When Sex Trafficking is Sensationalized: Criminalizing Working Together

Gallery Leave a comment

I presented this to the 2018 CLPP (Civil Liberties  & Public Policy, held at the Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts on Friday, April 13th, 2018.

CLPP is a national reproductive rights and justice organization dedicated to educating, mentoring, and inspiring new generations of advocates, leaders, and supporters. Combining activism, organizing, leadership training, and reproductive rights movement building, CLPP promotes an inclusive agenda that advances reproductive rights and health, and social and economic justice.

My presentation, titled “When Sex Trafficking is Sensationalized: Criminalizing Working Together” was created to bring awareness and a broader understanding of how sex work and sex trafficking are being conflated.

I used Alaska as a case study and explored the differences between the Federal definition of sex trafficking, as well as the differences between New York and Texas State sex trafficking laws.

Also, many may not know this, but in some States, people charged with prostitution, sex trafficking or even patronizing a prostitute must register as a sex offender.

Comments, suggestions, and feedback are welcome. I would like to sit down with different organizations and with our lawmakers to discuss the information presented in this.

Thank you to everyone who helped with this, either with invaluable information, their time, and sitting in my run-throughs.

 

FOSTA FAIL

Leave a comment

FOSTA

What is that? Unless you are in the sex worker sphere, you have no idea how this act can and will change your life.

You don’t have to be a sex worker to feel the freedom of speech encroachment of our individual rights being eroded away by this Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act.. FOSTA passed in late February. It’s been largely portrayed by the media and those in Congress as an “anti-sex trafficking” measure. It does nothing to fight sex trafficking, but it changes how individuals can express their sexual freedoms and dating activities, not only sex worker advertising, in a variety of ways.

Many online sites used to advertise or screen clients of those in the sex worker biz are changing their policies regarding any advertising.

Looking for love in all the obvious (online) places? Not on Craigslist. Craigslist explains in the brief notice that now appears in place of potential partners if you try to go to a personals listing.

Under current law, sites can’t be held legally liable if someone uses veiled terms to solicit commercial sex—aka prostitution. Such as Casual Encounters through the Craigslist personals.

But FOSTA will change that, opening up Craigslist (and every other digital platform) to serious legal and financial jeopardy should it accidentally “promote” or “facilitate” prostitution.

Prostitution is not sex trafficking. Prostitution involves consent and sex trafficking does not.

FOSTA will “subject websites to criminal and civil liability when third parties (users) misuse online personals unlawfully.”

So what does this mean for sex workers?

Ads for prostitution and discussion of prostitution and free-speech are implicated. Blogs could be shut down, and many could find their social-media accounts suspended simply for being honest about their work.

FOSTA makes it a federal crime to “promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person,” punishable by up to 10 years in prison, plus fines. For promoting the prostitution of five or more people, the penalty is 25 years.”

Sex workers don’t have to worry about being punished for posting their own ads, but they could run afoul of the law if working in pairs or helping a colleague place an ad.

FOSTA targets are websites, apps, and message boards. Congress updated Section 230, which has governed the internet for 22 years. It had protected web platforms from being sued in civil court or criminally charged by state prosecutors for third-party (i.e., user-posted) content.

Section 230 had stated that unless they create the content in whole or part, these platforms shall not be treated as the speaker of such content, and good-faith efforts at content moderation (like banning ads that explicitly mention illegal acts or auto-filtering out content that contains prohibited words) do not change this.

Under FOSTA, this won’t apply when paid sex is concerned.

Sites are updating and changing things in order to prohibit any content that could get them held liable.

If that’s not bad enough, FOSTA “shall apply regardless of whether the conduct alleged occurred… before, on, or after such date of enactment.”

This is known as an ex-post facto law, and it’s forbidden by the U.S. Constitution.

No less than the U.S. Department of Justice has urged against passing FOSTA, calling it unconstitutional and saying that it would make prosecuting sex traffickers harder. “You’re heading in the wrong direction if you [pass a bill] that would raise the burden of proof in cases against sex traffickers,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden Wednesday from the Senate floor.

Wyden—who co-authored Section 230—was the only Democrat to vote against the bill, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul the only Republican. An amendment to FOSTA proposed by Wyden would have clarified that websites can try to filter out illegal content without increasing their liability, but it was overwhelmingly defeated.

Wyden stressed that FOSTA is not a matter of substituting some free-speech rights for a better ability to stop sex trafficking. Rather, it’s imposing serious burdens while at best doing nothing for trafficking victims and quite likely making their lives worse.

For one thing, it incentivizes law enforcement to go after third parties rather than stop traffickers or rescue victims. It also takes away an important tool for finding trafficking victims—the open internet. This new paradigm creates huge incentives for cops and prosecutors to go after websites and apps rather than actual criminals—ensuring thatreal victims, and public safety, will suffer along with open expression. Online ads have allowed an untold number of victims to be identified and found. What’s more, the digital trail of ads, emails, and texts can provide evidence that makes catching and prosecuting the perpetrators easier. Law enforcement loses this when traffickers switch to private, encrypted, or dark web forums.

But wait, there’s more!

Clean houses and want to post an ad on Craigslist? It was free until now. Now it will cost you $5 an ad. That is everytime you post.

The domino effect of FOSTA is just starting to rear its head.

Do you have any domino effects of FOSTA? What are they? You don’t have to be a sex worker for this act to affect you.

Fight against #FOSTA

Check out FOSTA FAIL!

Available for the next 5 days via @Teespring: https://tspr.ng/c/fosta-fail

Names we cannot forget

Image Leave a comment

Violence against women has been heavy on my mind lately.

A few months ago I was able to attend my first sex worker event here in Anchorage. The Community United for Safety and Protection (CUSP) hosted Alaska’s 5th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers in Anchorage on December 17.

Held at the Alaska Center for Alternative Lifestyles, our community members read off the names of those murdered and/or missing, many still unsolved.

In total, 17 Anchorage sex workers are on the list since 1990.

We all stood with candles at the end, reading the names of the different women killed over the years. I read the names of two women, one found murdered, the other hasn’t been found. I was disgusted that I hadn’t heard anything about either of these women before this day.

Months later, it’s something I think of often, how do missing or murdered women get swept under the radar?

Either name could have been mine, or someone I knew.

Here are the two women you may not have heard about from 2014.

Jael Hamblem

Jael Hamblen, was last seen at her South Anchorage apartment on Oct. 11, 2014. Twenty years old at the time, she left behind a 7-month-old son. She has yet to be found.

More information can be found here regarding Jael.

Jessica Lake was only 26 years old when she was found murdered.

More information is linked here.

The reports don’t list either woman as a sex worker, yet newspapers generally do not list circumstances in an open case.

I won’t delve into detail because I did not do the research needed in order for it to be factual. I’m not going to do either of these women any justice by 1) waiting until I had all the details, besides regurgitating what the newspapers already reported, and 2) spending months conducting a private investigation that would likely just cause me anger issues.

Take some time to read about these young women, and if you or someone you know think you have any information that could help either case, please contact the detectives listed in the articles.

Alaska has some of the highest rates of abuse towards women.

Alaska can be a deadly place for a woman. A new study ranks Alaska first in the nation in the rate of women murdered by men.

The Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that aims to reduce gun deaths, says the homicide rate among females murdered by males in Alaska was 3.15 per 100,000 in 2014. That’s nearly three times the national average.

Rape is underreported nationwide, but Alaska’s rate of reported rape is three times the national average.

Cheri Ingram was murdered February 28th, 2018.

An Anchorage Grand Jury indicted 27-year-old Simon Weyiouanna on Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, and several counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence in the First Degree.

Weyiouanna picked up Cheri in a “street transaction” in Spenard with the intention of paying for sex. While he was carrying her body to his car a neighbor saw what was going on and called the police, the neighbors holding Simon at gunpoint so he wouldn’t leave.

Other local sex workers that may have seen Simon as a client are fearful to come forward with information.

The Prosecutor and the Municipal Prosecutor are not willing to make a statement that people coming forward would have immunity. Standard immunity in Alaska doesn’t cover this situation and an attorney would need to go over the agreement before sending any names.

As laws make it harder for anyone working as a sex worker and push more for criminalization for those working together, this leads to isolation, more chances for exploitation and fewer chances for safety protocols.

Sex work is being branded as sex trafficking, with the actions most sex workers use for safety, security, and screening punishable as felonies.

It’s time to change this.

Get involved!

Make a difference!

Interested in attending Simons court dates so Cheri’s killer gets more than a few years for murdering her?

Visit Community United for Safety and Protection (CUSP) here.

Join the CUSP mailing list to stay informed.

We need your help!

Women’s March 2018 – Las Vegas

3 Comments

I went to the Women’s March in Las Vegas in support of sex workers, incarcerated women and those that face prejudice based on their personal choices. I  knew that to be a part of something far bigger than me would give me a chance to give back to something I could and never would be able to do alone.

We stood on the stage at Sam Boyd stadium in solidarity. Umbrellas, sex worker signs, red t-shirts emblazoned with “Rights not Rescue”. Arriving early, we set up our informational table and arranged various flyers. SWOP Behind Bars, SWUP,  as well as some local sex worker support groups, were all represented at the table. Tech genius Rebel Rae had created an app the night before to use rather when someone was interested in staying connected or learning more about how to support sex worker rights. Yes. The night before. She, along with others (Emma) communicated for countless hours with the March organizers, had lost sleep for weeks and made the magic happen in order for sex workers to be able to come together here at the Women’s March Las Vegas 2018.

Rebel Rae and I in Las Vegas, 2018

The March was a battle cry, with notables such as Alicia Garza, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, civil rights activist Rev. William Barber III and Cris Sardina, director of the Desiree Alliance, a sex worker-led network of organizations, communities and individuals across the US working in harm reduction, direct services, political advocacy and health services for sex workers, taking the stage. See Cris Sardina’s speech below.

I stood on stage, sign in arms, and shivered as the sun waned and the wind kicked up. The Las Vegas Women’s March co-chair Carmen Pere, Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice, spoke early on, focused on white women’s responsibility to create space for people of color within the movement and in the political arena.

“If you don’t see your community at the table, make sure to pull up a chair,” Perez said. “And if you’re white, scootch your chair over a little. Make room for us.”

I nodded in agreement, knowing first hand how real discrimination and separation feels. Yes, I’m white, but I have never felt I had a place at the table. Growing up in State custody and foster homes, being a felon at an age before I could legally drink, and being a sex-worker (retired), I had always felt a seat at the table was beyond my reach, or at the very least, had felt like an imposter while I was in that seat. Sitting at the table at the Sex Trafficking workgroup, or at the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission workgroup, is uncomfortable. To move over because I am white is not only absurd but felt like I was once again being separated because I didn’t measure up or fit in. I didn’t see a way in from being set aside.

The process of empowerment cannot be simplistically defined in accordance with our own particular class interests. We must learn to lift as we climb.  – Angela Davis

It would be hours until Cris Sardina would give her speech. We waited on the stage, cheering and supporting the speakers before her.

“Walk together to the finish line. ”

“Apathetic attitudes that refuse to do anything is violence.”

“Be loud with our votes.”

“Organize, show up and have a voice.”

“We must build an inclusive movement in this country.”

We held our red umbrellas, signs gripped in our hands as the prevailing cold wind whipped warmth out of many. Did we have a seat at the table? Three and a half hours into the Women’s March Cris Sardina took to the stage.  See her speech, below. After a few minutes on the stand, the music kicked on to let her know to wrap it up. She wasn’t the only one given notice. Other speakers were given a musical push as well.

Cris Sardina’s speech:

I am a mother, I am a grandmother, I am a great-grandmother, and I am a sex worker.  

As I stand here today, I look out and wonder how many of us, intentionally or unintentionally, place our boots on our sisters’ necks?  That under the crushing weight of patriarchy, we divide, we separate, and we silence one another. The learned processes of morality and judgement and laws that holds us down, keep us from speaking with one another, keep us from standing together, and keep our gaze from envisioning a rights-based world where equality equals reality.  

These teachings are deeply ingrained in the fabric of our herstories, and we cannot escape them.  But now, we stand in a timed place of history that we must unlearn these belief systems.  Because, if we pretend the hierarchy does not exist within us, we continue to divide and separate and silence one another.  We will continue to center the selected few to the battle cry of #MeToo and #TimesUp and #AllWomen, and it becomes a moot point to those this very space loudly quiets down.  

Our responsibilities are great to one another and we must ask ourselves the hard question of what has been accomplished untying the knots, if we continue to hold on tightly to the rope.     

I want us to see the sex workers rights movement as part of the solution and not the problem. We are a strong and fierce community made up of every color, every race, every identity, every shape, every economy, every religion, and so much more.  Sex workers have been to the United Nations, we’ve been to the White House, we’re currently in the 9th circuit fighting for full decriminalizaton, we’ve been given national and global audiences, and we get IT done! 

When we literally lay down our bodies to be arrested on the Senate floor for healthcare, when criminalization still affects people who are living with HIV and AIDS, when the courts continuously hammer down on reproductive rights, health, & justice, when raped women still stand on she said/he said platforms, when accessible childcare is still absent, when trans voices are screaming to stop killing them, when women still pay the price of being a wife and mother versus a thriving career, when sex is criminalized in the legal and moral courts, when families become homeless because their paychecks cannot meet the rising cost of gentrifications, when women still take home less pay than men, when children go hungry in the most developed nation in the world, when people of color are incarcerated in the United States at percentages that far exceed any global percentages of incarceration, when blood for oil destroys native lands, when city waters are poisoned and undrinkable, when groups of people are deported for dreaming… When the government is brutally attacking everything we have fought for: On the front lines, you will be standing right next to a sex worker.  

In my time, I have seen many things.  I have lived through the generations that fought in the streets for the recognitions and rights we have today.  And now, I live with the generation that will carry the same burning torch – farther and more furious.  I applaud every woman here today. Stand in your truth not in your judgement.  Stand with each other and ask one another “Is my boot on your neck?” 

This is my truth as I live it.  I no longer give anyone permission to see me as less than.  Don’t dismiss my womanhood.  I am a sex worker.  I am allowed to be here.   

Use your vote wisely!  Live in your Truth!  Burn it all down and Rise among the ashes!

I tell myself that all movements need time, to keep going and face the difficulties. That is what the work is. I’m new to this, having made parole only two months ago. Only recently could I tell my truth. I was outed as a sex worker in 2014, demonized as a sex trafficker. Still, I find myself wondering how others that have faced the same discriminatory practices, the same type of “thanks for your words, now kindly get off the mike…” are able to not only stand by as the sweeping of the speeches occur but are a part of the very broom.

The negative form of prejudice can lead to discrimination, although it is possible to be prejudiced and not act upon the attitudes. Those who practice discrimination do so to protect opportunities for themselves by denying access to those whom they believe do not deserve the same treatment as everyone else.

The time to marginalize and separate further is over. To allow on stage, but not finish our words, to claim to hear and include but continue to push back when someone more “important” or “relevant” wants to speak, only further oppresses. To marginalize, alienate, and exclude a people who have had no choice but to struggle for our legitimacy and existence is deeply wrong.

The violence sex workers are subjected to, and our limited access to justice, is enabled by social attitudes that position sex workers as second-class citizens. In the end, we were on that stage. It all begins somewhere, and long before I was involved in sex worker rights, someone was setting the stage for our voices to be heard.

Now is the time sex worker rights movement becomes more than just random upset individuals; we have been organized and strategic for some time now. Still, understanding that did not help me, when the next day I would be sick in a hotel bed, shivering, hot and nauseated. It was worth it, being a part of, rather than apart from.

In a perfect world, sex worker rights wouldn’t have to be something that receives criticism. In my perfect world Angela Davis, someone who inspires me to keep it pushing in times of emotional discomfort, would be there in attendance. On stage.

No such luck. Next time, maybe.

Support sex workers rights! Rights, not rescue.

Interested in supporting SWOP Behind Bars?

Consider purchasing a shirt. Sizes L-2XL are available.

Donations for shirts:

Paypal

Circle

Square

Google Wallet

Venmo

 

Contact swopbehindbars@gmail.com or swopbehindbars.com for information.

Freedom

1 Comment

It has been 15 days since I have been released from the Department of Corrections Ankle Monitoring program.

EM, for short.

I did a short interview with Daniella Rivera with Channel 11 news the morning I was released. Finally, a news program that didn’t show me as some moral monster. I was able to tell my side of the story and discuss the issues that I have struggled with staying quiet about.

http://www.ktva.com/story/36892700/amber-batts-the-state-created-an-advocate-by-charging-me-with-sex-trafficking

Now, some may be thinking “Wouldn’t it be easier to just shrink into the background?”

That would be safer, rather than putting my face and voice out there. But I wouldn’t have to read comments like this, to brighten my day:

“I’m very very sorry to know that there is a young high school graduate entering adulthood who has a so-called “mother” that advocates and does such filthy, immoral, dangerous, self-deprecating so-called “work” and wants to be respected for it. Would she really encourage her daughter to be one of these prostitutes? I just can’t believe there truly are mothers like this in the world.”

or…

” I am sick of seeing the articles about these criminals with no remorse! Screw them. Just think of all the crime and violence connected to these idiots. The STDs, violence and dugs connected to the prostitution trade takes a huge toll on our communities and the children of these thugs. Have you ever spent time with the child of a pimp. They become way worse than the parent. Stop acting like pimp an ho are decent life choices.”

Said typos are their own.

Yes, it would be easier to just stay quiet. Let others fight this fight, lick my wounds (loss of home, time with kids and friends, independence) and just be grateful. Oh, so grateful, that I am free.

Well, I am doing both. I am grateful but I will not be quiet about what changes I see need to be made.

Freedom of speech. Freedom of thought.

Silence will not change anything. Targeting sex workers on the premise of combating sex trafficking will not end trafficking. Let me write that again.

Targeting sex workers on the premise of combating sex trafficking will not end trafficking.

It is time to examine our moral values and judgments. I would rather speak up for what I believe, the autonomy of life choices, then stay quiet and watch the criminalization of sex workers take place.

Alaska State Law lumps sex workers working together, for safety, for sanity, as sex trafficking. I’ve written much about my thoughts on this. I’ll spare you more at this juncture.

Federal law defines sex trafficking as:

Sex trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years. FOR MORE INFO VISIT LINK HERE.

Sex workers are a marginalized group, further criminalized and targeted. Much of the violence many face comes from those framed as “rescuers”.

I wish I could respond to the myriad of comments on the Channel 11 news link. I am not willing to put my children in the line of fire of those who condemn me for my beliefs. I won’t use my blog as a war zone to respond to those comments, either.

If I could say one thing that could change something, it would be this:

Stand up and speak.

Silence does not change anything.

If you believe in making a change, in anything in your life, then don’t be afraid to speak your truth.

Thanks for reading today! I am now off to get ready for my minimum wage job.

 

 

 

My Upcoming Release

8 Comments

It is November 11th, 2017. Saturday morning. I will be released in less than 72 hours. Until recently I had thought my release date was May 27th, 2018. I felt grateful enough just to be spending my last few months on electronic monitoring. I could have just kept happily plugging along, knowing I was able to go home at night to my kids. Not too long ago I was lucky to have 10 minutes on the phone with my daughter for that day.

I don’t know who you are, reading this, but let me give a brief overview of my story. It won’t be as short as I’d like it, but I will try my hardest to not bore you.

My mom was 17 when I was born, my dad, 27. He had just been released from Lemon Creek Correctional. That’s in Juneau, where I am from. The marriage was short, and I have only one memory of seeing my mom and dad around each other. I was 4, we had just picked him up at the courthouse. I was in the backseat and my mom introduced him as Milton, My dad. I have other memories of Milton too, alone, age 5. I’ve worked hard at suppressing those memories. Later in life, I faced them, and in turn, faced many of the demons that kept me ensnared in my own dark places. In my late 20’s Milton OD’ed before I could face him with my forgiveness. He was my biggest cheerleader for my recovery from drugs and alcohol. He was found dead from an overdose. This was my first funeral. I didn’t stand up and say anything. Over time I have realized this as my only regret in life. I realized just how fearful I was in life at that time.

In my teens the State of Alaska raised me. Juneau Youth Services (Miller House), a few foster homes, and Johnson Youth Center (JYC) were my parents. I learned the serenity prayer behind a god-awful orange door at JYC. I experienced being a kid at Miller House. I learned that other families were just as screwed up in the foster homes I briefly stayed at. I was a runner. I would leave when things were going too good or when I didn’t get my way. I was a sad and hell-bent on ending my life as a teenager.

Fast forward a few years and seven treatment centers, and I am on a bench. Akeela. I was relocated to Anchorage Alaska by an adult probation officer that I have thanked a few times for saving me from myself. I am forever grateful for Akeela saving me from me.

I have had more clean time and recovery in my life than using at this point. I am grateful for that. My two kids, one actually an adult now, have seen my struggles, both when using and in recovery, and have had to deal with the brunt of this arrest and incarceration. They are loved and are stronger than I was at either of their ages. I didn’t give them up to the State and have been there as a parent every step of the way.

So what happened July 2014 didn’t devastate me. It knocked me down for a moment, but I am okay.

Sex Trafficking.

How did that happen? Oh, did I fail to mention that I answered an escort ad in The Press in 2004? I was 30 and was a burnt out drug & alcohol counselor, teaching water aerobics and youth yoga, barely making my mortgage. The final straw was an abusive husband. Escorting enabled me to leave an abusive situation that was harming my children and myself. I was able to pay my bills and provide for my children and myself. I worked for two different services and it was just a short time before I embarked on my own, with a few friends I had met on the way. One who taught me everything I know.

If we have met, you know my personality. I don’t know how to go halfway. I go full speed. Over the years, I have mellowed a bit, gained a few boundaries, insight over my actions, quit before it got too deep or said sorry when needed, but when I started on my own I was in the shadows of The Chateau, of Ravenite. I ran a business and was good at it. After a few years and a robbery at the incall location where a dear friend of mine was almost shot, I decided to close up shop and went to go work at the local paper.
I still worked as an independent for a short time before landing a whale (google if you don’t know). I took a break for several years, only to return to the business with a management role and as an occasional worker.

Not even 2 years later my daughter, while at her dads’ for the week, saw me on the news. I was arrested on 7 counts of Sex Trafficking. I won’t go into what Alaska’s definition of Sex Trafficking is, or how I see this as the new “War on Sex Workers” similar to the “War on Drugs”. I have written previous blogs focused on this.

I was arrested a few days before a long-awaited vacation to Knotts Berry Farm with my daughter. Tickets, hotel, everything bought and paid for. I watched planes in the sky from the plexiglass window at Hiland Mountain Correctional the night we were supposed to go. I was trying to bail out when I was charged with yet another felony. Class A Sex Trafficking. Someone I booked was 20. I was looking at 25 plus years. My life was over. I was able to bail out after 3 months, on GPS ankle monitor with an added live third party person who had to be with me 24/7, locked down at home, not allowed to be in possession of a phone or access the internet. Those were the darkest days in my life. I was sure my story would end in suicide or I was going to be on the run for the rest of my life. The only thing that stopped me from either of those choices were my two kids. I had felt I had done more than enough damage to them by the arrest.

My sister had been my live third party for about 2 months when she decided she couldn’t do it anymore. I went back to Hiland Mountain Correctional a week before my daughters 14th birthday. After two months I was able to bail out on GPS ankle monitor, sans the live third party, only if I took a plea deal. Plead guilty to a Class B Sex Trafficking charge, and I could stay out until July when I would be sentenced to 6 to 10 years. Open sentencing. Linked to this was my husband’s plea deal as well. He would only be convicted of a Class C Sex Trafficking charge and spend no time in jail. With him out, he could take care of my daughter and our home. I knew this was the best option.

Paying the $500 plus for my GPS ankle monitor every month I was out wasn’t easy. I had to depend on many others and on donations from a GoFundMe account a friend had set up. We didn’t have enough food to eat and I would dish my daughter up first. I really didn’t have much of an appetite anyway. I was able to volunteer at a food bank, along with my daughter, and we got the bulk of our food that way. Watching my daughter help others pick out food, how she cared and spoke to people from all walks of life, brought tears to my eyes. I had to be strong. I wasn’t a monster. How could I have such amazing, kind kids if I was such a horrible person?

I was still in shock that running an escort agency with consensual, of age women and men could send me to jail for that length of time. I knew my business may not have been completely kosher, but I had a business license, kept records, filed taxes, and had anyone who I worked with sign an independent contractor agreement that stated they wouldn’t trade sex for money and were working of their own volition. When I heard the term Sex Trafficking I thought of women being forced to have sex and kept locked away. I had no faith that I wouldn’t go away for years because everything was upside down.

My sentencing started on Friday and finished up on Monday a week after my 41st birthday. I had the weekend to make my peace with my life, I enjoyed those moments and held the ones I loved a little longer. A little tighter. I didn’t know why my life was the way it was, but I embraced it. I stood with courage as the court officers led me to the holding cells after I was sentenced to five and a half years.
Still, the transportation officer that moved me from the courthouse to the Anchorage Jail reminded me of how far I had yet to go. After trying to make some small talk with her on the short ride, she said: “Don’t even try to talk to me, you’re the lowest human there is, a bottom feeder, those poor women, you ruined their lives.” I was in shock. That is what a State Official thought of me and my charge. I could only imagine what the general public thought.

In jail, I read. I hoped I could get through it and not be emotionally scarred. I eventually lost the home I had raised my kids in. I lost all but a few boxes and most of my pictures. I had lost “Home” but was finding it within myself and the ones who I loved. I knew I would come back to the pieces of my life. All was not lost.
There were days in jail when the phone was off all day. When I couldn’t hear my loved one’s voices. I walked the yard a lot. Eventually, the husband disappeared. His friend, the roommate, didn’t pay rent to my son and the gas was turned off. My TV was stolen. The husband went to jail for a month on a PTRP and came out in time for Christmas and in time to clean out my bank account. I was denied by Electronic Monitoring because of the “sexual nature” of my offense. My custody level was increased for the same reason. I dug deep. I had finished a set of steps before I went in and sat a wrote.

What am I powerless over? I wrote a list and completed a moral inventory. I wrote and embraced whatever my day brought. I refused to live life on autopilot. This might have hurt but I wasn’t going to go through this for anything. This would not break me, I was determined to thrive and walk out of jail stronger. I would grow to know myself more than I ever had hoped to.

I fought the custody level decision and was put back on minimum. My in-house Probation Officer sympathized with me on the EM decision and put paperwork in for my furlough.
I was sent to the Glenwood Center on Groundhog Day. February 2nd, 2016. My recovery and patience were tested for a little more than a year there. After applying to EM twice while there, and denied twice, I applied one last time. I had nothing better to do that morning when an EM Probation Officer came into the facility and said EM was looking at people they had denied before. I filled out the paper haphazardly and turned it in, fully expecting another denial. I was on Level 4 and plugging along. I had another 16 months left and had already been about Glenwood about a year.

If what I was doing was Sex Trafficking, what happens in halfway houses is Labor Trafficking. I had more self-respect and voice when I was an escort. At Glenwood, you have to work a minimum of 32 hours a week, and if you aren’t working you have consequences. You cannot turn down any job. If you get fired or laid off, you lose whatever level you have earned. How life was at Glenwood has been a topic of several posts. I have a few more in me, but that will come after I am off paper. I will say this: Recently, they moved the women out and relocated them to a different halfway house, and I heard they lost their DOC contract and are closing their doors. Good.

On March 31st, 2017, I was given the opportunity to serve my time on EM. EM is a privilege, and being home with my daughter, with my son, was an absolute freedom I cherished, regardless of any EM guidelines. I was able to get online again. I was able to touch bases with those that wrote me from all over the world, thanks to SWOP Behind Bars. I was able to start this blog and tell parts of my story. I’ve been allowed to go participate in Criminal Justice Commission meetings, attended a few Human Trafficking Working Groups, and have spoken up at the Anchorage Assembly about SB91/54. I am able to give back to SWOP Behind Bars, updating their website with the countless names of others sex workers serving time.

I went before the parole board in September 2017. I was asked many questions about my “crime”. Those close to me were afraid I would be outspoken in my personal opinion of sex work. Somehow, I was able, to be honest with my beliefs and still say something that the parole board found redeeming because they approved my parole.

In less than 72 hours I will be released. Not much will change in my day to day life, but the emotional aspect of this cannot be discounted. I knew I had to sit down and write something, not to show others how far I’ve come, but to have some closure for myself. A record of this. I denied myself the words I needed to share at my dads funeral. I won’t do that to myself again.
What I would say at the end of this adventure has muddied my mind since my arrest. I had always hoped there would be an end to what in the beginning I could only describe as a nightmare. I had days where I didn’t think I would make it. I thought I would break.

Now it is coming to a close and I am looking thru my personal journals I have kept through this. I found one entry, written 2 years ago. On 11/14/2017 I will be on parole, but on 11/14/2015 I had just found out that my TV was stolen. This was during the darkest of my time before I found my strength. I was just starting to realize in order to get through something I actually had to go through it. Thankfully, I was willing to do the work. I knew I was worth the cost of the battle. Although I am not religious, I had a higher power. I wasn’t God.

“Things will be okay, God has this in his hands” are the last two lines from that journal entry.

I don’t know what my future holds, but I do have some goals in mind. I know now not to limit myself to what I can envision. So, here goes to a full, happy and free life. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey, and continues to be. My life is beautiful.

For Rights, not rescue

Leave a comment

Here we go with a new round of media coverage, touting rescue rather than victimization of sex workers. Once again, most will read the convoluted write ups straight from FBI announcements, without any follow up or fact checking. Why? Because, the government would never mismanage information, or slant it in any way other than the truth.

Right?

Uh, yeah. Sure.

The real victims of Operation Cross Country are the vulnerable women and men robbed, detained, maybe arrested, maybe incarcerated, but nonetheless treated by police and federal agents as pieces of meat for this funding puzzle game in a national campaign that claims to help them.

 

In Anchorage, a sex worker named “Alanna” said she was detained by a squad of FBI agents after meeting an undercover agent in a hotel room, denied medical care when she began having asthma and anxiety attacks, and had her phone seized. An agent “went in my bra” to pull out her cellphone. “I’m so confused why my phone was taken when I wasn’t even arrested.” There were pictures of her family and “sentimental stuff” on the phone that cannot be replaced, she said.

Alanna also alleges that the agents told her they had called for medical attention but didn’t actually do it until she also called 911 herself. Overall, the experience was “scary” and left her feeling “violated”; she did not get the impression that law enforcement saw her as a potential victim or even cared about her well-being.

In other news, past reports have been invalidated through thorough research completed by CUSP.

In June of 2014 Operation Cross Country had came to Alaska. Nationally, the FBI reported arresting 1.67 pimps for every victim rescued, but in Anchorage they reported arresting 3 pimps and rescuing 3 victims. However, records requests turned up no charges at the state, municipal, or federal level during the entire month of June, 2014.

In October of 2015 Operation Cross Country happened again in Anchorage. Although Alaska didn’t rate the FBI’s federal press release, it was reported locally that the FBI assisted 9 sex trafficking victims.

It appears the War on Sex Workers is alive and well in Alaska, replacing the War on Drugs maybe?

Why are Alaska policies criminalizing sex workers and not focusing on real issues, with real victims? Why does the local media find it necessary to feature the local Covenant House and ask for donations to a local church rescue group? Where does this money go? Who does it help?

For a more complete view of the problem at hand, read this.

swaay billboard

When we as a society confuse sex trafficking with sex worker, we reduce the real crime of sex trafficking. When the facts become blurred and the laws become broad, we all lose. It is true, those that fall through the already anemic safety nets do fall prey to exploitation. So, what can we do to combat this in the real world? That is the million dollar question, and still appears to be unanswered while law enforcement focuses on further marginalizing sex workers.

I didn’t begin in sex work until I was 30, but my first encounter with sex that had a monetary value to it was years before. I was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska. I was in state custody from age 14 and aged out at age 18. When I was almost 16 and me and two girlfriends had run off from the group home we were living in. A man had bought us beer and we went back to his place. Without going into too much detail, something happened to me in the back room of his trailer. Back at the group home a few days later when we had returned, the counselors got wind of this and contacted the Juneau Police Department.

JPD talked me into calling the man while they recorded me blackmailing him for $50 hush money. JPD’s idea, not mine. A few hours later, I am walking into the mall meeting with the man. As I walked out of the mall, the man was arrested and the money was given over to JPD. I was sent on my merry way. No counseling, no follow up, no victim notification when he was released. The man was later released and I bumped into him a few years later. To this date, he is still living in Juneau, Alaska. He is not, nor do I think he has ever been, on the sex offender registry. I was almost 16 at this time. I am 43 now.

When we as a society focus on marginalized groups, those lacking a voice, rather than the issue at hand, we lose sight of the big picture. We lose sight on what can be done, proactively, and instead focus on the reactive scenarios. It is true, those that fall through the already anemic safety nets do fall prey to exploitation. Much like the war on drugs, prevention, education and information is vital in combating sex trafficking. Sex work is not sex trafficking, just as sex trafficking is not sex work. It is rape, kidnapping, extortion and violence. To confuse the two belittles the cruelty of sex trafficking and ignores the consensual aspect of sex work.

Why we are the way we are

Leave a comment

Freedom of expression and public opinion is democracy in action, and media can be the high traffic bridge that connects us, as individuals, with what is going on around us. Media shines a light on issues, both near and far from us. Media can also expose differences and actions that are not in the public interest.

On one hand, media shows us what “they” want us to see. It’s influence on an issue is not necessary the greater public beliefs, but rather a belief of what is being fed to the writer, to the news, or someones own personal view on the issue. If it lacks transparency, if it feeds us incorrect stats, it can be damaging. This undermines democracy and instead creates a witch hunt. Does this mean all media, journalism, news, Facebook, blogs are fed by an interest group? Not always, not usually, but sometimes.

On a local level, I have seen the news, online and televised, focused on issues that are easily sensationalized. I am talking about Senate Bill 91 here, and in full disclosure, I have a personal opinion to the positive aspects of what is can do for us, as Alaskans. Others have personal opinions regarding how its not working. Regardless, in order to understand an issue, I have always tried to see the other side. And the other side is angry. The other side is also confusing the Senate Bill 91 with homelessness, vagrancy, and what happened when “so and so was sentenced four years ago”. I have read the headlines of “spiraling crime” and am a part of some Facebook crime groups. Luckily, or unluckily for us, depending on who you ask, is a greater ability for shared information and how in turn it makes media and any spin accessable. Media and public opinion can be influential in policies that affect us, as Alaskans. People have a voice, even if its biased. Even if it is led by misinformation. Even if it is negligent.

Access to information is important for democracy and helps us make informed choices rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation. There is a shortcoming, as there always is, being the issue of “how true the information is that is shared”.

Is the information slanted to one view?

Who does this benefit?

Where does the information come from?

So many questions to ask when looking at the validity of an article, newscast, debate, blog, Facebook post…the list goes on.

We believe what we want to believe, using our own lived experiences, what we have seen or heard before, and read before. If a newspaper prints something erroneously, the correction usually appears on a back page, near the bottom, in small print. The printed or broadcasted information is now the experience, not the correction.

Is democracy really a “government of the people, for the people, by the people”?

SB91 is a hot button topic for many Alaskans. Media serves as a means to convince an already frightened public that longer sentences are needed, that the old “nothing works” mentality from the 1970’s is needed again. Thus, a cycle of high incarceration rates, with few rehabilitative solutions, is seen by many as the only option. Remember, that is what we have had for years. And it wasn’t working.

Full disclosure, I am writing this with an ankle bracelet on. I have been incarcerated since I was arrested in 2014. I was granted parole and am due to be released in November, next month from the time of this writing. I am writing this in response to the public meeting I attended October 7th at the Anchorage Assembly. During the public testimony I heard many voices of concern, anger, and misinformation.

“Why can’t we use the criminals PFDs to pay for their incarceration?”

Per PFD website:

You are not eligible for a dividend if during the qualifying year you were:

  • sentenced as a result of a conviction of a felony;
  • incarcerated as a result of a conviction of a felony;
  • incarcerated as a result of a conviction of a misdemeanor if you were convicted of a prior felony after 12/31/96;
  • incarcerated as a result of a conviction of a misdemeanor and were convicted of two or more prior misdemeanors after 12/31/96.

Crimes before the SB91 was even enacted were brought up, one woman expressing frustration over her daughter’s killer not being sentenced, three years later.

This is a sentencing issue, and many are frustrated by this. And have been for years, far before SB91 was ever thought into existence.

According to one man, all homeless should be in jail, and it is SB91’s fault they are not.

Homelessness is not a crime.

Car theft has been on the uptick, and SB91 was to blame for this.

Another angry, misinformed Anchorage resident stated “If I burn this building down, it could be a Class B felony, but prosecuters would give me a plea deal, and it would be a Class C felony. Because I am not a felon, I wouldn’t have to do any jail time for it, thanks to SB91.”

No, you would likely be charged with a plethora of Class B charges, and a few Class C’s for good measure. A plea deal for a Class B would most likely be the scenario. See the statutes below, along with an updated sentencing chart. There are also things called “aggravators” and “mitigators”. That increases or decreases the sentence. Here is the link for those.

AS 11.46.400. Arson in the First Degree.

(a) A person commits the crime of arson in the first degree if the person intentionally damages any property by starting a fire or causing an explosion and by that act recklessly places another person in danger of serious physical injury. For purposes of this section, “another person” includes but is not limited to fire and police service personnel or other public employees who respond to emergencies, regardless of rank, functions, or duties being performed.
(b) Arson in the first degree is a class A felony.

AS 11.46.410. Arson in the Second Degree.

(a) A person commits the crime of arson in the second degree if the person intentionally damages a building by starting a fire or causing an explosion.
(b) In a prosecution under this section, it is an affirmative defense

(1) that no person other than the defendant had a possessory, proprietary, or security interest in the building or that all persons having such an interest consented to the defendant’s conduct; and
(2) that the sole intent of the defendant was to damage or destroy the building for a lawful purpose.
(c) Arson in the second degree is a class B felony.

AS 11.46.420. Arson in the Third Degree.

(a) A person commits the crime of arson in the third degree if the person intentionally damages a motor vehicle by starting a fire or causing an explosion while that vehicle is located on state or municipal land.
(b) Arson in the third degree is a class C felony.

See sentencing guidelines, past and present, 002_JU2016200423 .

Also, having an arson felony, you would be ineligible for electronic monitoring and doing time in a Community Residential Center.

 

One woman said SB91 had let someone fall through the cracks who was subsequently shot by police during a routine traffic stop. She was adamant that SB91 is at fault for the mans death, not the officer who shot him.

This is pointing to SB91 as the cause of the man being shot, not logical.

So what now? Viewing criminals within the retribution model, rather than the rehabilitation model, results in an increase of sentences, more parole and probation revocations and more arrests. These are associated with high recidivism rates as well (going back to jail once you leave, due to a parole violation, probation violation or a new charge). Parole/probation violations could be something as simple as interacting with another felon (maybe you met at a support group and went for coffee and fell in love), getting a dirty urinalysis, drinking at a bar, not having an address to list on you monthly probation report. There are many reasons to revoke.

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) shows that Alaska’s crime rate dropped in national rankings, yet Alaska was one of the top eight states in per capita prison population. Alaska Courts took notice and knew something needed to change.

Even in this report, dated Summer/Fall 2011, the efforts of the Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force of the Alaska Criminal Justice Working Group (CJWG) collaborated on ways to improve Alaska’s justice system. The CJWG was co-chaired by Alaska Supreme Court Justice Walter Carpeneti and Attorney General John Burns. The plan had recommended examining laws, rules, policies and practices that resulted in incarcerating individuals who posed no substantial risk to the community; increasing prosecutorial discretion; expanding use of halfway houses; and augmenting therapeutic courts and other problem-solving courts for misdemeanants.

Alaska Justice Forum 28(2–3), Summer_Fall 2011

So here we are. SB 91 hasn’t been fully enacted and we are ready to throw out the carefully researched information that took years to forumulate because of what some feel is an uptick in crime. But is that really what is going on? Or is it the ability to put anything and everything out in media, our slants, our opinions, our voices, and call it truth?

 

 

 

Is media hysteria blaming criminal justice reform SB 91?

1 Comment

Blaming Senate Bill 91 seems to be the easy catch all when crime appears to be spiraling and nothing is being done. I noticed this as I skimmed the Facebook group “Juneau Crime” and saw how crime in my home town has taken a twisted turn. I mean, no names to be used, but a member of one of the bad ass families in Juneau had something stolen and no one was beat up for it. Instead, JPD was called and nothing was done. Frustrating to say the least.

What does this mean?

Well, one of two things to me.

1 – That thinking a posse could and should be formed to beat down the person who took the item means I am thinking as a criminal myself, rationalizing that an injustice allows me to act as such.

I am working on that. Hey, they say awareness is the first step to changing.

2 – How did we get here? Is SB 91 really to blame?

To answer those questions I sat down and did some reading, some research and looked within and around me.

I attended the Recovery Summit held in Palmer last month, and I was thrilled. Addiction, recovery and reentry all within the same sentence. I think of those as the Release Triad.

The only other time those issues have been brought together was when I was incarcerated, during the Success Inside & Out Conference. Since 2006 the Success Inside and Out Conference has been held at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center each October. The conference was created as a pilot program by the National Association of Women Judges to ensure that women prisoners receive equal treatment.

Because of the smaller numbers of women in prison populations, the economies of scale can work against them, and they may not receive the same re-entry support services as men when they prepare to leave the institutions and return to their communities. As judges, we see first hand the need to stop the revolving door into our courtrooms, and we recognize that a woman prisoner’s simple desire to succeed upon release may not be enough. Full LINK here.

It had seemed that before SB 91 was passed, the conversation of the Release Triad was forgotten as the prison gates closed behind upon release.

What does SB 91 mean to those in the community?

I have read many remarks on social media about the frustration felt by the general public regarding thefts. SB 91 seems to be the easy blame for changing, when in fact, it isn’t much different than what we had before the criminal justice overhaul.

Theft Offenses  ak_practitioner_guide_2016-11-21

Sections 6-15, 8-23, 25, 93, eff. July 11, 2016
S.B. 91 increases the felony threshold value for theft offenses from $750 to $1,000 and requires the level to be adjusted every five years to account for inflation. The legislation also eliminates use of incarceration as a sanction for theft under $250 (first two offenses), and limits the use of incarceration to 5 days suspended imprisonment and six months of probation for third and subsequent shoplifting offenses. Before SB 91, theft was a 0-90 days sentence. (see additional details on page 12).

What does SB 91 mean to those incarcerated?

Resources. Plainly put, the availability of resources for change. For recovery, if needed and wanted. For hope. Recovery is connection to self, loved ones, society. Connecting to community resources, self-help resources, is where it begins. Addiction is disconnection. Recovery is only the starting point.

The long view of the Release Triad?

Everyone agrees on one thing.

Prevention.

Prevention of crime is the best deterrent. When I attended the Recovery Summit I saw and heard first hand of how over prescribing opioid medications went hand in hand with addiction. Propagated by Big Pharma. Some doctors have called bullshit on this practice and there is a call to responsibility being brought forth. The new trend? Responsible medication prescription by doctors who don’t prescribe for higher patient scores. The medical community is taking notice and now reprimanding doctors who over prescribe.

Not creating laws that further criminalize people.

I heard at the Recovery Summit the keys to this. So simple, yet so complex. Empower, educate, engage. Reducing recidivism must include peer support.

We do recover.

Community support can be found in various rooms. Celebrate Recovery meetings, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to name a few. Peer support was prevalent at the Recovery Summit. Hope dealers, those who know first hand the feelings of hopelessness, and many others who also understand the feeling of being forgotten as the prison gates close upon release.

With SB 91,  all seem to be held to a higher degree of action. From vivitrol shots to peer support, there are multiple tools the criminal justice system can put into place for both prevention and supervision to form a safety net.

SB 91 is still new. Plainly put, it is comparable to a young child, with boundless energy and good intentions. Only after time will we see how this develops into a mature and intelligent design of methods aimed at reducing crime and unnecessary incarceration rates, which honestly, we all pay for in one way or another.

Only after time will we see what the cost is. We know the cost of incarceration, lets give SB 91 a chance to show what the value of reform is.

 

Parenting Halfway House Style

Leave a comment

One way to set someone up for failure is to pull them from their support network.

This is the last of my three blogs I have set out about Glenwood Center.

Social support network characteristics of incarcerated women with co-occurring major depressive and substance use disorders

Social support has been conceptualized as including three main components: strength of support, network characteristics, and the types of support offered. Strength of support reflects the perceived level of supportiveness provided by individuals in one’s social support networks (Groh, Jason & Keys 2008). Important social network characteristics include the size of the network as well as the types of the people comprising the network, such as the percentage of substance users within the network (Zywiak, Longabaugh & Wirtz 2002). The types of support provided by one’s social network can be tangible (e.g., exchange of physical items such as money, food, etc.) or intangible (e.g., through exchange of emotional support), or may be problem-specific, such as support for substance use treatment or attitudes of network members regarding a woman’s continued use of alcohol or drugs (Groh et al. 2007; Groh, Jason & Keys 2008). Various kinds and sources of support may play different roles in an incarcerated woman’s depression course, substance use recovery, and her re-entry efforts (Bui & Morash 2010; Harp, Oser & Leukefeld 2012; Johnson et al. 2011a; Staton-Tindall, Royse & Leukfeld 2007).

When I got to GWC I was told I could not have visits from ex-felons, which posed a variety of issues. I have been in recovery for multiple years, and let’s face it, the majority of us in recovery have had some issues with the law. Much of my support family has long term recovery, and are now law abiding citizens. One close friend, really family member, was practically a surrogate mom while I was at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center (HMCC), making sure things were taken care of at my home and with my two children. Once I got to the Glenwood Center I was denied any contact with her, although she was finishing up a degree working in the social services arena and was completing a practicum at a local residential treatment center. The issue? She had an SIS from years previously, and therefore I would be in violation of the GWC rules if I was to contact her.

At HMCC, she was able to visit and bring my daughter to see me. At HMCC my daughter was allowed to be dropped off on Friday nights for Girl Scout meetings that met weekly at the institution. HMCC is a correctional institution for women that actually had programs and activities available to decrease the likelihood of recidivism.

Glenwood Center seemed to be pulling me further and further away from communicating with my loved ones. Not only was physical contact difficult, phone contact was difficult as well. Women at GWC had two pay phones, .50 cents a call (more if it was a newer cell number, as it was $1.50 for 3 minutes to call my daughter on her cell phone) and one of the pay phones would not accept money, only calling cards. There were an average of 15 women where I was there at GWC.

 

 

Note from CRC Probation Officer regarding visitation.

Changed their minds, since  my daughters dad had a domestic violence charge , cannot go on passes after all.

Getting clarity: Good luck!

What happens when you put a grievance in. This is how I think it all started.

At first, the reasoning was that the Power of Attorney was invalid due to it being for Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, then after I had put in a request to update the POA, I was told Legal Guardianship is needed to bring my 15 year old daughter to visit. How was the stipulations and rules for visiting at a Community Residential Center more stringent than an official Correctional Facility?

Copy of the BUZZED (cancelled) Resident CIT to obtain an updated POA

Clear, concise, complete. This was handed to me by the Assistant Director at the time, John.

I was still married, so surely he could bring her in, he was, after all, her step-dad. I had gotten approval from my case manager, and after the one visit, this is what I came back to after work.

What happened?

 

I dealt with it as best I could. 14 months later, I got out on ankle monitor.

While there I used a lot of calling cards, thanks to the many who were very supportive and sent them to me. I worked as much as I could and stayed busy, and I stayed as possible reading, writing my pen pals (thank you SWOP Behind Bars) and focused on the day I would get out and how I would let others know that this happens.

I know first hand how being pulled from positive supportive people affects us that are incarcerated. How being separated from our loved ones affect not only our lives, but their lives as well.

We are more apt to act out in ways that hinder us.  Long term solutions for short term problems look reasonable. We use drugs, we run away from GWC, we act out in various ways while trying to make sense of the fears and uncertainties we hold in.

It is a set up for failure and makes no real sense why things are done in such a way. Policies and part of the CRC standards is the reasoning I was told. Something needs to change. Peoples lives are at stake, not only those incarcerated, but our children, who grow up to be adults. This impacts society as a whole, and needs to be addressed as part of the recidivism of incarceration.

What are some of your experiences with parenting in prison or at a CRC?

What are some of the barriers you may have faced with re-entry issues?

What could be changed or is changing?

My story of prosecution, incarceration and recovery from incarceration.

%d bloggers like this: