| Description: | | In July 2000, the Center for Impact Research (CIR) began investigating prostitution in the Chicago metropolitan area. This document is the results of these investigation. The first phase of the project establishes an estimate of the prevalence of prostitution activities, documenting that a minimum of 16,000 women and girls are engaged regularly in the prostitution industry. Due to violence, substance abuse, homelessness, and health problems, women often are unable to safely exit prostitution. The second phase of the project examines the lives of women in prostitution, in order to better understand their needs for services and support. CIR trained 12 prostitution survivors to conduct in-depth interviews with women who were currently, or had recently been, involved in prostitution. In all, 222 women representing various segments of the prostitution industry were interviewed. While this was not a random sample, and is not representative of all women engaged in prostitution, the result is large enough to provide helpful information. |
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