Want to know what it’s like to be a prostitute in a NYC brothel? Definitely not Pretty Woman. Sonia Ossorio, president of NOW-NYC, tells it like it is in her article “Voices of NOW NYC: Aiming for a “Trafficking Free NYC”. She doesn’t sugar coat it. A gipping picture indeed…
“If you never had a picture of what the low-budget, factory-style prostitution that makes up much of the local NYC sex industry, this is it – up close, uncomfortable and a mockery of sex and all it stands for – pleasure, sharing, sexual empowerment and women’s liberation.
At the beginning of each shift, the women are given a produce box top with two rolls of paper towels, a bottle of lube, alcohol and a baggie filled with unwrapped condoms. The condoms are prepped much like vegetables at restaurants before the rush hits. There are tips that go to the men who stand on the corners as dusk sets in and pass out business cards for the brothels and give directions to the houses where sex can be bought $30 for 15 minutes. The price went up this year from $25.”
Many of these brothels are advertised in the yellow pages and local magazines – some showing pictures of children! NOW-NYC is spearheading a campaign called “Trafficking Free NYC!” asking publishers to use common sense, do some basic due diligence and stop taking ads that exploit women through commercial sex work. To learn more about NOW-NYC, click here.