Sex worker - the truth behind the smile | Antoinette Welch | TEDxAntioch

In this talk, Antoinette Welch, former ADA in Nashville, TN, who won a landmark case under enhanced sex trafficking law, identifies and tackles the issues with the unequal societal perception of prostitution, how those views leave women drowning in the cycle of prostitution, and how the Hannah Project levels the playing field for those who want and need help to get out of the vicious cycle.

The Hannah Project works along with the court system and is a one-day court ordered program for women arrested for prostitution. Its mission is to be the missing link between the judicial system and helping and identifying victims of sex trafficking and those stuck in the cycle of prostitution; It is the first of its kind in the nation.

Antoinette Welch, former ADA in Nashville, TN, is the founder of a program called The Hannah Project. It is a program used to screen for victims of sex trafficking as well as help women stuck in the cycle of prostitution with options of treatment and counseling. The Hannah Project has been in 5 documentaries and one best-selling book written by Pulitzer Prize winner, Nicolas Kristoff on the subject of sex trafficking. Mrs. Welch spent 8 years as an instructor at Nashville's John School.  A program aimed at getting 1st time offenders of soliciting prostitutes to understand the full ramifications of their behavior and to prevent further occurrences.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Do you know what I dreamed of being
when I was a little girl?

I dreamed of being a police officer,

and it came true.

I spent the first 14 years
of my professional career

as a police officer.

And you know

that police officers
have the best stories.

But before I begin telling my stories,

I want to warn you that one of them
has a bad word in it.

So when I get to that part
with the bad word,

I'm going to pause and do this,

and you all are going to pick
the word of your choosing that's bad.

But keep it it mental. Okay?

Agreed?

Okay, so ...

There I was, fulfilling my lifetime dream
of becoming a police officer.

I had just graduated
from the Police Academy

and could not wait to get out there
and save the world.

So, of course,

my first assignment was
to be dressed up like a prostitute

and wait to be solicited by men.

This is not exactly what I had in mind
for saving the world.

So, I'm standing there
on the street corner,

assuming that everyone has lived
the same life that I have,

you know, having a pony,
being in a sorority,

graduating from college -
normal life experience, right?

To say I was naive is the understatement.

Well, there I am, hanging out,

and this guy pulls up in a pick-up truck,

flags me down.

So I go bebop-on-and-on over there,

and he says to me,

"How much for ... you?"

and I went, "Oh my god!"

(Laughter)

And he looks at me, and he says,
"You are the police!" and he drives off.

I said, "How did he know
I was the police?"

And my sergeant said,
"It might have been your reaction."

(Laughter)

And in my defense, I was like,
"Did you hear what he said to me?

Do people talk like that?"

So then, another day, I'm out there.

Well, this man pulls up to me in his car,

and he is completely naked.

He has no clothes on,
anywhere, not even in his car.

You look kind of funny when you're like,
"Hey, sir. Yes, can I help you?"

Well, as we're taking him into custody,
all I kept thinking to myself was,

"I hope this man has a garage
that he used to get in his car."

(Laughter)

Well, as my years went by
in the police department,

I realized there was actually
nothing funny about prostitution.

I saw ten dead bodies
in my career as a police officer.

And four of them
were murdered prostitutes,

and each one of these murders
was very violent:

a very bloody stabbing,

a gun shot wound,

a crushed skull.

And the woman who was strangled
to death wasn't found for days

until people in the neighborhood
started to complain

about a bad smell
coming from an abandoned car.

I also saw first-hand
that women involved in prostitution

were the most likely demographic of people

to be beaten, stabbed,
shot, raped or murdered.

And the ones that survived these attacks
said they usually didn't call the police

because they were afraid
that the police wouldn't believe them,

they were afraid they might get arrested,

but mostly they said,
they didn't call the police

because they didn't think
anyone really cared.

There is a great myth
that women want to be prostitutes,

that they enjoy it.

I like to call that society's
"Happy Hooker Pretty Woman Syndrome."

Over the last 20 years,

I've gotten to know hundreds of women
involved in prostitution,

and the Happy Hooker
could not be further from the truth.

No little girl ever dreams
of growing up to be a prostitute.

The reality of it is,

over 90% of the women
who are involved in prostitution

were victims of child sex abuse,

or they were raped by the age of 18.

The average age of a child
becoming a prostitute is 13.

And the children that started
getting prostituted

are usually by their own family members.

They start getting swapped out
for rent, drugs or even extra money.

A woman that I met who was a prostitute,

she said that her mother
started prostituting her

when she was just six years old.

These women are told their entire life
the only value that they have

is what somebody else
will pay for their body.

Another myth is that these women
want to do it, that it's voluntary;

it's consenting adults.

Do not be fooled by a woman who may
be smiling as you walk into the hotel room

or at the massage parlor
or getting into your car.

It is a farce.

The traffickers and the pimps
of these women

know how to hurt these women,

and they use fear to control them.

They say things like,
"You better smile and do it,

or I'm going to beat you
within an inch of your life."

Another myth is that
all these women are foreign,

or it happens only overseas.

All of the women I'm talking about?
They are all Americans.

Sex trafficking and prostitution
is happening in most cities in America.

So, what does a prostitute look like?

Well, she can look like this,

or she can look like this,
or anywhere in between.

I have personally known them
to be mothers, daughters,

sisters, grandmothers.

Race is not a factor.

Age is not a factor.

The oldest woman I met
who was prostituting

was a 64-year-old grandmother.

Some women prostitute

because they have
a terrible drug addiction,

and they are doing it
to support their habit.

Some women are victims of child sex abuse

and do it because they think
it's their only value.

Others are runaways or homeless,

and they have to prostitute
just to get something to eat

or have a place to stay.

Then there are the single moms,
who are scared,

that feel trapped and desperate.

But they know that they can make
enough money in one weekend

that they will be able to support
their family for the rest of the month.

Do these women sound like
they want to be prostituting to you?

When you talk to them,
they will all tell you the same thing:

How they hate what they are doing.

How they have no hope.

How they have to do a line of cocaine

just to put a smile on their face
to get it done.

How each day that they turn
takes little bit more of their soul.

How they have no hope.
How they feel completely worthless.

Does this sound like these women
want to be doing this?

Or does this sound like women
that are being forced,

whether it is by their pimp
or their trafficker,

their addiction, their mental state,

or just a mere desperation to survive?

Eight years ago,
I left the police department

and went on to become a prosecutor
for the state of Tennessee.

And while working in the court system,

I saw that a lot of women
started getting arrested for prostitution;

it was an explosion.

But it was around the same time
when websites like Backpage

began posting ads for prostitution.

And I realized all these women
ever getting arrested for prostitution,

a lot of them had no idea
of the social backlash

a conviction of prostitution would bring.

But more importantly,
a lot of them did not realize

the danger they were in for being raped,

viciously attacked, or even murdered.

And I also began to strongly suspect

that a lot of these women
being arrested for prostitution

were actually victims of sex trafficking.

These victims don't like to tell
the police what's going on,

because they've been brainwashed into
believing that the police won't help them,

or that if they do tell,

and their pimp or trafficker
finds them later,

he is going to make sure they regret it.

Forever.

The consequences
of a prostitution conviction

will affect you for the rest of your life.

We as a society think it's perfectly fine

to think less of a woman
involved in sex trafficking.

We crack jokes about it.

No one really seems to care
that much about it.

But the truth is

I believe if any of us
really took a good look at ourselves,

we are judgmental.

We may say, "No,
I'm not being judgmental,"

but if we found out that somebody
that was important to us,

or a family member, or a co-worker,

or a friend had a conviction
for prostitution?

I think it would change your opinion
of them for the rest of your life.

If you have a prostitution conviction,

you may be ineligible to rent
an apartment for up to five years.

Employers don't want to hire somebody
with a sex crime history.

So, what are these women left with?

Nowhere to live,
nowhere to make a living,

we're basically forcing them
to go back into prostitution

to just survive.

Now, compare that to men
who are arrested for using prostitutes.

It's more acceptable.

We are quick to forgive them,
you know, men have needs.

But we don't hold that
against them forever.

And why is that?

Is it because boys will be boys?

And I realized that
we needed to do something,

that we as a society needed to realize

the ramifications of this thought proces

and how we needed to do something
to break the cycle of prostitution,

and identify the victims
of sex trafficking.

These women needed a second chance.

They needed a good experience
with the judicial system.

But most of all, what they needed
was to know that they have value,

that they were worthy of love and support.

Then God laid something on my heart,

and I came up with the Hannah Project.

Hannah, from the old testament,
was harshly judged for her status in life.

But when she was told she had value

and that she was worthy
of love and respect,

it changed her entire life.

Hannah Project is unique.
It works with the court system.

When someone is arrested for prostitution,

they now have the opportunity
to attend the Hannah Project.

When they attend the Hannah Project,

a judge agrees to dismiss
the charge against them

and have it expunged.

This is huge, this is
a do-over for these women.

So what happens at the Hannah Project?

Well, it's a one-day,
court ordered program

where these women receive
a free HIV/STD test and an STD class;

they are given information
about how to get counselling

for sexual assault and trauma;

they hear from a representative
from the judicial system

who talks about local cases
of women involved in prostitution

who are either murdered
or seriously injured.

And we don't do that to scare them,

we do that to bring home the reality
that this happens even here,

no matter the size of the city.

And lastly, we have a speaker

who is a former victim of sex trafficking
and prostitution herself.

She can speak to these women
on a very personal level

and tell them that escape
and recovery are possible.

We have organizations
that are there with us

that can help these women immediately,

whether it is to escape,
to get a job, to get housing,

help with their drug addiction.

But the thing that surprised me the most
about the Hannah Project,

that had the biggest effect was treating
these women with love and respect.

At the end of the day,
the women fill out a survey,

and there is a section for comments.

And this one woman wrote this comment:

"In this class,
I was just like everyone else,

and treated as such from the start.

That meant more than anything."

How sad is that,

just treating someone like a person
can make that much of a difference.

How do we show them love and respect?

By verbal affirmation and acts of service.

Every Hannah Project
we have volunteers that come,

that do nothing but love
all these women and serve them.

We serve them breakfast;
we serve them lunch;

we give them a goody bag
at the end of the day.

It is so amazing to watch a group of women
that come in that morning,

who are sad, and broken,
and very defensive,

but as the day goes on,
you can see that there's hope,

that they are starting to realize
that people do care about them,

that they are lovable.

By the end of the day,
we are hugging each other,

crying on each other,
and loving on each other.

It's amazing.

And how do I know
that it's love and respect

that is making the big difference?

Because they tell me so.
And they write it.

So many women have written
the same thing as this woman did.

"Thank you for caring."

Is the Hannah Project working?

Yes, it is.

I've had women call me,
email me, visit me

to tell me how their life has changed
since attending the Hannah Project.

We are starting new Hannah Projects

in different cities
in the state of Tennessee

as well as the state of Georgia.

Over 1,000 people have attended
the Hannah Project since 2011.

One third of those people were identified
as victims of sex trafficking.

If not for the Hannah Project,
the judicial system would have

unknowingly convicted
all of these victims of a crime.

In our culture,
because of our cultural attitude,

we are keeping these women
from seeking help,

and forever branding them
with a mark of shame and judgement.

We as a society need to change
our views on prostutituion

and educate those around us

that prostitution
is not a victim-less crime.

So, what's the truth behind the smile
on a sex worker's face?

The smile is a mask
that is hiding fear, force,

threats, child sex abuse, rape,
addiction and shame.

It makes me wonder what these girls
dreamed of being when they grew up.

Thank you.

(Applause)