Servants Anonymous book sale helps women escape sex trade
Agency offers intervention, support, and emergency and transitional housing
Rock bottom often gets them wanting to escape, but once a woman being exploited in the sex trade decides she wants out — the shackles tighten.
There are consequences for those daring to walk away, says Theresa Jenkins, executive director of Servants Anonymous Society (SAS), an organization supporting women wanting to escape the sex trade.
Many are beaten, some have been shot, thrown from a balcony and one was chained to a toilet for two weeks, sexually assaulted and drugged.
One woman had both arms broken by her pimp. And when she got out of hospital, she turned to SAS for help.
Since SAS began its work 28 years ago, more than 825 women have turned to it as a resource to get free of the lifestyle which can eventually lead to their deaths.
SAS not only saves lives but sees tax-dollar savings, in terms of police, justice system and health-care costs, of about $8.59 per dollar invested.
The organization’s book sale, its largest fundraiser of the year, attracts more than 250 volunteers who have sorted through more than 100,000 donated books for the event which runs over several days in May. Last year, it raised more than $200,000 for the organization.
With help from SAS, each year dozens of women flee the sex trade.
About 55 go through its EXIT program, an intensive nine- to 18-month curriculum where women are given tools to transition into a life free of exploitation and addictions. A program which offers rapid intervention, and typically sees “police bring the women in during the middle of the night,” assists about 80 women annually, Jenkins says.
Dollars raised at the book sale will ideally cover the costs of both emergency and transitional housing provided to women.
Jenkins says city police estimate there are about 3,000 women exploited in the sex trade in Calgary while RCMP findings show the average age females start to be targeted by predators is just 13.
From there, she says everything from hopelessness and homelessness can trap women in a life of sexual exploitation — many suffering from PTSD, mental health issues and addictions.
“Success, to me, is seeing them leave here for a positive destination, not sexually exploited, with a roof over their head, clean and sober or managing their addiction and employed,” says Jenkins. “It’s inspiring to see how the women can change.”
One example is Marie (not her real name) who left home when she was 13, naively taking up a man she met on his offer which led to years of “survival sex” — essentially being exploited in exchange for food and a place to sleep.
One winter night her boyfriend kicked her out — with no shoes, no purse and no phone.
“I didn’t know where to go,” the mother of three says. “For me, everyone had given up but Servants Anonymous believed in me.”
Now, she teaches in its EXIT program.
“I have peace in my life now,” the 42-year-old says as she chokes back tears. “I wake up every day and I’m hopeful ... not hurting and empty.”
The Servants Anonymous 15th anniversary book sale is at the Crossroad Market’s OutPost Tent; May 4 from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m., May 5-7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and May 12-14 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.