Children on the Street Face Greatest Risks

Sixteen-year-old Jeannie did not choose to be a prostitute. But when it came down to starving or having sex with someone for money, she says, there was little choice.

But things were different then. When this small-boned, brown-haired girl turned her first $15 trick three years ago, few people on the street knew much about AIDS. Now, she said, it’s all anyone talks about.

Because of her hundreds of sexual partners, Jeannie knows she is at risk of contracting the disease. But she also knows she can often earn an extra $20 if she does not insist her johns use condoms. Again, when forced to make a decision, she said, there is little choice.

Jeannie is one of the estimated 10,000 street children, runaways and teen-age prostitutes on the streets of Los Angeles County who experts say are at the greatest risk, because of frequent, unprotected sex and intravenous drug use, of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus which causes AIDS.

And even though teen-agers flock to the numerous AIDS education classes around Los Angeles that urge young people to limit their sexual activity and drug use, the girls working Hollywood Boulevard and elsewhere, and the young males selling themselves along the stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard called “Boys Town,” continue to engage in high-risk sex but appear to have somewhat decreased their intravenous drug use.

“Many of the kids will consider using condoms when having sex, but there is certainly a group of these younger people who are hurt and have the attitude that they are going to die one way or the other and exposing themselves to the virus is not terribly frightening,” said Gary Yates, director of the High Risk Youth Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Like public school officials, those dealing with these adolescents say the key to preventing the spread of AIDS is education. AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Gay-Lesbian Community Center in Hollywood and the Los Angeles Free Clinic are among numerous agencies trying to reach the abused, neglected and rebellious, giving them the information they may need to stay alive.

But because an estimated 40% to 60% of street children use IV drugs to escape the horrors of homelessness and because they often engage in prostitution to support the drug habit, attempts to change their behavior have had only limited success.

“I’m really scared,” said 16-year-old Sharon, who, like most of the teen-agers interviewed, asked that her real name not be used for fear of losing social services. A tall and lanky girl, Sharon said she has been on the streets since she was 11, shooting speed and having sex with men three times her age for cash.

Frightened Youngsters

She said many youngsters are frightened about AIDS, but few do anything about it. “It’s rough out there. You have to do this stuff because it’s survival.”

Sharon said she’s cleaning up her act. Having kicked the cocaine habit she said was ruining her life and only turning tricks when she “really needs the cash,” Sharon said she has also become extremely careful. When she feels she has to sell herself, she always makes sure her “johns” use condoms.

Although Erma Strantz, director of the county drug abuse program, said no one knows exactly how many IV drug users like Sharon there are on the streets, counselors for the outreach programs assisting runaways and homeless teen-agers say there has been a decrease in intravenous drug use.

Lois Lee, founder and director of Children of the Night, a Hollywood-based counseling service for teen-age prostitutes, said about 20% of the adolescents who frequent the center have either quit drugs or have switched their methods of ingestion.

“I’ve never shared a needle,” proclaims James, a 16-year-old who said he gave up both drugs and prostitution four months ago. “I don’t trust anyone, not even my brother.”

James, a thin and soft-spoken adolescent who now works part-time counseling other youngsters, is one of the lucky ones. He recently tested negative on a HIV test.

‘Survival Sex’

Much of the prostitution on the city’s streets can be called “survival sex,” a term coined by Yates to refer to the self-exploitation teens engage in in return for money, food, drugs or even a place to stay. Counselors and police note that, despite increased crackdowns and the threat of AIDS, teen-age prostitution has not diminished. It is now estimated that 80% of street children are sexually active.

Yates and the High Risk Youth Program, which provides free outpatient medical care and counseling to 2,000 young people a year throughout Los Angeles, constitutes a large group of counselors who are pressing on with as much AIDS education as the young will listen to--which is quite a bit. Presentations at shelters often draw capacity crowds.

“Chronic street kids know more about safe sex than you or I do,” said Dale Weaver, director of Teen Canteen, one of the main counseling services in Hollywood. “I think there has been some significant life style changes. They are aware of the disease, more likely to use condoms, less likely to share needles.”

But counselors are finding that despite the sessions, many street teens still do not grasp the magnitude of the situation.

Lee said teen-agers tell her, ‘Who cares if I die of AIDS? I can die tonight when I turn my next trick,’ or, ‘I can die when I go to bed in that abandoned hotel.’ ”