Experts: Seattle needs more resources to help people leave sex work behind
SEATTLE - Sex work happens every single day in our community. In Seattle, it often happens in plain sight.
Just last week, Seattle Police Department arrested two teens for human trafficking. Then, days later, the FBI arrested a man posing as an undercover cop who kidnapped a woman in Seattle, then locked her in his home's garage in Oregon.
People wanting to move on from sex work are finding there aren't many resources available to help them in that next step. Locally, there is only one emergency shelter for people in the sex trade looking to get off the streets.
No matter what part of town you live in, sex trade happens in each of our neighborhoods every day.
"Next door to us is a smoke shop where they've offered to employ our clients in exchange for sex," said Audrey Baedke, director of programs and co-founder of REST (Real Escape from Sex Trade). "Went and looked at some apartments right across the street from here and the man said, ‘do you want the price with or without?’ Meaning, he would reduce it if she had sex with him."
The city of Seattle recently made efforts to minimize the number of sex workers along Aurora Avenue. While you may not see as many sex workers walking up and down the sidewalks because of those efforts, people are still selling women for sex.
"The number one people move is online," Baedke said. "And it's really common for people who are walking the streets to also have an online ad or a dozen that they're managing at the same time. So, it's just a way to diversify where they are getting their customers."
REST offers services for people wanting to leave sex work and offers support for people still engaged.
"It's really easy for people to look away or not care because the sex trade is hard to look at," Baedke said. "When we look at how society encourages this and feeds on this, it can be hard to actually look at it. Let alone donate to it and care about it."
According to REST, up to 3,000 people in Seattle are sexually exploited every night and about 500 of those are minors.
"They have a trafficker who targets them specifically because of their vulnerabilities, who builds trust with them and then turns them out," Baedke said.
Advocate speaks to misinformation about sex work in Seattle
The City of Seattle is making efforts to minimize the amount of sex work happening on Aurora Avenue. But is that enough to solve the chronic issue of sex trafficking in Seattle? Or, does it just move the problem elsewhere?
FOX 13 spoke to one woman involved with the rest organization. She asked not to identify her for privacy. She shared her experience working in strip clubs.
"I had already had my first son," she said. "I was in a domestic violence situation. I had a felony on my record so it was really hard to get a job."
At 21 years old, it was a family member who suggested that this single mom try stripping for money. She told FOX 13, working in those clubs - she witnessed ongoing sexual assault.
"Even if you're there dancing and taking your clothes off for money," she said. "You don't just want to be grabbed or sexually assaulted. You're guaranteed to be sexually assaulted -- when you walk by a customer, they feel they have the right to touch your body."
While she never sold herself for sex -- she said for others, stripping often served as a gateway into sex trade.
"It was just like a lightbulb," she said. "Like, God just touched me and was like, ‘is this what you want for your future and for your family?’"
She started a new life and shared the struggles of other survivors trying to find a place to stay and money to buy essentials.
"They have to go and live in the mainstream world with everyone else - but what does that look like," she said. "And what steps do you even take to start?"
Places like REST provides support for financial education and interpersonal counseling.
"To be able to close a door and know that you don't have anyone watching you, that you know that you're able to just rest can, again, just provide safety in a way that no one else can," Baedke said.
REST helps about 600 people each year. Baedke said they could do more if they had the resources. REST only has seven emergency shelter beds for women looking to get out, and it's a never-ending cycle on the streets.
"With drugs, you sell it once and your product is gone," Baedke said. "But with human trafficking, they can use that person over and over again."
REST's shelter bed space is almost always at capacity. The organization allows people to stay in its shelter for 30 days, but lets them stay up to 90 days, if needed.