NPR

Getting Out Of The Commercial Sex Industry — With Help From Women Who've Been There

Not all women in the commercial sex industry have been victims of sex trafficking. But that's where many victims of trafficking end up. One woman who got out has begun a program to help others.
Strip clubs are often the places outreach workers from the organization Treasures visit to let the women working there know that help is available if they want to get out of the commercial sex industry.

Many workers in the commercial sex industry have trouble getting out because they enter at a young age, have no family support and have been traumatized on the job. An organization based in LA called Treasures provides these women with a safety net that includes support groups, peer mentoring, education and job counseling and sometimes even childcare.

As part of Treasures' outreach program, founder Harmony Dust Grillo and her staff visit juvenile detention facilities, massage parlors and of course, strip clubs.

"This is definitely an epicenter of the commercial sex industry," says Harmony Dust Grillo from the

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