Prostitution/sexual exploitation is not new, but it has changed significantly. The numerous on- line venues and financial mobile applications has largely replaced older forms of solicitation. The normalization of prostitution, a growing demand has also contributed to a global sex trade along with an increase in massive economic disparities throughout the world as well as here in Boston. Racial and economic injustice has rendered too many young women into a violent sex trade. The majority of those most impacted here in Boston are young women from our own communities. Like many US cities, it is our own failed policies rendering women vulnerable as more than half of those that come through our safe home program report to have aged out of systems, unprepared for life with little or no positive family supports.

Exit programs are critical in to ensuring access to safety and resources and can break intergenerational cycles of poverty, violence and exploitation that has become so commonplace in our communities

Sex trafficking and prostitution is a complicated issue that requires:

Education and public awareness of the realities and harms of the sex trade, how trafficking and
prostitution is intertwined, and who is most impacted.

Strategies for intervention and prevention The EVA Center works with those that want out of prostitution often seeking safety and stability in their lives. The women that come through our Center have endured multiple forms of abuse, therefore, our programming aims to provide long term peer support and an array of resources that help women heal and lead healthier lives and build healthier communities.

Legislation that is a comprehensive set of laws that shifts the focus onto the buyers, that continues to hold traffickers accountable, that works to abolish the offense of solicitation (selling) while ensuring exit programming for those who want out. To effectively reduce the sex trade, it is important to look at countries that have effective models that need to be replicated such as Sweden, France, Ireland, Iceland and others.