The rapist's camouflage: ‘child prostitution’

Language analysis of representations of child abuse in the media has been a focus of study at Monash University. This research has challenged the portrayal in the print media of children who have been abused and neglected. The researchers describe ‘textual abuse’, a concept that encompasses language that exploits children, minimizes the seriousness of crimes committed against them, and fails to acknowledge their rights. This article will argue that the phrase ‘child prostitution’ represents an example of ‘lexical redescription’, a form of textual abuse. Language analysis will demonstrate the implied commonalities between adult prostitution and ‘child prostitution’, resulting in a failure to acknowledge the rights of children. Examples of this form of textual abuse have been located within international print media and government and non-government reports, written in the English language. The research highlights the need to critically appraise language when describing children and child abuse. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.