Philadelphia Weekly

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Regarding Tara Murtha’s recent cover story about human trafficking:

I was very impressed with this article. After working in the field of violence against women for many years, it’s frustrating that more people don’t understand how dangerous this industry is and the incredibly negative impact it has on women and girls.

The assumption that women voluntarily enter prostitution is a myth. This article was accurate, poignant and told a story many people haven’t been ready to hear. I hope now is the time we all extend our support and empathy to those impacted by this type of violence.

It’s clearly an uphill battle to change the image of something that for so long has been trivialized or even glamorized by movies like Pretty Woman or Nabokov’s Lolita. “Sex tourism” in Thailand, with its horrific ramifications, still has an exotic ring to it. College kids host “pimp and ho” parties when they would never hold a “master and slave” party.

Yet as with many things in criminal law, the focus is on the perps, not the victims. And the perps have been a target since the days the White Slave Act of 1910 made it illegal to transport a woman across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. But beyond legal trivia, the substance of the day is still punishment, not restitution of the victims of this “victimless” crime.

While no one would claim that authorities should ignore violent men like the people in this article, perhaps resources would be better used on education and healthcare. As we have seen from the drug war, the government loves to mess with the supply side, while doing little to reduce demand. Your article is an excellent example of the supply side crying—and dying—for help.

While the cover photo is a bit much, I found the story about sex trafficking extremely informative. People have been saying for years that those in the sex work industry are there voluntarily, make a lot of money, are always in control, blah, blah, blah. But Mimi’s own words resonate in my mind—“You’re never in control. Never.” The litany of abuse she suffered is vile and is the signature of an industry that profits from violence against women and girls.

Sex workers pay for their silence—physically, mentally and with their lives. In Philadelphia, the Sex Workers Health and Safety Task Force has been meeting for a number of years, founded by the Philadelphia Women’s Death Review Team. Our report (referenced in the story) indeed documents the short life span of a sex worker, but we also determined that nearly all unsolved homicides of women were “prostitutes.” And because of their line of work, sex workers are loathed and their needs disregarded. No one will touch the issue, so thank you Donna Sabella for articulating the issues that compel sex workers to remain in the industry and for developing an alternative like Dawn’s Place. It’s a good beginning for women seeking sanctuary from the life of a sex worker.

Thank you, Ms. Sabella, for the good work that you do in helping people to escape the horrible life of a prostitute. We need to get our so-called leaders in this country to stop prostitution in all facets, whether it be in Washington, D.C., or on the streets of Newark; it’s all the same and equally as dirty. We need to expose johns on the front page of newspapers to let the world see what kind of men they are. Pimps should go to prison just because they are pimps. We have funding for many stupid programs that save animals and insects but we don’t have programs for saving children. What hypocrites we have in Washington. And most of the johns are there!

Thank God for people like Sabella and their dedication to helping these people get their lives back. A child in trouble in this country means we are all in trouble. I can’t think of a more worthwhile thing to do in this life than to help someone overcome hardships and claim their life back.

Final Salute