By Barbara Brents
I read Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada, Making the Connections by Melissa Farley this weekend. From the statements of others on the back cover, this report is being read as an academic study on the extent of trafficking in Nevada. However, I have to conclude that Dr. Farley must not have intended this particular report to be the main presentation of scientific research findings. She presents none of the elements contained in social scientific peer reviewed research. There is no systematic explanation of research methods, a rather unclear set of research questions, and it is difficult to generalize from the data presented here to the findings. For example, the report offers no empirical evidence to support the existence of sex trafficking in Nevada outside of that provided in newspaper articles. Instead she broadly defines trafficking as any movement of prostitutes across borders, and starts with the assumption that prostitutes do not consent. With that definition, all prostitution is trafficking.
She has conducted 45 interviews with women in legal brothels, but for the most part she discounts their comments saying, “I knew that they would minimize how bad it was” (p. 22) and “Most of our data offer a conservative perspective on the dangers of prostitution” (p. 23). She explains that her data did not fully support her conclusions for several reasons: managers were listening through devices to interviews, women are likely “ignore bad things or they pretended that unpleasantness will go away, or they call the degrading abuse of prostitution by another name that sounds better” (p. 22). Most researchers would then turn to other research methods if they determine their interviews were so flawed. The goal of scientific research is to make sure there is no evidence out there that might disprove one’s hypothesis. Instead, in the chapter on Nevada brothels, she reports findings from interviews in tables without systematically stating what the survey questions were, or how surveys were administered. And she runs regression with an N of 45. There is no statement of the sampling techniques. And for most of that chapter on brothels, she selectively uses quotes that do support her belief that prostitution is degrading while ignoring those that don’t support it.
She also relies very heavily on secondary sources to support her arguments. In a careful reading of many of her footnotes in the chapter on legal brothels, I found that she takes quotes out of context, without stating the overall conclusions of the sources. For example, of the seven of 10 or so sources that I was able to find where she drew quotes on Nevada specifically, five concluded their research with recommendations against an abolitionist approach to prostitution and with qualified support for legalization. The two who did not included a book written in the mid 1980s by a journalist and a documentary. She also draws several times on an unpublished paper written by a student at UNLV’s law school. I have not seen that paper yet.
Farley’s report also relies extensively on research on other countries’ prostitution without establishing empirically that this is true for Nevada. For example one of her primary findings she states that “Prostitution and sex trafficking are linked in Nevada as elsewhere: sex trafficking happens when and where there is a demand for prostitution and a context for impunity for its customers.” And further on, “The links between legal and illegal prostitution in Nevada and the profound harms caused by prostitution to all women are much like those in other countries where legal prostitution exists” (Farley p. 12-15). (Bold is mine.) The evidence she draws on to support this in other places in the book quite frequently describe not the case of Nevada, but research results from other countries. Unless one carefully reads the footnotes one might miss this.
Finally, her non-profit organization, Prostitution Research and Education received research funding from Grant #2074-610001 from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons of the U.S. State Department. (Farley p. vi) to “better understand the predatory, survivalish nature of prostitution and trafficking in Nevada” (Farley p. 5). Prostitution Research and Education is organized primarily to advocate. The endnote to that section details the purpose of her organization “to abolish the institution of prostitution while at the same time advocating for alternatives to trafficking and prostitution- including emotional and physical healthcare for women in prostitution. The root of the problem of trafficking for prostitution is men’s demand for prostitution,” (Farley p. 220). Findings about prostitution and its solution are stated in the organization’s purpose. That they could conduct objective research where the methods allow findings that potentially disprove this conclusion is highly unlikely.
Thus I conclude that Dr. Farley could not have intended this particular document to be presented as scientific research. Rather this report must be read as a series of essays drawing on facts as they support her organizations goals and positions. Should Dr. Farley choose to publish scientific work from her findings, I will look forward to seeing these in other peer-reviewed venues.
I’m preparing a longer more detailed review that should be available soon. Barb Brents
Department of Sociology
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV 89154-5033
web: http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/brents
Filed under: Academia, Allies, Announcements, Farley, Featured Bloggers, Feminism, Legal Brothels, Politics, Prohibition |
Bound, Not Gagged 
Thank you for this analysis. It explains why her work wasn’t published through an academic press.
XX
Unfortunately, to a major portion of the media and to most casual readers, whether or not rigorous scientific methodology is used is irrelevant. The danger of this is that undoubtedly, this work will be used as source material for people pushing towards certain policy goals and political self-interest.
As an academic, I believe that passing such literature as “scientific” to justify policy decisions is a cardinal sin.
It must be nice to have one’s own non-profit that is at least partially funded with public money to advance personal ideology. I really need to think about getting out from under this oppressive university system that makes me account for the scientific validity of my writing.
One more thing: every letter written by Farley in response to her critics begins with a sentence like the following: “All science is infused with values. In my article, my values are made transparent.” What she doesn’t say following this is: “Therefore, I choose to forgo the entire scientific process.”
Yes, she is correct – all science IS infused with values. There is no such thing as true objectivity. However, one thing that distinguishes a good researcher from a fraud is the measures they take to identify and eliminate (as much as possible) those values.
Another thing about Farley’s report is its utter lack of availability. There’s no electronic copy that’s been made available for download and it hasn’t been deposited in any libraries (an OCLC search, plus searches of the online catalogs of public and university libraries in Las Vegas and Farley’s home base of San Francisco fail to turn up anything – not even an “in process” citation, like libraries typically have for books they’re in the process of receiving).
Right now, if one wants to see the report, one has to buy a hard copy direct from Farley.
Usually, a major report that’s meant to influence public policy is typically published in an academic journal, or by a government agency or NGO, and typically the report or journal is deposited in libraries and/or an electronic copy is made available over the web.
Given this lack of availability, its more than a little irksome when Farley’s proponents shout down those opposed to the conclusions of this report as not having read it.
I hate it when they make unfounded conclusions about why they aren’t getting the answers they want. We hear it all the time from the anti-trafficking crowd when a series of raids on Asian massage parlors results in the detention of 100+ sex workers, and every one claims to be there of their own free will… “they’re afraid that the traffickers will kill their families back home if they come forward, so they have to lie to the police” or something to that effect.
How can one argue with one who refuses to listen? It is tragic, really.
Stephanie, are you saying that trafficked sex workers are NOT afraid something will happen to their families back home?
How many trafficked sex workers have you talked to?
Why would you want to minimize the violence going on in trafficking? Is that actually a question up for debate? You feel there’s no evidence of violence in sex trafficking? I’m kind of astounded.
I believe this book was not submitted to any publishers at all. Farley wanted to self-publish. You’ll have to ask her why.
Yes, the scale of sex trafficking is up for debate, as is the conflation of any and all sex work with trafficking. Abolitionists routinely cite huge numbers of trafficked women in the sex industry, but give no basis on how they even come up with such numbers. I will post a paper later that challenges many of these figures.
That is not to say that sex trafficking isn’t a real phenomenon and that it doesn’t do real harm. However, much of the rhetoric about sex trafficking is exaggerated and alarmist.
Josie- I am not going to claim that they aren’t afraid of what could happen to their families back home because frankly, I can’t speak for every woman who may or may not have been trafficked here. That would be doing the same thing I’m complaining about your camp doing, but with the sides switched.
I will, however, point out that it is highly unlikely for several reasons. Based on the reading I’ve done, it appears that the proprietors of the massage parlors here pay the “traffickers” in full for the women who come to to the US to work at their establishment. At that point, any obligation to the person who smuggled her into the country is transferred to the brothel owner.
In Operation Gilded Cage, only the brothel owners and a car service were charged as traffickers. There was never a Korean sex trafficking ring made up of gangsters that could find the workers’ parents and threaten to kill them for not paying off a debt. Any one of the women could have easily told the police that they were sex slaves at the massage parlors; and they would have been given T-Visas and government grants to help them adjust and prosper in their new homeland. Instead, they were treated as criminals and then deported, most quickly, while some were forced to stay and testify about debt bondage to the brothel owners. But they said they entered the agreement willingly, so the feds had to grasp at straws to hit the accused with any law that was applicable.
Why force women into sexual slavery when there are ample women who will gladly take the work, and plenty of money to be made without forced labor? I’ve always been an independent sex worker myself, but I can certainly see why some women would prefer to do it that way.
I’m sure the woman sleeping on a dirty cot after being raped by 10 men today appreciates your dismissal of her reality because you can’t prove the numbers.
Do you not even read the newspaper? I mean, this information is not hidden. Yes, it can be hard to get close enough to a trafficking operation to count the victims, but operations are ongoing, busts are frequent. Check out the open source intelligence and then dig just a tiny bit deeper and you’ll start getting the picture. You can do it!
[…] been no independent peer-review of this study, a fact that does not speak well for it. (Barbara Brents review makes clear that this work contains many of the same flaws that her earlier work […]
It’s interesting to note that the people who are “reviewing” Melissa’s book seem to focus on slams against what they feel are her “methods” for obtaining the research. It’s real simple – she talked to the women. Every quote and every word from me in her book appeared exactly as I said it or wrote it. The women I personally know she quoted in the book were quoted exactly. Not one lawsuit has been filed against Melissa for improperly quoting anyone. Again I see people arguing over something they don’t know anything about. If you don’t know how Melissa compiled the interviews and data – that doesn’t mean the results are wrong – it means maybe you need to ask her some questions if you’re unclear. I see another woman who hasn’t been trafficking or know anyone who was talking about trafficking like she knows something about it. It’s clear she doesn’t. And yes I’ve witnessed what goes on with trafficking not only with my own eyes – but know many women who have been as well. Women I’ve helped to escape. HOW MANY OTHER WOMEN ON THIS SITE HAVE ACTUALLY HELPED A TRAFFICKING VICTIM ESCAPE BESIDES ME? I also note no mention of the writing I did in her book. What’s the matter – can’t find something to argue with out of a real prostitute writing her own words about her own experience? I notice the research being condemned – but not one word about my writing of my experiences even mentioned. Oooops – shouldn’t have said that – now I’ll have people saying because they don’t know what model computer I used to write with that my writings must be completely “suspicious”.
Josie:
“I’m sure the woman sleeping on a dirty cot after being raped by 10 men today appreciates your dismissal of her reality because you can’t prove the numbers.”
No one here is dismissing her. Most people here, in some way or another, adovocate and participate in helping unwilling women out of the sex industry.
However, those who are not in her situtation are routinely dismissed by those like Farley.
Jody: “If you don’t know how Melissa compiled the interviews and data – that doesn’t mean the results are wrong – it means maybe you need to ask her some questions if you’re unclear.”
I understand your point and I do not wish to invalidate anyone’s personal experience. However, simply talking to people does not constitute scientific research. Policy decisions should be based on scientific research – not just people’s personal testimony. The way you interview someone for research and the way you find people to interview and the way you analyze the results of the interview all are important to the quality of the research. Hundreds of years of scientific inquiry have produced methods of analyzing information in a way that is as free from personal bias as possible (although there is no such thing as value free research, it is important to try to minimize the impact of such values).
An important part of sharing the findings of research is showing how you arrive at your conclusions. Someone reading the research should not have to ask the author for clarification – if they do, there is either a flaw in the reporting or a methodological problem.
I am a researcher in a different field – one that also studies human social behavior. I have good friends who have turned me on to the sex workers rights movement, so as of right now, I do not study this problem, but who knows what the future will bring.
The reason I am harping on research on this blog is that this information is stuff that generally, people do not know (although many think they do). Knowing the nuances of research design and methodology takes years of training – this training is the coursework and related activities that people go through to get a PhD. If it was common knowledge, there wouldn’t be a need for PhD’s. It is important that people who get such degrees remember to use the training they have undergone.
Jody – I think your posts reflect your true passion for helping people.
“Jody – I think your posts reflect your true passion for helping people.”
I agree, thank you for stating that Daddy Mention. I don’t think anybody here is bashing Jody’s efforts with her organization. We are defensive because the work that we do is being wrongfully conflated with rape, abuse, trafficking, etc. The prohibitionist approach is very threatening to sex workers.
And I can see how our rights-centered approach can be threatening to others.
I do think that ultimately we have the common goal of supporting worker who wish to transition get out. There seems to be some misinformation about how one person’s right to work does or doesn’t affect another’s right to stop working. I hope that we can process this concern compassionately and effectively so that we can work together.
Thanks for your participation here Jody.
>It’s interesting to note that the people who are “reviewing” Melissa’s book seem to focus on slams against what they feel are her “methods” for obtaining the research.>
Yes; but you see if you’re going to be marketing your book as scientific research, then you kind of have to adhere to the basic principles of scientific research methods. Yeah, from a feminist POV the “personal is political,” and if what you want to do is showcase individual stories as an example of the -sort- of thing that -can- and -does- happen, that works great.
If on the other hand you are supposedly -gathering data-, well, “the plural of anecdote is not data.” It’s not that esoteric, really, and it’s not a patriarchal plot; there are some ways that are better than others of finding samples that are truly representative of the people you’re supposedly talking to. And, there’s this really basic concept called “confirmation bias?” as in, you go in with pre-existing beliefs that color both how you design your study and how you interpret your results. The excerpts on display here alone make it pretty clear that she’s got a -lot- of confirmation bias, and doesn’t even seem to see anything wrong with it. This is not science. You can use the same methods to “prove” anything you want; creationists do this sort of thing all the time, as do bogus “researchers” like Paul Cameron.
…or in other words, “what they said.”
…so, yeah: you really don’t need something like this to help the woman who’s been raped by ten men and is lying on a dirty cot; you just need people to say, “hey, this person/these people need help; what’s the best way to get it to them?”
What’s being proposed here is structural, policy change on a level that goes beyond “x people really are in desperate need of help, let’s help them.” That’s why people are concerned about her methods.
Daddy Mention writes:
“The reason I am harping on research on this blog is that this information is stuff that generally, people do not know (although many think they do). Knowing the nuances of research design and methodology takes years of training – this training is the coursework and related activities that people go through to get a PhD. If it was common knowledge, there wouldn’t be a need for PhD’s. It is important that people who get such degrees remember to use the training they have undergone.”
I think its important to also look at what Farley’s qualifications are as a researcher and what her background is. She tends to inflate it a bit with statement such as claims that she has been “a clinical psychologist for more than 35 years”. Actually, most of that time was spent as a counciling psychologist – she only started doing psychological research in 1993 and had never published in a peer-reviewed journal before this.
Farley, however, had established herself as a radfem activist by this time. She co-led a “National Rampage Against Penthouse” along with Nikki Craft in 1985, and had written an anti-BDSM piece “Ten Lies About Sadomasochism” in the separatist journal Sinister Wisdom in 1992. So this is somebody who went into her career as a “researcher” with some already strong pre-conceived notions on sexuality and sex work to begin with.
I find it interesting that Barbara Brents feels the need to attack Melissa’s research – yet I’ve not seen one post on a blog, one interview or one word on her site from Melissa bashing Brents research.
I work with prostitutes every day who are in crisis in Las Vegas Ms. Brent – and I haven’t seen you at anything I’ve been at where I’m helping them. I haven’t had one of them tell me of any thing positive you’ve done to help them either.
Nor have I heard of you trying so hard to get to the truth behind an interview of a woman at a a brothel that you got a gun pulled on you. You know maybe if a brothel owner pulled a gun on you – you might have a little different view of them as Melissa has – and earned over the years.
You know I’ve helped her research the book and even wrote two chapters in the book you criticized. Yet you never spoke to me or questioned me about any of it or the methods or the women she interviewed or anything before taking a stance on it as being “fake” and misleading.
Doesn’t a good researcher ask questions before forming an opinion?
Ooops sorry – I forgot you’re trying to lobby for the position that the brothel owners with money want as a front man for them – they want to be able to quote UNLV researchers as being behind them invading Las Vegas with their plans to pimp off more women and make more money. Makes me wonder where you’re getting all your funding from sometimes Ms. Brent.
With people like Joe Richard having been arrested for offering a bribe to Candice over a zoning issue – it has not escaped my imagination that you might be getting some “donations” for coming out in your position despite all the women I’ve talked to and know who are working in legal brothels who differ with your reports because of these mens’ desire to build more brothels in the state.
Tax returns are public record and I think it’s about time we take a look into your financial sponsors Ms. Brent. These mobsters have bribed everyone from commissioners, to DA’s, to judges, and so on to get their positions advocated. So I’m going to think that you haven’t been approached to take your position and attack any opposition like you are with Ms. Farley’s research?
I wonder what a financial investigation into you would bring to light.
Below is a copy and paste I did off one of your own bloggers sites. And Melissa is lying about violence against prostitutes – please!
_______________
Why do they win the award for least favorite? First of all, 99% of the time they are cheap and I mean cheap. I have worked in Las Vegas for 4 years and until this morning I had never been tipped more than my bare minimum tip, if I even get that far. About 75% they want sex for one hour for about $100 and that I should be thankful for that money. Secondly, they are violent. Some of my most violent calls have been Russians. Once a guy grabbed my purse and dragged me into the hall of Treasure Island, snached my mace quick as lightening before I could use it, ran down the hall dumping out my purse grabbing the agency fee back but thankfully dropping the extra $100 that was already in my purse. I was barricaded in one room after entertaining the guy when I explicitly said the tip he gave me was “no sex”. He was upset for misunderstanding and wouldn’t let me leave. Thankfully I had a driver that night who was twice as tall as the client and I walked out safely. Several other instances I have had to run out because they were yelling or threatening me. The experiences go on…
And I never experienced any such thing as an escort. Not even close.
So does that mean one of us is lying? Or does it mean that we both have equally true experiences? If it’s the latter, then both sides need to be represented. It’s harmful for sex work to be viewed as one-dimensional — whether all-positive or all-negative.
XX
Well, it seems Melissa Farley is at best a biased, anti-sex man hating beasts, since from some things I’ve read about her, she seems like a toal, and incumbent asshole.
I mean, she went in there, with a biased attitude, and saying to herself, and I quote:
“No matter what is said, or that I find, I am going to be anti, and tell these people the so-called “truth” regardless if I enjoyed it or not.” It seems she had her mind set from the beginning, and would emply others, because of either peer pressure from the moral majority community, or because she was raised to believe sex is wrong. Either way, she really doesn’t have all the facts, or only wanted to present one side of the story, or maybe she turned it around, as do people like Tyra Banks.
Food for thought
Interested,
The problem with Farley is that she gets listened to and influences legislation and public opinion. People can certainly see through her (like you) but not enough yet.
XX
Prostitutes on parade would work, prostitutes on the same page with the same message would work. The message has to be that laws pertaining to us have to be in fact self generated from actual currently working sex industry workers. If there is one message coming from us it ought to be a demand that our voice have to be at the center of anything that has to do with us. We have to take back our voices from these war on whore profiteers.
Jody, is Farley paying you to be her press secretary. Or is it coincidental that you are another person who spends a lot of time “volunteering” while Farley does her research and donates “profits”.
One last thing so that we are clear. Any further private emails of the nature you sent me on the 17th get posted publicly for the world to see. Since you are writing pre-emptive strike emails demanding responses and not bothering to ever read the response. Meaning you are throwing shit at me and then hiding. Don’t anticipate in the future that your private emails of this nature will remain private.
Jody Writes:
>>HOW MANY OTHER WOMEN ON THIS SITE HAVE ACTUALLY HELPED A TRAFFICKING VICTIM ESCAPE BESIDES ME? I>>
Jill Writes:
At least one. Me.
Jody writes:
>>What’s the matter – can’t find something to argue with out of a real prostitute writing her own words about her own experience?>>
I could do like Farley or an array of her allies did to me. When they can’t argue the truth they just argue the victim must be delusional, lying or suffering from “a form of multiplicity” Thus Jody, it matters to Farley, who the victim is. And when it’s the wrong victim, a lot of effort went into trying to isolate and silence the victim. Not theoretical either. First person experience. Initiated by Farley before I ever even knew her name. And continued for over a decade because for Farley, political alliances and advancing her own career mean far more than any prostituted woman ever will.
What do you think? You are the only person who has or is doing anything? Maybe we should all write you a check to cover the Jody Williams anointing oil while you rapture to your holy mountain………
How many more women could I have helped escape if Farley and her allies not diverted their focus to trying to eliminate a project that was helping women escape. But could no longer do so largely because of the political pressure exerted by Farley and her allies which took 3 years to rebuild.
Save the pretentious arrogance for your partisan crowds who will buy into it and hold you up on a pedestal. Here, the fact that you are helping people just makes you one of the crowd………..
There should have been a break followed by “Jill writes after the end of experience and the brackets.
yeah, it sounds like she’s looking for money and recognition. Either she’s getting money now or she’s hoping to get money….
Maxine,
Jody probably is about to claim credit for parting Lake Mead to rescue a trafficking victim and will have Farley verify the facts through comprehensive study,,,,,,,,
Maybe Jody can run a john school using the SAGE model, then one doesn’t have to worry about balancing the books.
I thought all those programs were already sucking off the tax payer tits?
[…] Responding to Farley’s book on Nevada brothel Review of Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada, Making the Connections […]
Thanks for the link. It’s a wonder why academics continue to platform those that violate their own standards.
http://sexinthepublicsquare.org/ElizabethsBlog/lessons-learned-at-harvard-law-school#comment-12279
I wonder if this “Jody” character will return now that Jill Brenneman has turned up to show her “I’m the only person working with real abused women” boasts up? Hmm.
On the notion of helping those in need, I found this snippet from an Indian article interesting:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Women-rights-activists-to-watch-policy-makers/articleshow/18648192.cms
Providing statistics on the rescue done by sex workers as compared to the cops, Tripti Tandon of Lawyers Collective said, “In 2008, the Self-regulatory Boards among sex workers rescued 113 girls from being forced into sex-work as compared to 31 rescues by the West Bengal cops. These figures only doubled with the passing years. The need is to strengthen the community rather than making them vulnerable.”
I’ve never seen sex worker’s rights activists deny that violence and nonconsensual behaviour occurs in the industry. The objection really seems to be that the abolitionists exaggerate it in order to pass laws which are based on morality rather than evidence and which end up doing more harm than good. But I suppose it’s easier to argue with a straw man.
I hate to bust your bubble here Jill – but I’ve helped more than one trafficking victim in the USA since 1987. I had to organize my files to convert from a paper filing system to a computer database and the count as of 2007 was over 250,000 male and female victims we’ve helped in the USA, and other countries as well. We’ve done that without accepting one single grant, and without asking for, nor receiving one single penny of donations from any survivors, victims, etc. We have a Recovery Guide for Sex Workers Anonymous which is the same thing as how Alcoholics Anonymous has a Big Book and Narcotics Anonymous has the Basic Text. Not that this adds up to much – I think we donated over 5,000 copies last year to victims/members who asked for copies and said they couldn’t afford one but then only sold 20 copies for the full retail price of a whopping $10 for our printed copy and $5 for our ebook. Because of membership had a lot of women in it that we had either directly rescued out of the brothels here in Nevada that couldn’t get away without help of some kind because a lot of people don’t know that there are no cabs, or buses that go up to the brothels so there’s no way out of there except by private car, especially when the pimps will drop the women off at the brothels and then take the cars with them essentially leaving the women “stranded” up there, or who were afraid of angering the brothel owners by leaving, or who used to work in the brothels in the past, and Melissa Farley did come to us in 2007 and asked to interview these women for her report on “Trafficking in Nevada – Making the Connections”. She then said she was worried that people would “attack the validity and honesty” of what these victims said – so she asked me, and a few of these victims, to please appear at a press conference to back up that what we said was what we said and what was in the report – to which we agreed. Which is what we did – we appeared to back up what we said in the interviews with her. We were told that the results would be used to obtain government and private funding to set up a program of “after care” for trafficking victims in Nevada to which we were further in support of also because Nevada does use up the prostitutes, the sex workers, and the trafficking victims here, and then gives them no exit, or after care, or trauma, nor any type of recovery services here other than the Sex Workers Anonymous program that I’ve been running here on my own dime since I moved here in 1996 for all victims throughout the whole state. We were also told that the sales of the book would fund the putting together of such a program to provide direct services to those victims who needed it whether they were trafficking victims, or those who were exiting the sex industry and needed exit/support/recovery services to go through that transition. This meaning we knew that legislation would have to be crafted to create things like alternative sentencing programs for example where then instead of going to jail – victims could be offered treatment programs like we’ve been a part of in other states successfuly. I was asked to speak at a couple of churches about these interviews, and the validity of these members’ experiences which were valid and to which I did come and speak about what I’ve seen going on in Nevada under this understanding. I was told that NCAST was going to be created where I was a board member where I was going to be put in charge of “direct services” to trafficking victims in Nevada and even sent out looking for office space for our new headquarters. However, I was the only person on that press conference that lived in Nevada. Worried about the backlash that I knew I’d experience for being a part of publishing what these women had to say about their experiences in Nevada – I was scared. I was promised that everyone at NCAST “had my back” and would “take care of any retribution” that might befall me after this press conference. During the press conference – suddenly Melissa Farley went out into the hallway with some of the reporters. I did not know why until the next day when the press announced that I had become part of a panel that was “calling for the abolition of the sex industry in Nevada”. I never said that nor agreed to that nor had any idea she was saying I even said that – nor did anyone else on that panel besides her and maybe Candice Jordan. My phone was ringing off the hook the next day with people asking me “how could you say that?” to which I replied “I never did say that”. I don’t know why the reporters didn’t verify any of this with me or anyone else on the panel before printing this – but that’s just the new press I guess. The next day also found my phone, cable, internet, and TV lines had all been cut. My power had been turned off and when I went outside my $10,000 car had been completely demolished despite me living in a security building with even a gate and a guard. When I called the phone, cable, internet and TV companies to make the repairs – they claimed that “I had already cancelled service” which was strange. When I called my insurance company about my car – they said that I had called that morning to “cancel my policy” also. When I called the power company – they claimed I owed them a $2,000 bill for my deceased mother and grandmother suddenly and would not resume service without this payment. I have no idea how anyone got all my account information to pretend to be me to cancel all of these services – but that’s what happened. When I called Melissa about the power bill and my car and everything she told me “you’re a big girl and you knew what you were walking into – so deal with it” and hung up on me. Assemblyman Bob Beers had told me he would “have my back” from the retaliation – and he actually made a phone call to the power company and he my service restored within an hour. What I found out interestingly enough later was that Lance Gilman, who now owns the Mustang Ranch, is on the same boards as the power, cable, TV, internet, phone, and even my car insurance company. Does that mean anything? Interesting coincidence. I live on $600 a month in SSI so when I asked Melissa and Bob to help me replace my car because I use my car to do direct rescues on an almost daily basis and they know it – they blew me off. Which really wasn’t a big deal except that I also started getting phone calls from people wanting to know if I “got the check I sent you” in response to the book, the report, my speaking out, the press conference, news of our trafficking work, etc. When I asked “what check?” I discovered that they had sent checks to Melissa for me c/o NCAST in California. When I added them up – they came to about $180,000 in donations. So I called Melissa and asked about these donations and she denied any knowledge of them. So I asked for an accounting of the money she did take from the whole event – to which she denied to give me any accounting whatsoever. Not quite sure what to think – I contacted a volunteer of hers I knew and asked about this – and she confirmed she’d seen at least $8,000 of checks come in that had been directly earmarked for me and my work there. When I went back to these donors and asked if they could please stop payment on these checks and re-issue them to me since they were meant for me and my work – then they accused me of “running some kind of shake-down” thinking her and I were in “cohoots” of some sort about this which was not the case. I guess they didn’t believe that a PhD would take money meant for me and then pocket it without telling me about it. When I demanded to see the accounting based on being a board member of NCAST – she then claimed that I had “misunderstood her and that I never was a board member of NCAST”. I recently sent a letter to the Nevada legislature about this issue of her taking money that was meant for my work and then not at least notifying me about it or even sharing it with me in any way – to which she sent out a letter to them claiming she “deeply objected” to this accusation. I then responded by sending out the response to everyone she did – that if I was lying that she could (1) sue me for defamation and (2) send me an accounting them of the money she took in that year. To which I’ve never been sued nor have I received an accounting either. About a month after her report/book was released, my daughter was struck by an SUV and it broke her back. She was in a brace and confined to bed rest. Then out of nowhere Shared Hope came in and completely plagurized word for word every bit of that report, slapped them name on it, removed my name from the report, and then released it to the press as “their report on trafficking in Nevada”. What shocked me at first was the interviews – they were word for word what we’d done. So I contacted these people and asked them “when did you give an interview for Shared Hope?” to which they replied “I never did”. Three people confirmed to me they never gave an interview to Shared Hope for that report on trafficking in Nevada in 2007. Guess that’s why they had to remove my name from it – so no one might stumble upon someone who actually had a part in the real authorship of part of it. I say “part of it” because of course they twisted it all up and around and did what they wanted with it to say what they wanted. I wondered why they would do this – until suddenly I start hearing about church after church after church that’s having a “meeting” about “trafficking in Nevada”. I thought since I’ve been working with Nevada victims directly since 1996 and was part author of that report that they might want to hear from me – so I contacted these churches and offered to come speak – for free too I might add. I was told that I was “banned from the premises”. I wasn’t even allowed to attend! Not sure why that was – so I asked a friend to go for me who reported back that at each one of these events not only were they lying about sex trafficking in Nevada, using “our” report like it was “theirs” to “back them up” as their “research” but they were gathering up checks like candy. At our last count they came into Nevada and walked out in three months with well over $1,000,000 from people who thought they were donating to a program that was going to help Nevada trafficking victims. All well and good is that’s what they were going to do with the money – but when I called them to help me with cases of real victims who needed airplane tickets, hotel bills, drug treatment, food, medical care, etc., I was told that “Shared Hope does not provide any direct services to domestic victims” and hung up on. If I had not been home without a car and a kid with a broken back and no money even for a cab while they were doing this to Nevada residents – I might have been able to put a stop to it. But for all my failings – I don’t think I desire any of those “cracks” Jill when all I’m trying to do is help victims that I don’t see anyone else helping. You say you “help victims too”. Really? I help at least one victim a day if not more and I haven’t heard a peep out of you to do any volunteer work with us – not donating – volunteer work. Easy to sit back and insult me – go ahead because everyone else does and the victims that I help can’t do anything about it because they’re too busy protecting themselves and their new identities. Unlike these other groups – I don’t parade them around on a dog and pony show either to raise money and “show off the work I do”. But you will find quotes all over the internet from victims I’ve helped – without one complaint so far. Not bad since 1987 actually. Instead of making a crack about the “one” victim you’ve helped Jill here where I didn’t see it for a few years – how about contacting us and helping out with a lot more we got coming in every day?
So, I’ve read that really, really long paragraph, and I’m not getting much of a defence of Farley from it I’ll be honest. It sounds like you’re describing a manipulative and abusive profiteer. And yet you entered this comment thread defending her.
It’s a little hard to follow exactly, but I believe you’re accusing Farley of plagiarising your work, and thus a defence of that work is ipso facto a defence of your work. That seems like rather an ass-backwards way to go about it to me. Particularly since you get uppity about Jill wondering what your motivation is but don’t wonder what extent her involvement in activism and volunteer work is.
If Farley is that manipulative and dismissive of *you*, what makes you think she’s looking out for the best interests of others?
Jody,
Let me just cut to the chase and save you and everyone else some time. How you feel is meaningless to me. I have zero interest in your bullshit. Whatever you write whether that be about me, or about someone/something else. I lost interest in your rambling incoherent nonsense years ago.
Not interested.
[…] so according to Dr. Melissa Farley, there’s some trafficking going on in the brothels. What do you think of her […]
Real easy to beat up on someone who isn’t even there to defend themselves. Especially women who had to leave the state in fear of their lives because of death threats from brothel owners. I personally don’t “believe” anything. I only know what people tell me.
I’ve been hearing stories from women for years about being forced to work as prostitutes – yes even in the legal brothels. Trafficking happens in any industry – legal sex work is no different than the food industry, manufacturing, mining, farming, hotel industry – or any other industry where people are looking either for cheap/free labor, or are having a shortage of workers, or want to make money by undercutting the competition. Dennis – I’ve asked you personally to come to the table to discuss this issue of what these women tell me, what can be done to help them,and what you would do about it and you’ve refused. I’ve even asked you to help me make a public statement that you as a brothel owner, are committed to fighting sex trafficking – and you’ve also refused. I even asked you for help to fight AB67 in Nevada that was clearly NOT about helping any trafficking victims – but a smoke screen for something else entirely – and you refused.
When I’ve asked you to help me with trafficking victims who need help to leave the state to get to safety – you’re only response was to bring them to you for a job interview. A woman who has just been thrown out of a car going 65 miles an hour because she found out she was pregnant and told her pimp she didn’t want to prostitute any more – is not going to go up and interview with you. Especially if she’s 17 years old and not old enough to get a prostitute license. I’ve saved your emailed written responses to verify what I’m stating here is true. I don’t say anything I can’t back up as truth – unlike these crazy “abolitionists” as they’re calling themselves – Melissa Farley included.
Yes trafficking exists where it’s legal – because it exists in any industry. While prostitution is legal in Australia – we have members of Sex Workers Anonymous who report to us they’re quitting being “pro’s” out there because the traffickers are bringing in women to do what they do for $50 a shot whereas they used to make $3,000 a shot for the same work.
If sex work is like any other job or industry – then guess what? It’s like any other job or industry – which means trafficking exists. I don’t make anything up – but know what I’m told by eye witness accounts. While I have heard many others tell me stories of trafficking in Nevada, and other countries, legal brothels, this woman is the only one who was willing to brave the death threats to tell her story in public because she said she wanted people to “know the truth”. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stopsextrafficktalk/2013/07/08/hear-from-a-nevada-brothel-prostitute
I went to the press conference with Melissa Farley based on certain things she assured me of – that turned out to all be false. One of which was that she knew it was impossible for us to charge a pimp with trafficking when the prostitute was working in a legal brothel because of the perception that trafficking can’t exist within a legal brothel. She had claimed this press conference was to change that. The woman who gave the above interview – had been working as a prostitute since she was 12 because of her pimp and his father. She had two children by the man. When she turned 18 years old, and after seeing Dennis Hof on TV, he moved them to Nevada and put her to work in a legal brothel. He kept all of the money. When she told him she didn’t want to prostitute anymore because she was being raped daily by men who were coming into the brothel and the owner was not giving her security nor was she being allowed to have the men arrested on rape charges either (what legal brothel prostitute is going to file and win a rape charge – tell me that case name please) – he beat her to a pump. When the police responded to the call – they arrested her for DM because they knew him. This then lost her custody of her kids to him. He then told her if she didn’t continue to work for him – he was going to use the children in child pornography. Again, when I tried to open up a dialogue with Dennis, and other brothel owners, about what could be done to help women like her – I was rebuffed.
That said – I have also published a news interview and a public statement was released in October of 2007 – one month after the press conference given in Las Vegas with Melissa Farley in September of 2007 that I was breaking off all connection with the woman.
The reason that I broke all ties, and had the story printed about the break in City Life, was because she lied to me, and members of SWA. She lied to the press. She lied in the book “Trafficking in Nevada”. She lied to donors. She lied to the public. She also ripped off donors and lied to me about the money that was promised as well as other stuff she promised as well in exchange for our support and cooperation for her report and the press conference.
I couldn’t do more than that because the day after the news article and letter was released – an SUV ran my daughter over in broad daylight and broke her back in three places. I was having to care for her in a full body cast for months. My daughter has been walking across the street to call AAA for help because someone had trashed our car that morning entirely. So I also had no car during that time period.
After my daughter was out of the cast – I then learned that during the time I was caring for her – Shared Hope had taken Melissa Farley’s report word for word, removed my name from it, all references to our work, or SWA, and they released the report under their name claiming it was “their” report. I asked people we had quoted in the report if they had done a second interview for Shared Hope – and they said “no”. So it was either sold to them by Melissa – or it was plagiarized.
Shared Hope, knowing I was home caring for my daughter, and without a car, and thus not able to combat them at that time – came into Nevada doing public speaking, and this report, and taking credit for the cases I’d been working on over the years, and raised over 1.2 million dollars and then split town. They lied to donors claiming they were “providing direct services to victims in Nevada” yet when I called them to help me with NV victims – they said “we don’t do that” and hung up on me. When I went to file a complaint about them with the NV Consumer Affairs Dept. – I learned that the US Attorney’s office had cut the office out of the budget. Thus it didn’t exist. When I went to the US Attorney about this fraud, as well as about a few others that had been lying in the media, and raising money – they sent someone from the US Treasury office to come after me threatening me with jail time for “operating a business without a license”. I pointed out that I’m not paid for what I do and therefore I’m not a business. I challenged them to show me where I’m “paid” to thus be operating a business. They backed off.
When I sent out the word about what Melissa had done to our network of SWA members – that meant that no “real” ex-prostitute was going to have anything to do with the woman. This was when the fake “Stella Marr” emerged. When that was exposed as a “catfish” – she then build up Chong Kim. When that fell apart – her and Nicholas Kristof created “Somaly Mam”. When that was exposed – Melissa then had a direct hand in not only creating the fake “Rachel Moran” – but also faking evidence that trafficking even existed in Ireland.
In each one of these cases – it’s been my hard work at uncovering the evidence that’s been the foundation behind exposing these frauds. I’m the one for example who found and posted online Gaye Dalton’s affidavit that Rachel Moran stole her story word for word – and that no one in Ireland in that region in that time frame had seen Rachel Moran working in the sex industry in any way. I’m the one who pointed out that I was the ONLY group doing any trafficking work in Nevada during the late 1990’s – when Chong Kim claimed she was “trafficked in a legal brothel”. She also claimed the brothel owners were part of the trafficking operation. However, it was me who pointed out that not only did I never see Chong Kim during our work there in the 90’s, or otherwise, but also that in each case I’ve heard about it has NOT been the owners who had anything to do with the trafficking – but in fact pimps who are not employed by the brothel owners.
The reason for the fakes that have only appeared on the scene since 2007 is clear. It’s because no “real” prostitute nor “real” trafficking victim would say the outrageous stuff these people like Melissa Farley are getting people such as Rachel Moran, Chong Kim, Stella Marr, Somaly Mam, or even Ben Hillier (who the movie “Taken” was based upon) to say. Because myself, nor anyone in recovery, or retirement, that I’m aware of would say these lies either – in order to remove any “contrast” to their deception – they’ve had to defame us, silence us, shun us, etc.
Because I had a close relationship to people within the industry who did not only acknowledge that trafficking existed, and that sometimes people wanted to retire for one reason or another, and because they agreed that no one should be forced into the industry, nor prevented from leaving when they wanted to also – people like Dave from the Erotic Review, or Margo St. James from COYOTE, and others – because they knew I was not against the sex industry or the workers themselves -but only as someone providing an exit program, an alternative to incarceration that did NOT make the people “victims” and that I believed one should be in the industry only by “choice” – these people connected to Melissa Farley created a whole “fake” smear campaign.
They set up fake videos demanding for the industry to be “abolished” and signed my name to it. They set up mirror facebook accounts to look like my sites -and attacked people within the industry. They even created fake interviews with me supposedly where I called the industry a “disease”. They even went so far as to have professor Shannon Bell claim she did a false interview with me she never did and then further claimed that I had said “sex work” was a disease for why I chose a 12 step format for our program. I had chosen a 12 step format for our program because it was the only one where a judge could order a man or woman into our program rather than incarceration back in the 1980’s because of the laws that are written to only allow certain types of “alternatives” to sentencing when there’s a mandatory sentence.
Then the cherry on the sundae came. I chose the 12 step format for our program not only because it was allowed to be taken as an “alternative to sentencing” for those busted on prostitution charges, even pimping charges, etc. but I also had the copyright releases from AA to do so. My copyright release was for ANY/ALL programs to do with sex work. Which means I had it structured so no one could go to AA and get permission to set up something like “Strippers Anonymous” or “Porn Anonymous” or even “Trafficking Anonymous”. I did this because in studying the history of 12 step movements – there came a time when other people would try and “hijack” the program for something other than what it was. I also copyrighted and trademarked our program in my name only, not a board, for that reason also. When it happened to Jimmy in NA and Bill in AA – they didn’t own the copyrights. So to protect myself and SWA – I put everything into my name, and my name alone.
In order to get funding for these so called “trafficking courts” that were then set up in 2007 such as Project Rose, Division 17 in Chicago, and 11 courts across the USA – they had to have a 12 step program as part of their program or a licensed therapist offering therapy for each client which is expensive. Again, why I chose a 12 step program for ours – not because I felt sex work was a “disease”. They came to me and asked me if I would change our name to “Trafficking Anonymous” and if I would state that our 1st step was that the sex industry itself was our “problem”. In Alcoholics Anonymous – they do not state alcohol is the problem. They state it’s their “disease” that’s the problem. So there is a distinction. One being whether or not I was going to have a program where the members could blame something, and someone, other than themselves for the decisions and choices they made. I refused.
They then created “faux” Prostitutes Anonymous meetings thinking that because I changed our name in 1995 to Sex Workers Anonymous I had given up my “rights” to this name. I had not. After spending years, and getting quite a lot of threats in return, for trying to get them to shut down these fake meetings, and after not being able to find any attorney with the guts to go up against these people, and after them telling our members I had “died” and threatening other members who knew I wasn’t dead – I finally got someone at the ACLU to listen to me. This became the lawsuit that was won of ACLU vs. USCB. https://www.aclu.org/news/court-prohibits-religious-restrictions-government-funded-trafficking-victims-program That got their funding pulled and THAT’S how we got the programs like Project Rose, Division 17, and the others created by three women specifically connected to Melissa Farley, and the Catholic Church, and the Buffett family, as well as Mrs. Hunt pulled out from under them.
All while also suffering attacks from your faction here because of not considering that in this world of “catfishing” that maybe before you believe something you read online – maybe you should consider speaking to me. Heck – celebrities joke constantly about opening up newspapers to read stories about their own weddings to people they don’t even know and George Cooney has filed numerous lawsuits – but it seems you people want to believe everything you read without verifying anything first.
Including things like the headlines that Melissa planted at that press conference claiming I was “calling to outlaw the sex industry”. Rubbish. The woman pulled reporters out into the hallway and told them I’d said that – and rather than speaking to me directly to verify that statement – they just published it. Which is also why I’ve contacted just about everyone in here directly asking to speak to them also to verify if things I’ve heard said to me about you all are true also before believing them. I don’t repeat them unless I do. For example, Dennis – the women who have talked to you claim that you won’t hire anyone to work for you unless they fuck you for free first as an “audition”. Not saying that’s good, bad or indifferent – just would like to know from your mouth if that in fact is true before I’d ever repeat that to anyone or believe it was true. You however have refused any adult decent conversation with me about anything – so I don’t know if that in fact is true. So I have refrained from publishing any statements that you “sexually harass” your employees for that reason. I do not however seem to get the same courtesy back from this peanut gallery.
I have a signed written confession from a Donald Austin where he admits he was lying to me about people in an attempt to extort money from me. I have run into numerous people repeating the lies he was telling until I got this confession out of him by threatening to take him to the police and to file a defamation lawsuit against him. I have people in the sex industry currently who state they will not speak to me because of statements he made during this blackmail attempt – however they also refuse to even look at his signed written confession what he said to them about me was a lie in the first place. Does it matter? When I’ve been excluded from panels, documentaries, and other media events by people within the sex industry who have said it’s because of what he’s said that he’s now admitted was a lie to extort money from me – yes it matters. Yes I should be suing a lot of people for defamation to be proving my point about it and to clear my name.
But instead I try and reserve my energy for something that will accomplish something. Like the defamation lawsuit and injunction I’m putting together now about Relativity Media, A&E, Kevin Brown, Shared Hope, Polaris, Salvation Army, etc. Not only can I join some of these parties to a defamation lawsuit based upon their defamation they did against me to cover their tracks during the copyright, trademark and intellectual property violations they committed against us, and not only can I show the public how this religious right group has been doing nothing but lying after lying to try and accomplish their goals against all of us, but I can also now prove that their “defamation” is also connected to a very specific agenda as well as bring criminal charges against them for defrauding tax payers and private donors out of millions of dollars. In other words, I think we’re sitting on a modern day “Watergate”. Especially since I also have multiple reporters who have admitted to me, in writing, that they knew it was a fraud – and they lied because they were being blackmailed. Not only to not tell the truth about the show being fake – but also to not write about Sex Workers Anonymous.
Again why not write about us? Because I’m the founder of the movement. I’m the one who stepped up and said that yes trafficking does exist today, exists in America, and that we need to stop arresting “those” victims as “criminals” but instead offer them help. Look – in the rape movement there was a time when no one believed that a woman could be raped by someone she “knew” (date rape) nor by her own husband. These rapists were going free because the system didn’t recognize they existed. The same also holds true even today for sex workers. I know of no case where a sex worker has been able to file a rape case and win. If anything – the judge says it’s “theft of services” and not “rape” because somehow a prostitutes’ vagina somehow becomes a “thing” to be stolen rather than her vagina simply because of her profession. Yet at the same time, the ethics commission states that politicians don’t have to report when they’ve been given prostitutes” by lobbyists because it “doesn’t have a value”. Well if it didn’t have a “value” then how can it be given as a “gift”?
Rape is not sex. It’s about power. The same for commercial sex. You can’t tell me that’s sex either. I’m not saying commercial sex is rape. I’m saying that rape isn’t about sex because it’s about power. Commercial sex isn’t about sex because when it’s commercialized it becomes something different. Just as how if I cook you dinner in my home – that’s one thing. But if I charge you for that same dinner – then the health department has the right to come in and inspect my kitchen for hazards.
Which means that if commercial sex is the same as “any” profession or business – then the same rules should also apply. Which include things like workers comp, disability, pension, and even yes sexual harassment.
Now personally I’ve been watching very carefully how these people have been raising millions of dollars and getting a lot of high powered support. They now have Senator Corker asking for 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS to go into other countries right now. They are also asking Nevada to give up any requirement to get a warrant before putting a tap on phone and oral conversations, to hold someone until they give a videotaped testimony before they’ve had the consultation with a lawyer, and refusing them their 5th amendment rights, and to actually fine someone “triple” damages EVEN WHEN THERE’S NO CASE PENDING. I’m reading this bill AB67 and going “wtf?”
Dennis you think you’re having a problem getting a billboard up in Oakland right now? By the time these people get through with you – I don’t think you’d be able to even have a website up – let alone advertise anything anywhere. I don’t even know where you’re advertise with the sites and publications they want to take down. What are you going to do when they start coming in trying to make your employees not use birth control? Think I’m kidding? You’re not reading a lot of these bills then very carefully.
They are the foxes walking off with the whole chicken coop right now – while they are getting people like us squabbling with each there like children on a school yard. Now I’ve been accomplishing a great deal to fight these people back so far – and can accomplish even more – if I can get some polite respectful conversations going like adults between all of us here. Including a little support for the lawsuit I’d like to file right now for an injunction and a defamation lawsuit against the people in connection with “8 Minutes”. This case shows a clear flagrant fraudulent misrepresentation, and pattern of this same thing (they did the same thing in 2012 with Annie Lombert and Somaly Mam and others), as well as financial crimes for the donor fraud (people who believed the show and outreach was real and donated money) including that they are blackmailing the media into supporting them.
I believe like how Hitler attacked the pornographers first – I have been watching them carefully to see what their end game is here and we all agree it has nothing to do with helping sex trafficking victims. What it does seem to be about is grabbing up our rights for one thing – rights to free speech, rights to our 5th amendment, and certainly a womans’ right to control what she does with her body. It’s also an attack upon the Jewish and LGBT community. They are also using this platform to create another “Vietnam” where they are going into a country that we are not at war with under a smoke screen. They have created these fake trafficking courts to try and get the UN to classify anyone in any type of commercial sex work as a “victim” – thus they can go into any country where prostitution is legal, and even put sanctions against that country. Countries like Brazil where prostitution is legal for example – this bill co-written by senator Menendez (yes that one) allows them to enter into any country that has legalized prostitution and well read the bill for yourself. It’s online.
And just because you don’t understand me – doesn’t mean I’m rambling. And if you don’t like my “long” writing – well some things aren’t written in bumper sticker form. Which is how they’re getting away with fooling people right now – because no one wants to read anything longer than 140 characters anymore. Well our constitution is long also and for good reason. Now if we join forces – we can accomplish a great deal. If we don’t – well then Dennis – you might be facing people coming to attach the proceeds of your new book as being “trafficking money”. You might have to consider what you’re going to do when they put a tap on your company phone and they start publishing those phone calls online whether you like it or not because they can. They want us looking at and fighting with each other INSTEAD OF THEM which is what we need to be doing right now.
I’ve told all of you before for years now I need some help. While you have continued to play their game – they’ve been gaining a lot of ground. The reason why Arizona blew you off Dennis when you offered them $500,000 to open a brothel down there – is because they’re making five times that much by embracing this whole “trafficking” nonsense. Now if I’m so “ineffective” at what I do – then tell me why there’s no legal brothels in CA now? Joe Conforte put up $1,000,000 into a PR firm in 1988 and went about to have it legalized in CA. I was the only person who stood up against him. The only reason I did was not because of the brothel – but because he refused to address the same issues I’ve raised with Dennis – about how to protect the workers from trafficking, from rape, and also about issues like workers comp, retirement, disability, drug programs where they can attend NA meetings while at the ranch, etc. Why did Project Rose get shut down if I’m not effective? Why did Nebraska give up their project to write a bill for “stiffer penalties” against traffickers after I asked them not to? Including how I got the “proof” the A&E show was a complete fraud and I have the legal grounds to sue them for an injunction to stop the show from airing and expose their real agenda.
So if you’d like to open up a dialogue about this – you know where to reach me. Directly. Not talking about me when my back is turned. Talk to me directly. I believe we can stop this if we work together. Especially you Dennis. I remember when HBO made you change the listing for your show from “documentary” to something like “entertainment series” or something like that because it was not “reality” and people had been paid. Well people have been paid to appear on “8 Minutes” – yet A&E is not listing them as such as you were required to do for your show. Thus I think we can accomplish more about this if we work together.
Thanks – Jody http://www.sexworkersanonymous.com
Jill – I didn’t respond to you right away in April of 2013 – because I had just received a phone call from my daughter’s doctor saying she had a brain tumor. I had other business to take care of besides responding to your posts or this blog at that time. I have not ever been paid for my work. I don’t charge. I have not applied for any grants. I have never held a fund raiser. If I wanted “public recognition” I would not have refused to appear in public other than the press conference in 2007 by choice. We even put our “Recovery Guide” into .pdf format and I give the copies free to new members because they never have any money when they come into the program. We don’t even pass the basket at meetings like AA or NA does because we know our members just don’t have any money when they first come into the program. Those who do – we don’t want to accept money from their prostitution earnings or we would be committing a felony by accepting the money. So the accusation that I’m doing or saying any of what I’m saying or doing for money or fame just doesn’t wash. If that was the case – when Melissa and her co-horts first approached me and asked if I would stand up with them and make the declaration that “all sex work was rape” I would be a very wealthy and famous woman right now. If I wanted wealth and fame – then I’d just go back to sex work don’t you think? I was offering $120,000 a year with a $100,000 sign on bonus to go to work managing a legal brothel – so again if money or fame was all I wanted – I would have chosen those options. The men and women I work with don’t have money often until years into leaving the industry. When they do have money – they then want to forget anything about having been in the industry, or the bad times of going through the transition and they ease into leaving us which is how it should be. We’re not like alcoholism – which is a lifelong disease requiring life long treatment. I’m not creating a cult here where members stay connected to us at the hip for life. When they don’t need us anymore – they move on. Which is how it should be if we’re creating strong, healthy empowered members – which we do. I guess when you can’t attack the statement – you attack the length of it or the person writing it. I didn’t “run” from responding to you Jill – I have a lot of responsibilities and this is work I do in my “spare” time – not my full-time job. I get to it when I can get to it. But now instead of fighting with each other like school children which is exactly what these people want – we need to be thinking about what we’re accomplishing here. Frankly, the only ground I’ve seen that’s been won against these people has been done from my work. I’m the one who got 3.8 million dollars ungranted to the AHF this year by writing the Ryan White Foundation about what Michael Weinstein was doing – and how he was ignoring me. Now am I blowing my horn here and trying to “get money or recognition” when I make statements like this. NO. I’m trying to show you that I’m accomplishing something – and that based on the evidence of that – and the statement that with some help and cooperation I could accomplish even more and even faster – I’m looking for help. Not an attack. Not your feelings. But help. Not money. Help. I am disabled, out of work and I have a sick daughter I’m caring for – on top of running a worldwide organization where everyone is broke. I need help. That’s what I’m looking for.
I don’t have enough hands to do some of the things that need to be done here to stop these religious fanatics.
1. I need help cross-referencing all of the federal grant money that’s been granted – with news articles about how the money was spent. Example – when the DHSS gave $90,000 to AZ – the DA said in a news interview that he “used the money to pay back salaries” for his staff on project that weren’t even related to trafficking. He then said he would “make it up by creating an awareness campaign” which was a task force and a program outline he then produced and put online. However, everyone who was working on this “campaign” no longer is associated with the task force. I don’t know if anyone new has been assigned either. In other words, it appears he created a very snazzy report and then everyone just bailed.
2. I need to find out what they are doing with the money awarded. Example – CASTLA was given $150,000 to help “resettle” victims. Okay – I contacted them and asked what type of “resettling” they had available for the victims I’m working with. The answer was “none”. I had news clippings of a huge outreach campaign – how could there be “none”? I was told that they were even “turning away victims the police brought them” for housing – let alone they’d have to refuse help to anyone I referred to them. The woman I spoke to said the “waiting list was a year long”. I then told her that I place victims in housing all the time – and I could show her how to get everyone on that list housing right now – without a year’s wait. I offered to come down for free and train her staff in how I did this so that she could then have her staff finding housing for everyone on her waiting list. She refused. When I asked why – she said they “wanted to make the list even bigger”. When I asked why – she said “because then we can get more money”. I repeated to her to be sure – you don’t want my help to get anyone on this list housing, and you want to make the list even bigger so you can get more money?” and she said “yes”. I need to find out from their mouths what they did with the money.
3. From there – I then need to take the information back to the donor source and let them know. Is this effective? Highly. When ATLAS in Nevada received over $875,000 to help domestic trafficking victims – and they refused to help me on case after case after case – I then took those reports back to their grant source, let them know what happened – and Nevada didn’t receive one federal dime from 2008 until 2013. Even then they only got $80,000 that year – big change.
4. I need a list of any news announcements about fund raisers in connections with these groups – such as Shared Hope, Polaris, Exodus Cry, etc. You can get a full list from me. I need these referenced with dates and also connected to then the fraudulent media done in conjunction. For example – when Chong Kim spoke with Bamboo Bridges at UNLV for a fund raiser. I had warned them she was a fraud before the fund raiser. I think the money collected should be investigated. I’ve already gone to the NV US Attorney in this case, and others in NV, and they refuse to do anything. If anything, I’ve had insiders in the offices of these churches tell me that the NV US Attorney has offered to “protect” them from an “audit” by her – as long as they “don’t have anything to do with Jody”. Why? Because for every dollar they raise -NV gets dollar matching from federal sources. However, that protection doesn’t apply to the IRS. So I need to collect a list of fund raisers to turn over to the IRS for proper investigation.
Money raised fraudulently that was not used as advertised it was to be used – needs to be noticed to IRS. Also, these same programs are refusing services to Jewish people, Muslims, men, LGBT, etc. For example, the Salvation Army in Las Vegas and Shade Tree in Las Vegas each received $30,000 from DHSS in 2013. However, these shelters only admit women. They only admit straight women. They have ejected lesbians because they “don’t have housing accommodations or separate bathrooms” for them. They have ejected Jews because they won’t provide them with kosher meals, nor a kosher kitchen to cook in, nor a Rabbi or even a chance to go to Temple. Buddhists who had tried to meditate have been told they are “worshipping the devil” and ejected for refusing to renounce their Buddhist practice.
6. Any news story that says “trafficking victim” for “prostitute” needs to have a separate complaint written to both the FCC and the publisher, editor or producer. Even “johns” now are being called “trafficking victims”. http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/s3769391.shtml In As on this story – I wrote the writer, the producer, and filed a complaint with the FCC. The FCC says this is our only recourse. They are trying to change our very language.
Melissa Farley wrote a letter to the Chicago Manual of Style a few months ago asking them to literally change the word “prostitute” to read as “trafficking victim” . She had over 100 signatures on that letter. I wrote to 20 people on that letter asking them if they had signed it. They each say they never saw it. i sent those denials to the publisher of Chicago Manual of Style. Now they’re going right to the reporters to do it. How do I know? Here’s the writer’s response to me:
Hi Jody,
I’m the reporter who worked on that story. I was going off information provided to me by the South Central Drug Investigation Unit based in Steele County, MN. Investigators used the words trafficking and also prostitutes. They made it clear that this is a new way of treating prostitutions arrests, treating the women as victims rather than criminals. It was a sting operation and no actual women were involved, rather a decoy set up on an online site. The men responded to those ads and arranged to meet the supposed prostitutes.
I believe they used the word trafficking, because they believe if these decoys had been real women and not police investigators, some of them could’ve been victims of trafficking. I would encourage you to contact the investigators responsible for the sting and the information provided to the media if you have further concerns.
I appreciate you reaching out and working to clarify. I hope this provides you with more information into why I reported the story the way I did.
Thank you for your time and your work in fighting human trafficking
So – they’re just going to go to every reporter. I’m also talking to reporters who tell me they are having their jobs threatened if they don’t call “prostitutes” as “trafficking victims”. I’m sure that will be extended to the porn and stripping industry once they win over on the prostitution word. Which is they they’re trying to get control over the porn industry over condoms.
7. I need help tracking down any archived videos of any of my TV appearances in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The reason is simple – I’m the founder of the movement. These people can’t argue against the “founder” of the movement as wrong. They know this and that’s why every single video of me has been removed from youtube. I’ve had archive people tell me they’ve been told to delete master tapes of my appearances. I’ve seen records of papers that people like ex-mayor Bradley had of our work doing outreach to sex workers, and the porn industry, in the 1980’s completely removed. It’s like we never existed and never even worked with this man. They have not only created “fake” survivors and “fake” rescuers like Ben who “Taken” was supposedly based upon – but they ran an awards event this year where they are actually calling people the “founders” of the movement who didn’t even appear until 2007. Clearly, this attempt to 1984 rewrite history is because they know that the “founder” can’t be discounted when going up against their claims – hence why they’re now trying to create these awards to create a “new” founder in the public’s mind. I have news articles going back to 1987 – but nothing on video. I was on Sally, Donahue, Jerry, Geraldo, Joan Rivers, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America and I even had an hour documentary made by KCAL Channel 9 in 1987. In these appearances I clearly stated that “trafficking victims” were NOT “all” sex workers – but a small tiny subset. I’m trying to call for congressional hearings into all of their frauds – which will be much harder if I can’t prove the basis of my claims. Some people have told me they had copies of my old videotapes I used to sell. I need something to help back up the congressional/ethics hearings I’m going to push for. I’m in doctors’ offices almost every day and making these calls is almost impossible. I was Rene Le Blanc with Prostitutes Anonymous until 1991 when I then said “screw it” and just went with my real name Jody Williams. In 1995 – we changed the name to Sex Workers Anonymous.
8. Larry Flynt was going to award $1,000,000 to Jeane Palfrey for her “proof” of government connection to prostitution and trafficking before she was murdered in my opinion. Her “black book” is proof. We have copies of her book and she told me she was going to reveal Dick Cheney’s name, and others, the night before her death. However, I need to have help getting ahold of the Smoking Gun to find that proof so that the award could then go to her mother. Her mother told me she believed it was murder but she was afraid to say so for fear that whoever killed her would “come back for her” if she said otherwise. It was Jeane’s black book that got the congressional hearings that made federal recognition possible. Her mother deserves that money. As does her lawyer, Montgomery Sibley, deserve a piece of that. He was disbarred for defending her and chased down to FL from NY because of standing up for not just her – but for all of us. When I asked why he’d print a book saying it was suicide when we both knew differently he said “because I needed to move on with my life”. I understood that as since her death I’d been having to live “off the grid” also because of cops in Nevada chasing me with threats that I was told by a clerk in the station came after me after a call from a cop in FL came into the station. The “heat” only died on my end after Montgomery published his book saying it was “suicide” – so I understood the need to get the heat off. But it’s not the truth – and it will be easier to get the truth out now that my daughter is over 18 and I’m not having to run to avoid her being taken from CPS. He tried to fight for all of us also besides Jeane – so he deserves to be paid. Maybe if he is – maybe he’ll print what he really thinks. But if Larry awarded the money I’m sure he’ll agree to publish why.
7. I need tax returns gone over. I found out that AHF had money donated by the Ryan White Foundation by going over their tax returns. Then I wrote them about how AHF had been refusing to speak to me about how HIV was being spread through trafficking victims. After writing them about his horrible treatment of me, and reminding them of the work I did in the 80’s to help fight HIV – they denied him 3.8 million dollars this year. We need to sock these people where it hurts.
I did the same thing for Division 17. I wrote the Novo Foundation who had donated them a large amount of money and let them know this group had violated my copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual properties to be running meetings representing to be Prostitutes Anonymous meetings without my consent, and after I’d sent them a written “cease and desist” letter, and without paying me also any percentage of that money. They then refused that donation to them this year. The program folded.
I need help going over these “abolitionists” tax returns – and then going to who is giving them money and letting them know how the money is being spent and how they’re acting – especially towards not only “real” victims of trafficking but also against helping any “real” victims. For example, I’m working on a case right now of Asian women being trafficked to work in massage parlors across the country. Everyone is passing this case around like a hot potato. Diane Feinstein is trying to get “wire taps” approved to “fight trafficking” yet I can’t get her to even talk to me about the evidence in this case that would free these women. So I would like to go over her tax return and her campaign contributions and I’d like to see who is donating her money to work on trafficking issues. Then I would like to let them know she’s refusing to speak to me about a case where 1,000’s of women are being trafficked in this country right now – in exchange for her financial support to do something on this issue.
8. I need someone to go and read the actual Bills in each state with respect to trafficking, Backpage, and anything connected to the subject of prostitution, sex work, trafficking, pornography, etc. For example, Portland, OR and San Francisco, are entertaining bills right now into outlawing Backpage. However, the politicians and voters might be affected by this fake “8 Minutes” case. If they can outlaw Backpage – then I think that means they can shut down any type of website and/or advertising for anyone in any part of the industry, whether it’s porn, phone sex, escorting, even Dennis advertising his bar or restaurant. I need a report on what each bill is in each state. Polaris has a list of trafficking bills – but not everyone to do with sex work. That’s where it’s deceptive. In almost every state right now – they’re trying to get the right to do phone taps without a warrant. They are also trying to make it where someone can be held in jail without a charge (habeas corpus) until they make a statement. Which means no Miranda rights and also waiving of our 5th amendment. They are not offered immunity nor advised of what might incriminate them before being forced to make a videotaped statement.
9. They are creating multiple states of “advocates” to speak to “victims” that are not bound by confidentially. There are multiple states, like Florida was one example, that has been bringing out to light that they have been giving “advocates” to these women, and then their statements are being used in criminal prosecutions against not just them, and not just their pimp, but other family members as well. The prostitutes are not advised of the confidentiality issue before they start opening their mouths – they are literally “assuming” it’s confidential when it’s not. The reason is simple – if one talks to a minister, or a counselor, or an attorney – the rules of “confidentiality” apply. That person can refuse to testify even if given a subpoena or warrant. I’m an ordained minister- so when someone tells me something in confidence – zip that’s it. However, many women are being deliberately deceiving into incriminating themselves and others and also feeling very betrayed because they thought they could trust this “advocate”.
When the press started leaking out that many “advocates” on these task force NGO’s were not obligated under the confidentiality laws like priests or attorney’s – funny how “fake” groups started appearing. Take the “Cupcake Girls” for example in Nevada. A non-ex sex worker, and a non-survivor of trafficking, or a “normie” in other words, has a bakery shop where she offers a “free cupcake and coffee” to strippers, porn performers, and escorts. She then offers them “resources” to get help for medical issues, housing, legal, etc. “supposedly”. I say “supposedly” because I have yet to hear one single person tell me they’ve been offered any help or resources in connection to their program.
This group has sent other women that are part of the church behind the shop – to go visit sex workers who have just been victims of violence and/or rape in the hospital. They speak to this woman about what happened. Honestly, the women just automatically assume that what they’re saying is being held in confidence. However, no one in the program that’s been listed that I’m aware of is a priest, minister, attorney, nor licensed counselor that’s obligated to keep a confidence when given a subpoena or warrant. They’ve even been given a free hospitality sweet at the AVN award. What a “sweet” position to be overhearing all kinds of conversations. I’m also unaware that any “confidentiality agreement” has been offered to them by the AVN producers barring them from repeating things they overhear.
Am I saying any of them are doing anything like this? I’m saying we need to be clear about who can and who can’t is what I’m saying. I’m a minister and when I say it’s confidential – unless a child or person is in danger – it’s confidential. I’ve received warrants and subpoenas to reveal things said to me in confidence – and I’ve refused them. I’ve also been approached more than once to act as an “informant” because of what we hear on the hotline and I’ve refused. I’ve been offered a monthly income in exchange for being an informant for Nevada police – and I’ve refused. So I think that we need to clarify what groups in what state are talking to these women – and where the rules are being set down.
I’ll give you one hard core example. I sent Brenda Myers Powell of our program a written “cease and desist” letter to stop running any of our meetings when I read a news report that she had taken a job with the Chicago Police Dept. I state in all of our press we are “not connected with law enforcement” and don’t break any confidence. How do I know that she’s not going to repeat something she hears inside of our meetings back to someone in the police dept. if that’s her boss? She’s not a licensed therapist, nor a minister, nor an attorney. As far as I know about the law – she could not refuse a subpoena to break a confidence about what she hears inside of one of our meetings. That said – while she was working for the Chicago police dept. I did not want her at a meeting. As long as she was working for the police – I told her she was welcome to attend our phone meetings – but not local meetings – but as long as she was working for the police – I needed to have her remove herself from running our meetings for that reason.
10. I’d like to create a report where the politicians are each giving a statement as to their position on these issues. I can’t find any directory of their positions on prostitution, or trafficking, or anything. When I’ve asked some directly for a position – they dance around me. Even when they’re written the bill – I still have trouble getting a straight answer. Harry Reid for example says he wants to see that anyone who has a past “connected to prostitutes'” such as David Vitter, not be allowed to accept campaign contributions. That said, I’m sure Dennis would like to see what politicians are supportive of legalizing sex work and who isn’t. Who believes trafficking is real and who doesn’t? Who believes all prostitution is “rape”? I think we need to know where our politicians stand on this issue – especially now we have a presidential election coming up.
11. I think we need to get as many people within the sex industry registered to vote as possible. I think we need to get a “Rock the Vote” campaign going by all of the porn stars and legal prostitutes up at Dennis’ ranch. These right wing Christians are kicking ass and taking names because white wealthy Christians VOTE. I therefore want to see Dennis Hof asking all of his employees, and all of his customers to REGISTER to vote. When they register – I want them to know where the politicians stand on the issue. For that matter – I’d like to organize a campaign for voters on the issues. It’s easy to get a list of registered voters – and to direct information we’d like them to have on the issues. But that takes money. I tell you what – I think the same people who want to legalize pot also would agree that prostitution isn’t a crime either. So I propose that we contact the medical marijuana people and join forces with them. Freedom to put what we want into our bodies – whether that means medical marijuana, whether that means birth control, whether that means a condom, and whether that means a dick. That means the freedom to abort a pregnancy if I want to. I also propose the freedom NOT to – which is support to fight trafficking within the sex industry, as well as even the farmers who are involved in the production of the legal medical marijuana. Freedom to abort a pregnancy if I want is control over my body just as is the right to refuse to be genitally mutilated if I don’t want to as well as to put medical marijuana in my body or a dick in my body with money in my wallet. Freedom to – and freedom not to I think we can agree upon that don’t you. So can I get some help to contact the people within the free choice faction, to the medical marijuana faction, to the anti-genital mutilation faction, the free speech faction who believe they have the right to watch whatever porn they want to (within legal age limits) and honestly I believe if you got porn stars and the Bunny’s from Dennis’ ranch and Hef’s Bunnies – I think we’d kick their ass on getting registered voters involved on the issues.
My members of SWA when they come to us for help are out looking for work, and taking care of kids, and trying to stay clean and out of trouble with the court – and just are really really busy until they get a few years of “time” under their belt. By then – they honestly tend to want to forget they even were in sex work in some fashion. So I’m not going to get them to take time off work to start calling upon people to register to vote. I need help!
Thanks for listening. If you’d like to help – http://www.sexworkersanonymous.com
I’ve had a lot of time to try and understand what in the hell was really going on with the whole project Melissa Farley came to me about in 2006 which became this “Making the Connections” book and press release. I have since learned a great deal that’s taken many years to put all the pieces together. I agree now with Barb Bents who said above “this could not have been a legitimate scientific report”.
It wasn’t.
I was lied to pure and simple when Melissa came to me asking for help to put this report together. My mother died in January of 2006. My daughter was severely ill at the time – we thought she was bipolar. She was having to be confined to the house as she was seeing things, hearing voices, and cutting herself. In 2009, we learned she had a 26 pound tumor on her left ovary which was causing extreme hormones to pump into her system causing a sort of “post partum psychosis”. Once the tumor was removed, those symptoms completely disappeared. But the point was I was unable to work outside the home because of having been caring for my mother for six months before her death, and also my daughter at the same time.
I bring this up because looking back I think Melissa staged coming to me at the time she did knowing I would not be mentally as sharp as I normally am. She came to me saying she needed to do this report for the State Dept. on sex trafficking within the legal businesses of Nevada in order to get funding to create a center which she said was going to be NCAST. Melissa knew that I had been helping women in Nevada who were in unique situations there other than other states. I say that for the reason I moved there in 1996.
The legal brothels are miles and miles from the larger cities on either end of the state. Up until 2012, there were no buses connecting the south end of Nevada to the north end. Meaning if you were in Reno you had no way of getting to Las Vegas on a bus. In the cities where the legal brothels are operating, there are no cabs or limos. On top of this, in many of the cities where brothels operate, it’s literally against the law to walk on the street.
Meaning if you get pissed off and decide you want to leave – you can literally be arrested for simply walking off to try and find a phone to call and get a ride out of there. Since many of the women working there are dropped off because of having a one car household, or not having a drivers license, or even a car of their own, this means they are literally trapped in these brothels with no way out. They can’t even pay a cab to come down from the major cities to come and pick them up because their money isn’t given to them upon demand, sometimes not at all. Most of the time their income goes to their “manager”. Meaning again, they have literally no way out of there unless they can call someone and say “come and get me out of here”.
Which is why we relocated to Nevada to be able to do just that when getting that type of call. If you doubt that’s what we do, you can review tweets between us and Christina Parriera. At about 3 am one morning she said to her followers “I want out of here”. I responded we were “on our way”. It can be sometimes 800 miles from where we are to where these women are, so before we reached Christina, she responded she had “changed her mind” and we aborted the pick-up.
If you read about Charles Horky’s arrest, then you now know that many of the cab and limo services were owned by the very people some of the dancers, entertainers, escorts, etc. were wanting to get away from.
If you’ve also now read about Chief Gillispie’s arrest, along with other officers, as well as Joohon David Lee’s arrest, and even the charges of sexual harassment of a northern Nevada police officer, than you also understand that many of these sex workers in Nevada can’t just call the police for help. Besides, the police only come to take a report of a crime. They don’t go and pick up prostitutes or strippers who decide they’re in a bad situation and want to get the hell out of Dodge and can’t find a way to do so. Even the Salvation Army and all of domestic violence shelters in Nevada will tell you they “don’t pick up” those who come to them for help. Meaning you have to get there on your own.
So you see why I was getting so many calls from 1988 after I did this Sally show where women working at the Mustang appeared with me from women wanting me to help them get the hell out of where they were, who couldn’t manage to do so otherwise for one reason or another, that I finally relocated there in 1996. I bring up the show which you can google on youtube, because if you watch this show you’ll see three women up on the panel promoting how great it is to work at the ranch. However, after the taping stopped, one of those women came up to me in the hallway asking me to “get her the hell out of there”. When I asked what was wrong she reported to me that Joe had drugged her, then forced her at gunpoint onto a privately chartered plane, telling her to say what she’d said on the show. I have no way of knowing if it was true or not but she was terrified and wanted my help to not get back on that plane with him. We were in Chicago and I put her in a place I was working with at that time and she’d been out ever since of the industry. Word of her disappearance spread and more and more women started calling me for the same type of help. The more you know about Joe – the more you understand why these women were scared and also felt they couldn’t go to the police for help. This is not an indictment of the sex industry – but of men like Joe who dominate through fear.
If you go through shows Joe’s done with others, you won’t find one other person in the sex industry who has gone up against him as I did on that Sally show alone. Nor were there any other groups going up into Nevada helping these women, churches included. Sure it’s easy to set up a Salvation Army shelter – 800 miles away from the women needing help and then not providing them any means to get there. We have clips at http://www.hightechmadam.com with quotes from some of the women we helped to leave pimps like this in Nevada and as far as I know are the only group who has done this type of work there.
So who else was Melissa going to go to in order to get this report done but me? At first I wasn’t interested, but she could teach a pimp tricks (no pun intended). She took me to an architect’s office and showed me he could design any type of center and residential treatment program we wanted to build. Then took me to speak to a church leader who committed to put any type of money behind our work after he heard what we were doing. She trotted me from one end of Nevada to the other telling these church leaders, professors, and business people of the work we were doing in order to enlist their support of NCAST. A program for which she told me I was going to be in “charge of direct services for a yearly salary of $120,000”.
Sounded like a dream come true. To finally get a salary for the work i’d been doing since 1987 for free. All I had to do was allow Melissa to interview the women we’d worked with out of Nevada. I agreed thinking it was “in the best interest of the group” to bring in this type of federal, political, and financial support. I mean some of these women we had to talk truck drivers into giving them a ride back to their family out of state because we didn’t have money to buy them a plane ticket! It also frankly appealed to me to think that what these women were going through was going to be heard also. You have to realize the legal age for sex in Nevada is 15 years old. So they were doing to 16 year old’s there what if you did to a girl in California would have wound you up in the penn. One of the reasons why men like Kemp Shiffer was recruiting women out of California into Nevada in fact.
I had no idea what a mistake I was making, nor what Farley was all about. Because she’d written books like “Trauma and Prostitution” I “assumed” she was on “our side”. Key word here – assumed. It didn’t cross my mind that while I was DOING all this work Melissa never stepped in to offer help, but when she wanted information all of a sudden she’s our best friend. That was my first sign I missed there was a problem here. Like an idiot, I let her speak to these women we’d helped get out of horrible situations in Nevada.
What I didn’t realize however is that in interviewing them – she learned how we operated and executed these rescues. She also learned who our supporters were, who helped us accomplish these things, and basically she was able to develop an inside view of our organization that no trafficker or pimp could because we’d never let them in on that type of operational information.
I was only asked to allow her access to do her report so I was really caught off guard when she started asking me to do the press conference. I refused at first. There was no way I going going to “state an opinion on an outside issue” as the founder of Sex Workers Anonymous from a press podium. Melissa insisted that I was going to just provide validation that the research we’d provided her was in fact “true” and that this was not what I was going to be asked to do. She insisted people would say she was “lying” about what was in the report, and that I had to be willing to stand behind it to verify it was in fact true by presenting it at this press conference. I still insisted I was not willing to make such a public appearance as I had a very sick daughter at home and I honestly didn’t want her doctors to know anything about my background or what I was involved with. I then was reminded that if I did this – that I’d be “providing for her future” by the fact this report, and press conference, would be setting me up in a job where I could “properly provide for her care”.
This woman was laying it on thick. She was telling me Gloria Steinhem was “so impressed with my work she was going to personally give us a $10,000 grant and a full article spread in Ms Magazine”. This woman even had me out looking for offices where we could set up headquarters once the grant from Gloria came through so we could start up operations until we got the federal grant and started building the center.
Literally the night before the press conference, I was asked to meet with her at her hotel. When I went to meet her in the restaurant, Brenda Myers-Powell and Kathleen Mitchell were there. Brenda was running a Chicago chapter and Kathleen the Phoenix chapter of Sex Workers Anonymous. I had no idea they were even coming. They hadn’t called me. Melissa hadn’t told me. When I asked what was going on – I was told Melissa had “flown them out to offer me moral support for the press conference”. This was when I was introduced to Chong Kim. I had no idea who she was. When I asked I was told “she’s another survivor” and that was it. I later learned why she was there – Melissa was giving her the “air of credibility” in case I decided not to cooperate with her plans. What I couldn’t understand was why if they were there to ‘offer me emotional support” why neither one of them had even called me to tell me they were coming before seeing them there in the restaurant.
As I’ve said before, at the press conference as I’m literally being mike’d by the sound guy and the lights are going on us Melissa pulls me over to the side. She then asks me to make two statements from the podium to the press for her. The first was she wanted me to “call to outlaw the whole sex industry” and the second was she wanted me to say that “all prostitution was rape”. My mouth flew open in shock. Not only at her timing, but over the fact those are not only not my own personal beliefs, they totally do “express an opinion on an outside issue” and further the second statement is a complete lie. I have never lied to the press ever and I wouldn’t even be there at that podium with Melissa using my reputation for honesty if I was known for lying. I told her emphatically I was not going to get up in front of the press and lie for her for any reason. I told her if I made such a ludicrous statement as “all prostitution is rape” then I will lose instantly the trust and respect of the very members I’m trying to encourage to call our hotline for help. It’s like saying “everyone who drinks is an alcoholic”. It’s just not a true statement.
So I didn’t. I was really confused when Chong Kim was sat next to me and when called upon read a poem. When I asked Melissa “WTF?” she said “oh she’s so traumatized she couldn’t speak about it” as her response. As the reporters talked to us individually after the conference, I noticed Melissa taking reporters into the hallway to speak to them privately. When I went home and turned on the news I was completely dumb founded to see she had said that I had “called to outlaw the sex industry” and further “all prostitution was rape”. Evidently, she’d told the reporters in the hallway this was my feelings even after I had told her I wouldn’t stand behind those statements.
So now I have a target on my ass. The next morning I had an interview with a reporter for the Review Journal. I met her in the coffee shop where she invited me down to the paper to have my photo taken. I was confused. Why would I put my photo in the paper when I’m doing rescues? I refused. She then revealed the photo was not going to have been used for an article anyway. When I asked what she meant by that – she told me she was delivering a message to me from Sheldon Adelson that “my name, and the name of Sex Workers Anonymous, was now “blacklisted” in any media publication that Sheldon had any power or control over for the rest of my life no matter how many women died for not finding help with us”. And then she left me there speechless. So now Melissa’s got me blacklisted and I feel like a deer that’s just been run over on the highway.
Later that afternoon, my power goes off. The power company is insisting I now owe them $2000 for my now dead mother and grandmother’s power bill. Assemblyman Bob Beers had promised to back me up at the conference, so he made a phone call and got my power back on. By the next morning, my car’s been completely demolished, and my telephone, TV, cable and phone lines have been cut. Even more interesting, when I call in these companies they claim I had “called to turn off service” just hours ago. Strange. Then my landlord claims I owe rent I don’t owe and eviction proceedings start.
Basically, Melissa and everyone else has flown out of Nevada and I’m not taking the shit storm that’s resulting from the words Melissa put in my mouth. Next thing I know I’m getting a call from the church I’d spoken to asking me if I got the check they sent me. What check? More calls like that came in adding up to $180,000. When I asked where the check was – they told me “we gave it to Melissa since she’s got the 501c3”. When I asked Melissa about these donations she initially told me “yes and when we reach our goal of $300,000 you’ll get your yearly salary of $120,000 so hang tight”.
Only I now have a sick kid, and a rescue operation to run, with calls now coming in from the press conference from people wanting help, and I have no car. I start asking where my $10,000 is from Gloria. Melissa had also promised me a work at home job as a research assistant. Where was the work? I needed money to get another car or this one repaired and I needed it now – not next year.
When I pushed on her about some type of money or advance to get a car – she then suddenly went 180 on me. She started saying “money? what money? I didn’t get any money” and “NCAST? Oh I didn’t ask you to be on the board of NCAST” and clearly playing games letting me know I’d just been fucked over royal.
It gets better. The press conference was in September. In October, I read about Shared Hope having just finished a report on “trafficking in Nevada”. As I start reading quotes from this report – I am reading quotes from the report I’d just done with Melissa word for word. I went to some of these people who were quoted and asked them “did you give a second interview to Shared Hope?” They said “no you were the only person we spoke to”. Meaning that this report contains my work, my cases, my statistics, but it’s been redated and every mention of my name or our group’s name has been removed. I checked and the report was even dated April. So clearly these people were not only repackaging my work and report, but they were now claiming it was theirs. Who is my witness it’s my work and my cases they’re talking about? Melissa?
Through this blog, and Tits & Sass, I put out the alert that Melissa had royally fucked us over. Sex workers being loyal as they are – everyone closed ranks on her and refused to speak to her at all. Problem was she not only had an agenda, but she had a contract to do research on trafficking at a native American reservation and NO ONE was talking to her.
So what does she do? She pays Brenda Myers-Powell to start posting videos, tweets, and news articles claiming that “Prostitutes Anonymous” (our program’s original name) is now “calling to abolish prostitution” and other such attacks upon the industry itself. Many sex worker groups and advocates are now hearing that “Prostitutes Anonymous” is now attacking them. My phone starts ringing off the hook with people screaming at me “how could you say this?”
I’m telling them “I’m not saying this!”. I served Brenda Myers-Powell with one “cease and desist” letter from attorney after attorney and she’s not stopping. Why should she now she’s getting funding from Shawnee Hunt and Warren Buffet? How did I know? I had asked the Sunshine Ladies, a group founded by Warren Buffet’s wife for a grant. I called to check on that grant about then and they said “oh yes we sent Prostitutes Anonymous out the check for $5,000 last week”. I was like “what check?” They told me they’d “sent it to Chicago”. When I started to file a a lawsuit against the Sunshine Ladies for doing this to Brenda when she’s not in any position of any power in this program, and she did not have our consent to apply for any money in our name, etc. they literally folded up shop and became another nonprofit meaning it would cost me a fortune to try and sue over this at that point in time.
When Melissa couldn’t get any “real” sex worker to speak the words her and Ms. Hunt wanted – they created Stella Marr. When she was exposed as a fake person, a “catfish”, they went over with Nicholas Kristof and created Samoly Mam. Please note that Samaly Mam was created by the publicist who works for Facebook by the way because it’s relevant further on down the line.
One by one by one, every group who had been providing us referrals and support I’m hearing about getting arrested. Avenues we use to do our rescues are being sealed up by Polaris. I’m starting to notice one by one by one it seems like someone has a playbook of how we operate and they’re sealing up every possible avenue of how we operate and do what we do. But how would they know?
After getting people pissed off at me, then creating a “fake” survivor to lead them in other directions, Melissa completes her research on the reservation. But I found something else very interesting was done with that report. Because as the women talked about how they were so called “victimized” – a profile of the men who bought services from them was created. This was turned into a “marketing report” which I then saw Facebook and Google put into operation for their mutual projects. Google is launching Oculus and Facebook has this application where a man can type in his zip code and find the nearest escort service, massage parlor, porn product, adult store, massage parlor, etc. I even saw the “beta testing” for the product on Facebook to direct men into buying these services and products.
I start seeing these “reports” coming out of these “john arrests” that are now being called “end demand”. Only Melissa already knows that when you arrest a john it doesn’t do jack shit to “end demand” anymore than Prohibition ended the demand for booze, or pot being illegal did anything to stop demand, etc. But guess what IS coming out of these so called “end demand” operations?
For one thing, only minority men are being targeted. Their cars are being impounded and sold just like if they’d tried to buy drugs. So we’re making marijuana legal and can’t take those cars – so we’re going to replace those arrests and impounds with “johns”. I later learned an Act had been passed in 1996. You can read about it in “From Jail to Deportation” by Patricia Rojas. Turns out that government now needs 35,000 inmates in beds at any given time. So in the need to get inmates into those beds – what easier quicker cheaper way to do it than by targeting “johns”? Any celebrity, politician, or even cop isn’t going to pick up streetwalkers so what are they worried about?
On top of selling their cars, generating revenue for the courts, and also filling up beds, as well as generating more aliens into the system they can hang onto indefinitely before deporting them for even more money (does anyone remember Obama BEGGING to have them give him something to sign to please process these aliens because they weren’t processing them?) I soon learn that the “johns” were being questioned and their answers turned into a “marketing report” going right back to Google, and Facebook – two contributors, heavy contributors, to Polaris by the way.
After I realized Melissa had been taking me on a ride, I’ve since seen her go on to do the same damage only to others more than willing to say “anything for a buck” such as Beth Jacobs in Arizona, Brenda Myers-Powell, and even Kathleen Mitchell. Oh they’ve been getting awards, and dinners, and even posters made of them in NY, as well as grant money and who knows how much money for jumping on the Swanee and Melissa background. But I don’t think even they realize what I now realize – Melissa is truly working both sides of the fence.
Because when I see her research being sold to help support so called “trafficking programs” and also used as marketing reports for Facebook and Google to help sell interact 3D porn – well I call that being a “double agent”. Melissa Farley is absolutely NOT on our side. Not when I’m hearing the results of what’s being done to women within these systems that are getting grants from the Hunt Family Foundation.
Reminds me of how the Nazi’s got Jews to lead other Jews into the showers. She sure got behind my enemy lines that way. I don’t believe Polaris is what they’re representing themselves to be any longer either. Not when they’re taking money from Palantir Technologies who is essentially the CIA. The same CIA who was involved in Iran Contra and the sex trafficking of women during same for which I understand an International Court did find the USA guilty of.
Also reminds me of an interview I saw by the once head of Israeli Intelligence on the film “Green Prince”. He said “people don’t betray others by wanting to hurt them – but by saying what they say thinking they’re helping them”.
I have personally called Polaris myself and asked them to help me with real actual cases of sex trafficking. They’ve flat refused any help. So what’s that tell you about their real purpose? I mean why would they shut down Rhode Island prostitution but not TOUCH Nevada’s legal brothels?
I remember during Prohibition that Al Capone used to tip off the police when and where to shut down his competitors also. All the more reason why I believe we’re not going to end sex trafficking until we decriminalize it entirely.