HELP US SUPPORT MORE WOMEN IN 2010
 
Over the last year, Project Respect has been able to support more women in the sex industry, including those who have been trafficked to Australia. Our outreach program has expanded into southern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne and we are supporting more women who are dealing with homelessness, addictions, histories of abuse, family violence and having their children removed
 
We have also supported women like Mae who was brought to Australia from Thailand by her trafficker thinking she was going to work in a restaurant. On arrival in Australia she was abused, forced to do prostitution, kept at the brothel, given speed so that she could ‘work’ all night, and suffered terrible violence from her traffickers and clients. She was forced to provide prostitution to hundreds of men to pay off a ‘debt’ of $50,000, which her traffickers said she owed them for bringing her to Australia. Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar for hundreds of woman across Australia.
 
Mae has since been supported to have English classes, complete a TAFE course, receive counselling, and now has permanent residency and a decent job. Many other women are receiving critical support to find a home, get their children back, undertake courses, have peer support and reconnect with the wider community.
 
Project Respect provides comprehensive programs which reflect women’s needs and goals. In response to women’s requests, in 2008 we developed and delivered Victoria’s first exit program for women wishing to leave the sex industry. The program was a great success, supporting women to connect with peers and share their stories, process traumatic experiences, access other services for legal and financial advice, and achieve their aims to leave and stay out of the sex industry. In 2009, we continued to facilitate peer support with free community lunches at our office. The peer support group has grown and grown, with more women enjoying the opportunity to connect with women, outside of the brothel environment, who have had similar experiences, and to work with Project Respect staff. It’s been inspiring to watch the positive changes in women, as they deal with their own difficulties, support other women, and take leadership roles in Project Respect services. The success of these programs shows how great a need there is for specialist, non-judgemental services, including peer support-based programs.
 
However, being a small organisation, we reach just under half of all licensed brothels in Victoria. Our vision for 2010 is to support more women, to provide further counselling and outreach, to help more women like Mae achieve amazing outcomes and recover from profound trauma. We want to see more people in the Australian community aware of the discrimination and violence faced by women with experience of the sex industry, including trafficked women, in order to change attitudes with ignore or condone these women’s experiences.
 
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
 
To do this we need your help. We are looking for 500 individuals by the end of December to give a regular financial contribution in 2010, starting from $15 a month upwards.
 
This ongoing funding would help us reach more women in Melbourne and support our day-to-day operations through:

• More outreach and case management services for women in the sex industry with an additional outreach worker in Victoria, which would enable us to reach the majority of brothels;
• Expanding our program of peer support, including employing a peer support worker(s);
• Helping women access alternative education and employment pathways;
• Support for our day to day operations and ability to have administration assistant;

 
You can download a brochure here with an appeal slip detailing more of our work and projects to support women who are or have been in the sex industry. You can complete this form and send it to Project Respect, PO Box 1323, Collingwood 1323 or give a donation online at www.projectrespect.org.au/donate
 
Thankyou for your support: a financial gift from $15 per month can help support and empower a woman to realise her potential and own self worth.