Claims-making activity and the Secure Care Act in British Columbia

The sexual exploitation of youth has, in recent years, become a publicized and often highly-politicized social problem. The profile of this social problem has been raised as a result of efforts by groups of concerned citizens who have lobbied all levels of government for tools and resources to combat youth involvement in prostitution and to protect the young victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The social constructionist emphasis on the claims-making activity of lobby groups presents us with a viable means of explaining and understanding policy and legislative reform. Claims-making activity by lobby groups has played a fundamental role in both the historical as well as the contemporary reactions to youth involvement in prostitution. In British Columbia, both protectionist claims-makers as well as anti-secure care claimsmakers have achieved success in influencing the government to respond to their respective concerns around this social issue.