In the late 1970s, the phenomenon of underage prostitution was completely ignore by society, even in the social services community. For that reason, the main objective of the youths who came together to create the organization in 1982 was to have their existence recognized. They needed a name that was explicit, catchy and easy to remember. It also needed to indicate the support that the organization intended to provide to youth.
The full name of the organization, project for interventions with minor prostitutes, was consequently abbreviated to PIMP. A pimp, also known as a procurer, is a person who makes a living from the prostitution of the girls they claim to protect. However, originally, a procurer is also someone who provides, who supports an idea, a cause. Do you see where this is going?
The request for incorporation was submitted with this name, which was refused by the government authorities. The organizers, at the time, insisted on keeping the name. Remember, they needed a shocking name to draw attention to their reality. In social movements, the re-appropriation of degrading terms is common: For instance the terms “queer” or “whore” are reclaimed with pride.
Since the full name reflected the basic values of the organization, they decided to resubmit the application for incorporation with the following abbreviation: PIaMP. In fact, that little “a” is very important, because the word it stands for, “avec” in French, means “alongside”. This means that, at PIaMP, we do not intervene to stop prostitution, unless that is what the youth want. Our goal is to accompany youths who allow it on their way to achieving their goals.
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