Peter, 14 years old:
How did you become a hustler?
I really don’t know. I’ve had sex with men since I was… [He thinks it over.] …six, or about that. And so when I lived on Vesterbro I discovered there was some place called Rådhuspladsen. Once you’ve tried it, you do it again. I’ve been coming here now for two years.
I get 200-250 crowns each time, sometimes more. I spend the money on toys, slot machines, going to the movies and now and then to buy hash. I’ve run away from home, so I stay at houses of different friends and acquaintances, or clients.
Last summer I ran away from home for the first time with someone I knew. I was caught and put in a foster home. Later, they moved me to another foster family farther away, near Slagelse, because I ran away whenever I could from that first family. They were old people.
How was it when you lived at your own home?
Sometimes it was all right; at other times it was sheer hell.
Did they know you did things with men?
I told my mother that I went to Rådhuspladsen. She knew it very well. I wasn’t living at home when I told her.
The first time you ran away, it was…
Just for fun. Just to be free and do something crazy. That time I had been stealing - motor scooters and such things. But I don’t want to do that any more.
Do you remember the first time you had sex with a man?
No, but I can remember a few of the early times. My stepfather had a bar. A lot of drunks used to come there. I often went to a grass field where they would be sitting, so I got to know a few of them. I really cannot remember how it got started.
Do you find it gives you pleasure; do you have fun doing it?
To have sex with men? It’s not just fun - it’s wonderful! [He looks straight into my eyes and smiles. He is a handsome boy.]
And what about love? Did you ever fall in love?
I think I was five years old the first time I slept with a girl. She was thirteen. But I didn’t get anything out of it. I just lay there and sucked her cunt.
Have you ever fallen in love with a man?
Yes, the one I’m going with now. I’m in love with him and I have sex with him too. It’s fine. He is 18.
Do your parents know where you are living?
No. I hope I can stay in hiding until I’m 18; after that nobody will have any authority over me - not my mother, not the child protection agency.
Do you have to stay in hiding? Is there no authority you could talk to?
Like what? I wouldn’t be allowed to live as I want. I can’t get a room of my own. I’m not old enough.
What about a youth home?
I don’t like living in an institution and having “instructors” chasing my ass all the time. [He smiles a little, enjoying the ambiguity.] You can’t even let out a fart without them knowing about it.
You might be sent to a foster family.
They wouldn’t dare do that. I would just run off again.
It would be wonderful if people could respect other people’s way of living.
“Instructors” certainly don’t. [He grins.] They want you to be just like them. Mamma mia!
Do you have any plans - dreams, visions for your future?
Yes, to get a motor-cycle or a boat. Or to get a well-paid job. A job doing something I like and that pays enough money.
A family?
Family? [Wondering.] I have never thought about… I don’t think so. [Suddenly excited.] Maybe I’d like to have a wife and children and all that, but my wife would have to accept the fact that I sleep with men too. I’ll think about it in any case.
Would you still go to Rådhuspladsen if you had enough money?
I don’t think so. I’d let the others hustle for that money. If I had enough money I wouldn’t. I’d certainly have a steady friend but I wouldn’t go to Rådhuspladsen. Most of the boys there end up as junkies. That’s shit. I’ll definitely steer clear of that. The only hard drug I’ve tried, apart from hash, is two pep pills. I got so sick, you wouldn’t believe it. I was with those fellows every day, and so I couldn’t help talking to them. I know about someone who died from it.
You are sure that you can avoid…
Yes, because I don’t go around with them. I go my own way and they go theirs.
What are your clients like?
Very nice people. A few have tried to cheat me, but with the rest I’ve had no bad experiences. Some are young, some are old - I never ask their age. If they ask me mine, I tell them I’m fourteen. It is useless to lie and to say I’m fifteen to go home with them. Because then if we are caught… They have to know how old I am so they can decide whether or not they’re going to dare take the risk.
What do you think about the age of consent?
It would be best to fix it at zero. There should be no age limit. It’s better to make love than war.
The purpose of an age of consent is to protect children.
It’s the kids themselves who go there, isn’t it? So that’s a lot of nonsense. But it would be lousy to let men sleep with six- or seven-year-olds who don’t want to do it themselves.
Would more men force children to do such things if there was a zero age of consent?
I don’t think so. But there would be more people who dared to have sex with children, that’s for sure.
Have you ever been involved in a criminal case against any of the men that you have slept with?
Yes, when I was still young. I was questioned lots of times in criminal cases. In those days, I told them everything. Today, I wouldn’t say a word.