Many start as strippers. Some "work" out of a car, a club or by way of the Internet. They see themselves as "sex workers. Cole directs the ecumenical Christian, nonprofit organization that provides "a network of care" to women leaving prostitution and sexual exploitation β a monumental task in Anchorage, where the oldest "profession" in the world is thriving.
According to Sgt. And now, prostitution is moving stealthily into cyberspace. She told Cole that men who like the profiles "just order us. According to federal law, this includes prostituting girls under age 18, regardless of their willingness.
Sometimes, these girls and women are brought into an area by sex traffickers. But five years ago, when the FBI began ferreting out networks in Alaska that prey on foreign-born women, it started uncovering a number of domestic sex trafficking networks, Anchorage FBI special agent Jolene Goeden told the Anchor. After "years" of investigation by the FBI, Webster was charged with and convicted of multiple counts of sex trafficking.
Often those caught by authorities are cited and released with a ticket and a court date. But Goeden added that "in order to get a woman clean enough β off of drugs and alcohol β sometimes, jail is the only option we have.
Meanwhile, Lacey said the APD helps connect each arrested woman to what she needs to get off the street, including drug and alcohol treatment, work and housing. Sometimes, "their trafficker or their pimp has literally physically beat it into them" that the law is the enemy. Enter Mary Magdalene Home Alaska. Founded in , the group aims to help sexually exploited women transform their lives "spiritually, mentally and physically.
