Prostitution Alternatives Round Table (PART)

Women in the sex trade face dangers that make it an oppressive way to survive, and often just as scary to leave. Survivors and trafficked women recite many instances where they were victims of rape and violence at the hands of customers, pimps, and sometimes, the police. Many of the women cope by abusing drugs or alcohol. Turning lives around, sometimes after decades in prostitution, requires help with drug treatment, psychological trauma, transitional housing and job training.

SAGE leaders in Springfield with organizer Rachel Ramirez (right)

PART’s work enables more women to quit prostituting to survive. It proposes laws that no longer favor the typically male customer and trafficker over the woman or youth being prostituted. It proposes rehabilitative programs that divert women from jail or prison so that they can restore their lives and keep families intact.

Community organizer Rachel Ramirez runs outreach at shelters for survivors and women ex-offenders. A leaders’ committee called SAGE — Survivor Advocacy Group Empowered — participates in policy advocacy and direct outreach done in neighborhoods with high levels of street prostitution. The relationships that women survivors develop with each other and our staff, and the advocacy pursued together, empowers women to address issues that will better their lives and those of young women behind them.

With survivors’ help, PART staff have shepherded several significant pieces of state legislation, including the 2007 “First Offender Probation” law. PART also led Springfield advocacy for End Demand Illinois, passing three bills in three years — the 2010 “Illinois Safe Children Act,” the 2011 “Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Crimes Act,” and 2012 legislation strengthening the state’s anti-trafficking laws (House Bill 5278).

PART also co-led planning for Cook County’s WINGS felony prostitution court. The court offers alternatives to incarceration and was the first of its kind in the Midwest when it opened in January 2011.

A steering committee convened by PART meets quarterly, networking 20 advocates, academics, service providers, and law enforcement agencies that work with prostitution survivors and trafficked women. PART’s support includes project-specific grants from the Sisters of Charity, BVM, and the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation.

For more information, contact Policy Specialist Jennifer Cushman.