Systematic review study on the most important tendency reasons for social harm in Iranian children

Abstract

Introduction: This study was carried out to determine the extent of prostitution and its causes among Iranian children at risk of social harm.

Material and Methods: The authoritative websites on the topic of childhood prostitution performed in Iran during the period 1985 to 2019 were searched in WHO, UNFPA, UNDP, ISI, ProQuest, Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, and Google Scholar databases for reviewing studies conducted in Iran. Articles from internal dissertations and Google's databases, SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, Iran Medex and Iran Doc search engines. Upon leaving unrelated and unqualified articles, finally, seven studies were selected. Information by 2blind researchers in the form of the article title, the first author, year of research, sample size, age was included in the Excel program.

Results: The search yielded a total of 1256 records. After removing duplicates, 45 documents were retained for further examination. After screening the titles and abstracts, seven papers were retained for full-text review. Based on pre-defined inclusion criteria, seven records were included in the systemic review. Many reasons for prostitution were: running away from home, sexual harassment, forced sex, presence of a child among prostitutes including family members or friends, and other reasons including the history of addiction of parents, the history of detention and imprisonment before prostitution and the responsibility of supplying them (sponsorship) gifts and prices, membership in sex offending gangs, sex trade, and sex sales.

Conclusion: Violence, sexual abuse, and sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, mental illness, involvement in child trafficking networks and substance abuse are the consequence of the experiences of these children in prostitution, therefore, it is very important that specialists and authorities should first consider heavy penalties for adults seeking sexual contact with children and key measures should be taken for the use of these children by social services.