Restoration for Redlight Runaways

Family restoration through law is one of the reasons students choose to attend Regent University School of Law. Annalise M. Lang, Regent Juris Doctor 2012 wanted to learn family law in this manner, and recently found that opportunity in a Juvenile Law course.

From Portland, Oregon, Lang was distressed to learn that Protland was the #2 city in the nation for underage prostitution. She researched the problem of runaway children falling into prostitution on the streets of Portland, and has written on the law in this area and some solutions to this problem. Her article, "Underage Prostitution in Portland: Should Law Enforcement Be Able To Walk Away from Runaways?" presents a fabulous overview of the problem, and works toward solutions to restore child victims to their families who often need rehabilitation themselves, or to safe family situations.

The article addresses an issue that is a continual and increasing problem in Portland, Oregon, and greatly affects Portland’s youth and the city. It takes in that issue by proposing a change in law that could begin to move the city towards addressing the issue one runaway at a time, while also providing practical considerations for helping children who fall into street prostitution by laying out a process and plan for rehabilitation after runaways are removed from the streets. Lang writes,

"According to the National Runaway Switchboard, 75% of runaways will become involved in theft, pornography, or drugs. On a national level, 75% of runaways are females. Within two days of leaving home, one out of every three runaways will be lured into prostitution. In 2002, an estimated 23,000-25,000 of Oregon’s youth were runaway or homeless in a year’s time. Homeless runaways have a variety of issues. Interestingly, more than one-third of males and approximately half of females report family dynamic and conflict as the most important issue they are facing." Read her entire article here.

Family restoration is possible even for children who fall into prostitution, but they need law enforcement and safe and healthy families to help them to experience that restoration.