OBJECTIVE: The social representations and the structural relationships related to child prostitution, as presented in the depositions made before of the Parliamentary Comission Inquiry dealing with the problem are analyzed. METHODS: On the basis of qualitative methodology, the analysis attempts to identify the units of meaning present in the depositions. RESULTS: Data on the subject are presented by region. A vision of the social scene is built up on the basis of the data such as to breing out the related historical and cultural determining factors. CONCLUSION: The child juvenile prostitution is based on the commercialization of the body as coercion or slavery is seen as a means of meeting the basis needs of survival. The need for social action is brought out, including that of collective health, so that the theme does not serve only the amposes of rhetoric on statistics, because in calls for decisive action.
Child prostitution; Social problems; Child health