Recently on the NPR show Here and Now I was introduced to the concept of ‘loverboys.’ This is a specific phenomenon in the Netherlands were older males target schoolgirls, and entrap them in relationships where these girls are prostituted out (there are repeated references to group sex). Even before it got to that part I had a suspicion that these men were from ethnic minorities. The reason is that I figured I’d have heard of the phenomenon by now, because of the extreme details (e.g., ‘gang bangs’). Rather, there must have been an extenuating circumstance, and that was most likely to be the ethnic angle. And sure enough most of the loverboys are from families with roots in Morocco and Turkey, and their targets are girls from ethnic Dutch backgrounds.
I can outline the various sociocultural factors at work here. For example, Dutch do not have the same concept of ‘honor’ as many ‘traditional’ Islamic and South Asian societies, so their young girls are likely perceived as vulnerable. And the lower socioeconomic status of Muslims in most of European makes it entirely plausible that this population would be involved in prostitution. On the other hand, their social conservatism and generally barbaric attitudes toward female honor would probably mitigate against the involvement of Muslim women in the practice.
But what I’m curious about attitudes from the inside. I’m wondering if some readers could place themselves in the psychology of the pimps here, at least at some point in the past, and explain what’s going on. I’m not really interesting in judging at this point, but deeply understanding. In particular, I’m curious about non-economic angles.