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.

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.

A CCH community organizer runs outreach at shelters for survivors and women ex-offenders. A leaders committee participates in policy advocacy and in 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, Associate Policy Director Daria Mueller has shepherded several significant pieces of state legislation, including the 2007 “First Offender Probation” law. PART also lead the Springfield advocacy for the 2010 “Illinois Safe Children Act” and the 2011 “Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Crimes Act,” both proposed by End Demand Illinois. Ms. Mueller co-led planning for Cook County’s WINGS felony prostitution court, a first in the Midwest when it opened in January 2011.

A steering committee convened by PART meets quarterly, networking the advocates, academics, service providers, and law enforcement agencies that work with prostitution survivors and trafficked women.

For more information, contact Associate Policy Director Daria Mueller at daria@chicagohomeless.org