Pubdate: Sat, 09 Oct 2004
Source: Prince Albert Daily Herald (CN SN)
Copyright: 2004 Prince Albert Daily Herald
Contact:  http://www.paherald.sk.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1918
Author: Courtney Gillies
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TEAM HITS THE STREETS TO OFFER HELP

It may be ignored by most people, but the truth is there are about100 women 
and girls working in the sex trade in Prince Albert.

Fortunately for these women, there are people who refuse to close their 
eyes to the problem and instead provide a friendly face and a helping hand.

Ruth Gillingham and Carrie McCloy are just two of the employees at the 
Youth Activity Centre who work closely with the sex-trade workers.

Both provide youth with things such as food, as well as help with 
addictions, housing and social services. Gillingham and McCloy also work in 
the Outreach Van, which goes out four nights a week to provide sandwiches, 
juice and condoms for people on the street.

"We give them support and options and let them make the choices," said 
Gillingham. "There is no pressure. We're just letting them know there is 
somebody out there who cares about them. We keep track of how they are 
doing and it means the world to them."

While in the van, Gillingham and McCloy fill out a form to track the people 
they see. They use a number system to chart age, whether they were given 
food and/or condoms, level of involvement in the sex trade, level of risk 
and referrals made.

The centre works with community partners including social services, mobile 
crisis, addiction services, the police and the RCMP.

An intervention committee meets once a month to discuss the sex trade in 
Prince Albert.

"We talk about any girls we are concerned about. It's a really good 
connecting resource," said McCloy.

"The more we all work together the more we are able to help people."

McCloy said when the police have underage girls they don't want to charge 
they call the centre.

"We go and pick them up and try to build a relationship with them," said 
McCloy. "It's an excellent way to talk to them and find out what they are 
doing on the street."

For Gillingham and McCloy, sex-trade workers would be better described as 
sexually exploited youth.

"We don't call them hookers or prostitutes," said Gillingham. "The girls 
are out there trying to survive and they are being victimized and exploited 
by their families, pimps and johns."

McCloy said many times, the girls are being pimped out by family members, 
boyfriends and husbands.

"The girls often work to pay the for the rent and the drugs for both of 
them," said McCloy.

Gillingham calls this the vicious cycle.

"From the girls we talk to, they get into it in most cases because they 
became addicted to drugs," said Gillingham. "Someone provided them with the 
drugs and then pimped them out."

Most of the sex-trade workers are addicted to dilaudid, ritalin, crystal 
meth or cocaine.

"In order to get their fix, they go out and work," said McCloy. "Then, of 
course, after you've done something like that, you want to forget it so you 
get high."

Gillingham said there is no profile for a john other than the fact that 
they're victimizing someone.

"People would be very surprised. It's not just scummy, hairy, 
sasquatch-looking guys out there doing it," said Gillingham. "It's family 
guys, married guys, retired guys and young guys."

Gillingham and McCloy often work as the go-between to the police for the 
girls. They file bad date reports and provide other information to the 
police on behalf of the sex-trade workers. Recent stories of prostitutes 
being killed in Vancouver and Edmonton have made safety a priority for 
sex-trade workers in Prince Albert.

"When they go up to a car window, they usually don't know who they are 
getting in with or even if they are coming back," said Gillingham. "A lot 
of the girls will work together in terms of watching each others' backs."

Gillingham has worked at the centre for three years and in that time knows 
of two girls who have left the sex trade. McCloy knows of two who are 
currently on their way out.

"I have never met a girl that says she wants to keep doing it," said 
Gillingham. "They all have a goal. That Pretty Woman scenario is a crock, 
it's a lot of hard work to get out.

"The one thing that really bothers me as a worker is the way society treats 
the girls," said Gillingham. "They've had coffee, fruit and rocks thrown at 
them. They've been called names and been assaulted.

"That's the one message people really need to see is that these are human 
beings."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D