By Sian
The Irish Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP) has recently released a study of women’s pathways out of prostitution in Ireland, focusing on the exit programme and work of the charity, Ruhama. The document is an encouraging read and a beacon of light on the horizon of ongoing trafficking and trade in women and children in Ireland.
What the study shows is that exit programmes are not only desperately needed by women involved in prostitution, but that they work. This cannot be emphasised enough. When the resources are there, it allows women to leave the industry when they are ready. There are already many barriers to leaving prostitution simply by how the industry works. Having a well-structured exit programme that can deal with the many issues women face when exiting in one central place is absolutely vital to giving women the freedom to exit prostitution if they wish to do so.
After seeing the positive results that Ruhama has had, and also the positive results of the exit programme previously run in Ipswich in the UK, it’s clear that the best outcome for women would be for these options to be permanently available everywhere, in order to make leaving prostitution as practical for women as possible.
A central point of access
Ruhama’s central point of access appears to be one of the key features that make its exit programme work so well. There is one point of contact where a woman can deal with issues such a welfare benefits, housing, schooling and childcare, addiction support services, etc. Ruhama does the legwork of referring women on to each different department, meaning that the women trying to exit prostitution don’t have to spend time trying to find a service for each particular issue they face. This is a really important point to recognise.
Leaving prostitution isn’t a simple choice, and many variables may need to be put in place before a woman can leave. How will she earn money? Can she afford housing? Where can she live? What about childcare? Mental health support? To a woman attempting to exit the sex industry, even discovering whether help is available for a specific need can be an enormous undertaking, particularly if she has never negotiated the welfare, health or education system before, and especially when it may need to be done secretly, without a pimp or ‘boyfriend’ knowing.
Many women in prostitution are wary of ‘official’ services and avoid them, which leads to available support being missed. Departments may not liaise with each other, leaving this to the woman who may not have the time, energy, education, knowledge or confidence to do so.
Ruhama having one central point to assess the needs of each woman to leave prostitution and then acting as liaison to send women on to other departments is a simple and practical idea. It’s fantastic to see that departments such as welfare and housing have understood the need for this to happen and have facilitated the programme.
Individual tailored support
The other key feature of Ruhama’s exit programme is the individual, tailored support they offer to each woman accessing their services. This stems from their person-centred view, offering non-judgemental support wherever a woman may be in her exit journey – including women who are still involved in prostitution, all the way to those who have already exited but still need support.
Women who have previously exited prostitution are encouraged to get involved in offering peer support to women who are just taking their first steps in leaving, creating a service that respects and welcomes those with direct experience of the traumas of prostitution and the knowledge they bring from this.
Prostitution as a last resort
The majority of women Ruhama helps faced multiple causes that drew them into prostitution, but the most common factor is poverty. It’s clear that for the vast majority of women prostitution is a last resort to survive when no other means of income are available.
That women should be put into this position is unforgivable, and it’s obvious that the welfare benefits system is failing women if they feel that the sex industry is the only way they can survive. Ruhama also points out that pimps and traffickers are very adept at weaponizing this desperation, and many women were young when entering prostitution – and a fifth were children.
Aftermath of endemic violence
Ruhama found that the biggest issue for women who are still involved in prostitution is violence. Time and again women’s groups have pointed out the inherent violence in prostitution – the EU has recently issued a statement that prostitution is violence against women – and here is yet another report that details the horrific levels of abuse that women face when in prostitution.
Ruhama found that one of the biggest problems that women face in their lives after exiting is the aftermath of such prolonged abuse and the long-term effects that it leaves women with. Symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and issues with shame and self-blame are typical. This can create barriers to accessing work and education, as well as causing both mental and physical health issues – some of which have a knock-on effect on the children of exited women, too.
An important note Ruhama makes is that symptoms of PTSD and the after-effects of severe and prolonged abuse in prostitution often only come to the fore once a woman has exited and is no longer in ‘crisis mode’ (dealing with prostitution daily).
The emotional and mental space left once the woman has exited can allow feelings of despair, anger, fear and shame to come through with a vengeance, and mental health and peer support is absolutely crucial at this point in a survivor’s life. You cannot just provide an exit and expect all will be well.
The effect of daily sexual violence on a woman’s life is deep and profound; it leaves scars that can take a lifetime to heal. The healing process isn’t one that can be rushed, and it’s vital that women have support for as long as they need it when they have exited prostitution. That Ruhama and the study recognise this is a real positive. Hopefully it will lead to more long-term support for exited women being seen as a basic standard of care.
Barriers to exiting
Ruhama points out that there are many barriers to exiting – lack of income, lack of a safe place to live, threats of further harm, coercion, lack of social connections outside of prostitution, shame, and mental health issues.
As has been noted in other studies of exited women, most notably lately by CSE Aware Scotland and the exit project implemented in Ipswich after the brutal murders of prostituted women there, exiting prostitution is rarely a simple and straightforward decision for women.
Many women leave prostitution, and then return, for many reasons, sometimes briefly and sometimes for longer periods. It’s essential to recognise that the reasons behind this are the same reasons that women struggle to exit prostitution in the first place.
The importance of exit programmes to support women no matter where they are on their exit journey, whether they have exited previously or not, is paramount, and this is what Ruhama seeks to do with their service. Once women know the support is there and that it’s always available, they can take their own steps to exiting, knowing that they won’t be doing so alone and won’t be judged if they don’t succeed immediately.
Key needs
The study found the women need help and support with the following in order to exit prostitution:
- Health, especially mental health.
- A safe place to live.
- Training and education.
- Financial support and access to employment.
- Legal advice and representation, particularly in relation to immigration.
- Support from staff and peers who understand what they have experienced in the sex trade.
Ruhama’s focus on providing access to these services in one central place and the tailoring of support to each woman and her needs has been key to the success of the project in helping women in prostitution to exit the industry.
The group points out that there are still women they are not reaching, and hope to focus on more outreach in the future to try to connect with women who have so far been unable to access their exit programmes.
Peer support and input from survivors
Ruhama is also committed to developing the peer support and survivor input system, to ensure women who have had direct experience of sexual exploitation are heard and listened to, and their experiences and support can help others in the same situation to exit too.
Ruhama points out that they will continue to focus on allowing survivors of prostitution to speak out and inform the public and those responsible for making public policy on the real issues of prostitution.
This is absolutely fundamental, and it was incredibly positive to read that Ruhama are supporting survivors in doing so, as so much of public policy and discussion recently has been driven by vested interests from the sex industry, often wrapped in the language of ‘liberation’ and ‘feminism’. Survivors need to be heard, and Ruhama giving them a platform to speak is fantastic.
Conclusion
It’s striking how much work and resources are needed to support women to exit prostitution, and it is telling that so few countries or organisations bother to do so. It’s also striking just how well these exit programmes work, and how much time and money they save the state in the long-term by giving women the opportunity and help to support themselves, free from the violence of prostitution.
The long-term cost of the sex industry is enormous, not just in the destroyed lives and bodies of the women and children involved in it, but for the increased need for support in healthcare, welfare benefits, support for affected children, etc.
The University of East Anglia (UEA) was commissioned to conduct an evaluation of the Ipswich programme and found that every pound spent on the strategy saved the public purse two pounds – because of lower criminal justice and social support costs. So investing in high-quality services for women is likely to pay for itself in the medium term through lower health and social support costs.
It would be far better all-round if women and girls never entered prostitution in the first place, saving so many women and girls so much pain and heartache – and the government purse too. That society has so little care, and endorses the sex industry so much despite its huge costs, is a damning indictment of the state of our world and the sexism that drives it.