Conditioned by student uncertainty, it increases with each new economic crisis. In the face of rising cost of living, what is the situation today? What are the consequences and consequences for these young people? Joëlle Clippe de l’asbl Between 2 Wallonia, Renaud Maes, lecturer at UMons and Emila Hoxhaj of the Federation of Francophone Students of Belgium brought their expertise and testimonies in Tendances Première.
A poorly digitized and invisible student prostitution
There are 80,000 students in precarious situations, according to a study published in 2019 by the government. And how many of them would prostitute?
Renaud Maes, a professor of sociology, methods and statistics, deplores the lack of figures and studies, as well as the absence of public management and methodological tools such as the observatory of student life in France. This leads to an extrapolation of studies from neighbouring countries to estimate at 6,000 students who have committed themselves to prostitution: “These figures are not really based on anything. They were calculated as the proportion of students who claim to be sex workers in the UK in a study 15 years ago.”
He explains this difficulty by the fact that the student wants to silence this activity, both on and outside the campus: “They are extremely discreet, which leads to difficult situations of isolation and all a series of risks associated with […] To objectivize it, you have to go through the field […] That means much more funding.”
For Entre 2 Wallonie, Joëlle Clippe testifies: “When students arrive in social services such as ours, they stopped their studies and the difficulties began at that time. They are rarely found on campus because there is a lack of dissemination of information about the existence of our service and others elsewhere”.
A means of subsistence in the face of rising cost of living
Very often, the primary motive for prostituting is lack of money and indebtedness according to Renaud Maes. “It is necessary to make a distinction between entering into prostitution andining […] In general, once students generate a certain income, they realize that they have reached a certain standard of living that is very difficult to give up,” he explains.
Furthermore, student prostitution is an important factor in school dropout with sometimes a return to school, a vicious circle from which it is difficult to get out: “What is specific to student prostitutes is the goal behind rarely staying in the prostitution sector […] They define themselves primarily as students and not as prostitutes, which leads them to refrain from recourse to aid services.”
Emila Hoxhaj of FEF indicates that, following the results of the Students Priority Survey, we can identify a precariousness related to the cost of living that has increased: rent, studies, food… An uncertainty highlighted in all socio-economic circles and, according to her, a phenomenon of prostitution rather small in relation to the whole of the students, with always this need to get out of the uncertainties: “Students have no other choice than to find a job. This student prostitution can be seen as a student job.”
