Woman risks her life to escape the sex trade.
Have you ever had to risk your life to leave your employer?
Have you ever been forced to have your employer’s logo tattooed on your body?
Have you ever had to run across a highway, with a broken leg, to get out of a work situation?
I bet we all answered no to these questions, yet that wasn’t the case for a young woman last week in Seattle who jumped out of a third story window and ran across a highway to escape her pimp because she wanted out of the sex trade.
Please take two minutes today and scan to read this KOMO news article about a brave woman who made a harrowing escape from her vicious pimp last week in Seattle.
You’ll find several myths debunked:
#1
MYTH: If a person is an adult, they are choosing prostitution, we only need to protect children who are being prostituted.
TRUTH: 89% of people in the sex trade (children and adults) say they want to leave – and H.A. certainly wasn’t choosing prostitution in this case (even though she is 20 years old).
#2
MYTH: We need to legalize the sex trade in our state because it is empowering for women.
TRUTH: Like H.A., 80-99% of people in the sex industry experience violence or assault – that doesn’t sound very empowering. As is often the case, H.A. was under complete control of her pimp – not empowering at all.
#3
MYTH: People in the sex trade might need some harm reduction services from time to time, but don’t need exit services.
TRUTH: H.A. put herself in harms way to GET OUT. She wanted to EXIT the sex trade – as do 89% of victims. She didn’t need harm reduction, she needed a way out. |
