Arrest Clipping from the L.A. TimesMay 1985
TV & Radio News Dubbed Her "High Tech Madam"
Click on PDF above to see clipping
Phoenix News March 1990 (note: Kathleen Mitchell first wrote us when she was in jail in Arizona.
After her release - she formed a Prostitutes Anonymous meeting there as part of Dignity.)
Milwaukee Journal February 1990 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
However, House's attorney, Sandra Ruffalo, told Landry that House now belonged to Prostitutes Anonymous, an organization that sought to help former ..
Morning Call April 1990 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
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Morning Call April 1991 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
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Chicago Sun Times July 1991 (note: this is when a PA meeting was started in Chicago.)
Morning Call April 1993 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
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USA Today July 1993 (not seen in abstract)
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San Diego Union October 1993 (note: quote not in abstract)
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Toronto Star 1996 (note: quote not in abstract)
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Salon Magazine August 1999
Salon Magazine early September 1999
Salon Magazine September 1999
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/1999/09/30/nancy24
Salon Magazine October 1999
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/chan/1999/12/06/tracy41
Salon Magazine early September 1999
Salon Magazine September 1999
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/1999/09/30/nancy24
Salon Magazine October 1999
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/chan/1999/12/06/tracy41
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/1999/08/05/nancy8
Washington Post May 2003 (not seen in abstract)
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Fort Worth Star January 2005 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
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Las Vegas Review Journal September 2007 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
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San Antonio Press January 2009 (note: excerpt not in abstract)
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Click here to see May 1985 news clipping about high profile arrest
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| Los Angeles Times Article about Prostitutes Anonymous Unhooking From Hooking Prostitutes Anonymous offers support to those who want to leave the street and find recovery. | |
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| Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Los Angeles, Calif. | |
| Author: | BARBARA BRONSON GRAY |
| Date: | Oct 29, 1993 |
| Start Page: | 37 |
| Section: | Valley Life; Zones Desk |
| Text Word Count: | 729 |
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| Document Text | |
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They meet one night a week in an office building in Van Nuys. Mostly women, they talk about their lives as prostitutes, why it seems so hard to quit and the problems that the lifestyle seems to create: eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, spending addictions and stress. Started in 1987, Prostitutes Anonymous was created to help others unhook from hooking, says founder Jody Williams, 32, of North Hollywood, once a prostitute and now a paralegal. The group is a 12-step program, one of many today based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Anyone who has a desire to leave prostitution and find recovery can join. Prospective members see the PA help line listed in local newspapers and call to find out about it. Some have staked out the building for weeks before going in, wondering if the meeting was a police trap. Others say they no longer care about getting caught; they just want help in getting out. "How do you go from making $2,000 a day to earning $7 an hour?" Williams says. The group is there to help members adjust to realistic earning expectations as well as deal with the emotional toll. Williams, who is married to another ex-hooker-the couple have a 2-year-old daughter-says: "I spent five years in prostitution, seeking every kind of help there was." She insists: "No one understands this business." The best way to get out of prostitution and learn to deal with the problems it leaves in its wake is to be with others who can coach you from their own experience, she says. Williams started hooking when she was a cocktail waitress in the San Fernando Valley. "I saw a lot of money flying around, and I was seduced." At first, she saw the work as temporary, an effort at getting financially stabilized. But after a while, Williams realized that she was so damaged, she could not just get up and walk away. "I realized this was not a summer job; I was a whore." Typically, that is when fear sets in, she says. Prostitutes discover that they are addicted to the lifestyle, and help is hard to find. Williams says PA members can usually succeed in getting people to stop hooking within two meetings, but it takes about two years in the group before they feel better. Jaime C. Jameson of Van Nuys, who was once an active member of PA, says the weekly meetings work. "It costs nothing; it's a support system run by ex-prostitutes who have had the same experiences." She says other organizations offering support groups do not understand the pervasive and long-lasting wounds and the shame that ex-hookers must cope with. "The years in prostitution leave a legacy, a damage to the self-concept and intimacy problems," Jameson says. It was only by talking and listening to others who had been experiencing the same crises that she could face her situation, she says. Anne, a 23-year-old Valley woman who once worked for escort agencies, has been in PA for about four months. She joined when she started having frequent nightmares and was miserable in her struggle to quit prostitution. "The PA members knew how to deal with me; they talked to me directly, and I didn't have to be Miss Polite," she says. Anne says she tried other groups in her search for help, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous, even though she was not a substance abuser. But since she wasn't talking about alcoholism or using cocaine, the members were not listening, she says. "PA helps me understand that prostitution is a different kind of addiction," she says. "If I didn't have PA, I know I'd be out on the street." Williams says there are 100,000 PA members in six countries. For those who are not interested in coming to regular meetings, the organization offers phone and letter support. A book, "Sold Out," by Williams, is available for $20, or $5 for a condensed version. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. | |
Jody, Thanks for reading my blog especially because when rereading the blog because of your post I noticed there was some editing that needed to be done. As far as Ms Swanson goes I have limited contact with her. My information comes from a presentation Ms Swanson made at my daughter's High School. Her husband is a Metro officer or was and the head of the metro task Karen Hughes I beleive her name was was also at the presentation http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-officer-testifies-on-efforts-to-help-sex-trade-victims-147424045.html.... I have limited resources as I must work a real job but do have experience as a news writer and would be interested in writing some articles based on your experience and would be happy to write some for your site ...Thank You and email me anytime at rmhopper3@yahoo.com
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