Last night, I had wine with friends at a Center City wine bar after the fireworks.
Across the street from this fancy pants wine bar there were prostitutes. Apparently the corner across from where I was sitting is where the “training” happens. I can’t–or don’t want to–comprehend what that means. What I do know is that women were raising their skirts to expose their undergarments. A woman was using a column of a building for a pole dance. Men picked women up, raped them, paid them and dropped them back off.
Please don’t fight me on the word rape. Sex for money is rape.
I know that it’s popular to pretend that women choose prostitution as a vocation. Maybe it’s even becoming politically correct to think this. This train of thought makes me want to punch the person saying it in the throat.
You see, I am a woman. I’ve had lots of dreams about my future…I’ve wanted to be a teacher, a doctor, a chemical engineer, an evangelist, a missionary to Africa, a pharmacist. I dream of writing the next Great American novel. I’ve had dreams about marrying a wonderful man, getting a huge diamond ring, living in a huge house with a white picket fence, 2.5 children and a dog. I’ve had dreams of traveling the world with the man that I love.
But one thing I’ve never dreamed of is being a prostitute. It’s not a box that you check off in high school when you’re talking to your guidance counselor about potential career choices. Doctor, lawyer, teacher, prostitute, trash collector, chemical engineer.
If you don’t believe me, take a poll of little girls that you know. Go to the best neighborhood you know, go to the worst neighborhood you know. Ask every little girl what they dream of being when they grow up. I’m willing to bet all of my future earnings that not one will say prostitute.
What other people think is amusing breaks my heart into a million pieces. I know that I need to do something for these women. I know that I have been placed in this place at this time to make a difference. I just don’t know what I can do. Please pray for me…for me to find my small part in putting a stop to the global sex trade right here in Philadelphia.
Deneen White 