In Spite of the Secret
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WE LEARN 2009
IN SPITE OF THE SECRET
Abstract: There are many reasons why women become Commercial Sex Workers (Street Workers). For many of them, the reasons are NOT drugs or pimping but because of the “hidden secret.” Their secret is low education, lack or reading skills and inability to get better jobs. Hear firsthand stories of women on the street and how they are leaders advocating for improvements in laws and services.
Presenters: Felicia Delgado and Colleagues
Presenter's Comments: Related Resources: Comments/Questions:
Summary:
This session combined powerful testimonial and dialogue about the relationships between literacy, women, and sex work. It was presented by Felicia Delgado, leader of Project RENEW (Revitalizing & Engaging Neighborhoods by Empowering Women) of Pawtucket/Central Falls, RI. RENEW community activists working on neighborhood revitalization in Pawtucket/Central Falls realized that prostitution was a major concern in their neighborhoods, affecting both the women who were involved and the economic conditions of the neighborhood itself.
We began with an exercise in which participants were asked to define “prostitution” –
A variety of responses were shared, including:
“Selling oneself out, not standing up for oneself, pretending to be otherwise to get something you need.”
“A prostitute does not feel empowered or have enough knowledge to make other choices and therefore has to take a last resort, is backed into a corner.”
“Some prostitutes do feel empowered, do have the knowledge to get what they need, but see it as their best means to an end.”
“A prostitute has to sells themselves, sell their body, sells sex to get something back, whether its money, rent, food, or a place to stay…”
Felicia explained that the prostitutes she works with see themselves in many different ways – from empowered to desperate – but that the deep economic needs driving prostitution is widely shared. She told of college students working in prostitution to put themselves through school, mothers working as prostitutes to get infant milk, and both teens cut off from DCYF and trafficked children who have no place to stay except as prostitutes. For many of these people, she said “There is no need for pimp – the pimp is poverty.”
While there is often discussion of the links between factors such as low-self esteem, family problems/abandonment, domestic violence, substance abuse, and prostitution, one “secret” that affects many women prostitutes is their lack of literacy.
Felicia explained that many would never guess that a lot of women involved in prostitution, and also those who have left prostitution and moved on to new possibilities in their lives, are struggling due to low literacy skills. As one former prostitute testified, “I can do a lot of stuff, I have become a leader in my community, I can go and talk to the governor, but it’s only because I can do all this with my mouth. The secret is that I still can’t read. I’m now a grandmother, with one daughter in law school, another who herself struggles with literacy, and a granddaughter I can’t even read story books to.”
Felicia urged us to consider that, “When you come across a prostitute or substance abuser, maybe it’s because they can’t read or write or fill out a form to get their needs met.” Low literacy may mean they can’t get food stamps, a job, or services for which they qualify, and as a result they feel pushed toward prostitution to make ends meet. She explained, “We tend to believe that prostitutes are just out on the street, in the tough ‘hoods, and they’re not… in today’s economy these are women – everywhere – that are working to survive.”
And once many women seek to break away from prostitution, the problems they have faced as a prostitute hold them back from accessing further education or employment. Felicia talked about women whose arrest records prevent them from getting financial aid to go to school, and about the frequent connection between prostitution and drug addiction, leading to a range of long-term consequences. She remarked, “That night that a woman’s self esteem sneaks up on her may be the night her john gives her a bag of coke and even if she wouldn’t usually try it, because she is feeling so low, she gets hooked. Now she’s not just working for food, tuition, or rent, but to feed a relentless addiction, too.”
She shared, from her work as a case worker with women prostitutes, that in different ways, all of the women she works with are deeply hurting, even those that say they are proud of what they’re doing. For many, especially those who became prostitutes at a young age, the lasting impact of their first damaging, often forced, sexual encounter at a young age stays with them for the rest of their lives.
She said that most women looking to get out see no resources really available for women who want to make a change, who want to leave prostitution, and see learning literacy as a way out. They are often carrying around such heavy baggage – self-esteem problems, perhaps an addiction, and the emotional burdens and practical obstacles presented by having problems with literacy problem, as well. Without any apparent support or options, it’s easy for people to get stuck.
“People that don’t have the mouth to ask for what they need, that don’t have the ambition or the support to keep going past these many obstacles will go straight back to what they’ve done… just for survival. People say, ‘How can they?’ But for many, it’s more like ‘How can they not?’”
Felicia’s presentation opened up a powerful discussion, in which many women came forward to share their own personal experiences with the issues Felicia raised. One woman said, “It really is all about literacy, because when you don’t know how to read and write, people just walk all over you.” It became clear that self-esteem, self-empowerment, economic services and opportunities for women, and access to literacy programs and support are all crucial factors in preventing women from feeling forced into prostitution and in helping those who seek to leave this work.
In discussing the importance of bringing an open-minded, anti-oppressive, harm-reduction approach to engaging prostitutes in programs of support and empowerment, Felicia said, “You never know what kind of imprint you might leave and how long it will last… be accountable to yourself and gentle with those around you.” Felicia’s work and presentation today clearly left a huge imprint on all of us who attended this session. One participant said in response to the stories Felicia shared that “Now I understand I’m not the only one.” This sentiment was echoed by several participants, many of whom resolved right there, and quite emotionally, to make changes in their lives and break free from forces that were hurting them and holding them back. This session opened all of our eyes and hearts to new sensitivity and to thinking in new ways about how obstacles to women’s literacy are linked with other experiences and conditions that harm women’s lives. It also helped us to see how much we have in common and how we can better offer ourselves in support and solidarity moving forward.
