“Marc,” I
can hear you saying, “Mondays are hard enough! Please—just cut to the chase and
tell us what today’s nonsense is….”
Right—I
came upon it by Nicholas
Kristof, of The New York Times,
who writes frequently about human and sexual
trafficking. So today, he was writing
about Becca Stevens, an
Episcopal priest who over ten years ago started Magdalene, a program to help women get off the
streets, get clean, get a job, and get on their feet. Here, taken from the
program’s website, are highlights of the program:
▪
For
two years, we offer housing, food, medical and dental needs, therapy, education
and job training without charging the residents or receiving government
funding.
▪
Our
six homes function without 24-hour live-in staff, relying on residents to
create a supportive community, maintain recovery, and share household tasks.
▪
Women
come to Magdalene from prison, the streets and from across the Southeast and
the country.
▪
The
women of Magdalene/Thistle Farms range in age from 20-50, and many have been
sexually abused between the ages of 7-11, began using alcohol or drugs by 13,
have been arrested on average a hundred times, or have spent about 12 years on
the street prostituting.
▪
72%
percent of the women who join Magdalene are clean and sober 2 1/2 years after
beginning the program.
“OK,” you’re saying, “what’s this about
thistles?”
Well, how
many employers are going to give a job to a person with a hundred arrests? So
Stevens hit on the idea of making a little business—it would give the women
something to do, teach them skills, and give them a sense of purpose. And she
chose the thistle because it grows everywhere—very often it was the only flower
in the sites where the women plied their trade.
Which may
be a misnomer, suggesting as it does that these women have any control in what
they do, or that they do it willingly. The reality is that we have slaves on
the streets of America. Consider, as Kristof wrote, the woman in the Magdalene
program who came in with 14 tattoos with which her pimp had branded her.
And how did
she get onto the streets? Very often, by being abused as a child. And then it’s
the familiar story. Suffering, she leaves home, and meets a charming guy, who’s
got money. Best of all, he loves her; he treats her like a queen. And then
something happens, he becomes enraged, and then he puts her out on the street.
Here’s what Kristof says about one woman:
When her
pimp was shot dead, she was recruited by another, Kenny, who ran a “stable” of
four women and assigned each of them a daily quota of $1,000. Anyone who didn’t
earn that risked a beating.
This, of
course, assumes that the pimp is operating in the traditional fashion.
Increasingly, pimps are going electronic, and using websites to offer women for
sale. I’m sitting in a café as I write this, but I have to just go online to
view the most common of these sites—basically a “Craiglist” that has everything
including humans for sale. I typed in “Madison, Wisconsin” and discovered that
there are 25 entries for today alone. Oh, and it’s not even 1PM there.
Still
wondering about those thistles? Well, you can support Becca Stevens and her
work in a variety of ways. You can grow lavender in your garden (Becca doesn’t
say it, but presumably she wants you to send it to her….). You can buy products
like body oils, soaps, and candles. You can collect old white clothing for
making paper; and yes, you can harvest thistles. Oh, and you can also, of
course, just send money.
I can’t
help thinking that if you’re a man—there are some other, very simple but very
necessary things that you can do. You can stay off the streets, and refuse to
hire these women. You can speak out and against those who do. You can stop
making jokes about prostitutes, as well as stopping people who do.
I saw a YouTube clip of a trainer who does sensitivity
awareness at institutions that have had situations of abuse. He made
several—one of which is that as important as it is to empower women (or rather
for them to empower themselves), we have to stop defining issues such as
prostitution and domestic violence as “women’s issues.” Why? Because guys
automatically tune out when they hear the term. And secondly, all of these
women have brothers, fathers, uncles. In short, us—men.
So maybe
it’s time for men to act. Look, everybody has a smart phone—there are cameras
in everyone’s pocket or purse. Why not photograph those men who are out there
soliciting sex, and put them on a website—perhaps called predators.com. That way, every mother, sister or wife
could check it out every morning over coffee.
Oh, and for
any pimp caught?
Time to
bring back public stonings?
