Garden of Truth: the Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota
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MISWAC cover full wrap final_Layout 1 10/19/11 2:32 PM Page 1 Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota By Melissa Farley Nicole Matthews Sarah Deer Guadalupe Lopez Christine Stark Eileen Hudon Research by Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition and Prostitution Research & Education Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota by Melissa Farley, Nicole Matthews, Sarah Deer, Guadalupe Lopez, Christine Stark, Eileen Hudon A project of Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition and Prostitution Research & Education October 27, 2011 William Mitchell College of Law Saint Paul, Minnesota Cover art by Catherine Whipple, Managing Editor, The Circle: News from a Native American Perspective Nicole Matthews (MIWSAC) is at <[email protected]> Melissa Farley (PRE) is at <[email protected]> 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................................01 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................................03 QUOTES FROM NATIVE WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION................................................................05 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................................................................06 FORWARD BY TWO INTERVIEWERS.............................................................................................08 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................10 Definitions...................................................................................................................................................10 Native People in Minnesota.........................................................................................................................11 Impact of Colonial History on Native Women............................................................................................13 Traumatic Antecedents to Prostitution Among Native Women..................................................................15 Social Harms................................................................................................................................................16 METHOD...................................................................................................................................................19 Procedure.....................................................................................................................................................20 RESULTS...................................................................................................................................................22 Demographics. ............................................................................................................................................22 Table 1. Age, Age of Entry, and Length of Time in Prostitution of Native American Prostituted Women Compared to Those Prostituted in 9 Countries................................................22 National and Tribal Identities......................................................................................................................22 Table 2. Tribal Identities of 105 Prostituted Native American Women in Minnesota.....................24 Locations Where Women Were Prostituted and Trafficked........................................................................25 Table 3. Locations Where 105 Minnesota Native Women Were Prostituted and Knew of Others Prostituting...........................................................................................................................27 Native American Women in Prostitution are Frequently Pimped...............................................................27 Ethnicity of Men Who Buy Native Women for Use in Prostitution............................................................27 VIOLENCE IN THE LIVES OF NATIVE WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION......................................28 Table 4. Violence in Prostitution of Native American Women and in a Study of Prostitution in 9 Countries...................................................................................................................................28 Table 5. Number of Types of Lifetime Violence of 105 Native American Women in Prostitution Compared to Those Prostituted in 9 Countries...............................................................................29 Physical and Mental Health Problems.........................................................................................................29 Table 6. Chronic Health Problems of 105 Native American Women in Minnesota Prostitution....30 The Emotional Reality of Prostitution.........................................................................................................31 Racism.........................................................................................................................................................32 Connecting Colonization and Prostitution...................................................................................................32 The Women's Connections and Disconnections with their Cultural Identities...........................................34 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder......................................................................................................................35 Table 7. PTSD Diagnosis and Self-Health Ratings of Native Women in Minnesota Prostitution.......................................................................................................................................37 2 Dissociation..................................................................................................................................................37 Table 8. Symptoms of Dissociation in Native Women Prostituting in Minnesota............................38 Substance Abuse..........................................................................................................................................39 ANTECEDENTS TO PROSTITUTION IN THE LIVES OF NATIVE WOMEN.............................40 Childhood Sexual Abuse..............................................................................................................................40 Rape as Adults.............................................................................................................................................40 Boarding Schools.........................................................................................................................................41 Foster and Adoptive Care.............................................................................................................................41 Arrests as Children and as Adults................................................................................................................42 Table 9. Arrests of Minnesota Native Prostituted Women as Minors and as Adults.......................43 SERVICES USED BY NATIVE WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION........................................................45 Substance Abuse Programs..........................................................................................................................45 Homeless Shelters........................................................................................................................................45 Domestic Violence Programs.......................................................................................................................46 Sexual Assault Programs..............................................................................................................................47 Other Services..............................................................................................................................................47 Urgent Needs of Native Women Who Seek to Escape Prostitution............................................................47 Table 10. Needs of 105 Prostituted Native American Women.........................................................48 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS..........................................................................................49 REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................57 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GOAL Since Native women are at exceptionally high risk for poverty, homelessness, and sexual violence which are elements in the trafficking of women, and because the needs of Native women are generally not being met, and because prostituted women are at extremely high risk for violence and emotional trauma, our goal was to assess the life circumstances of Native women in prostitution in Minnesota, a group of women not previously studied in research such as this. We assessed their needs and the extent to which those needs are or are not being met. METHOD We interviewed 105 Native women in prostitution for approximately 1.5 hours each, administering 4 questionnaires that asked about family history, sexual and physical violence throughout their lifetimes, homelessness, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociation, use of available services such as domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, rape crisis centers, and substance abuse treatment.