Timing Is Everything
Posted on: Saturday, September 23, 2006
Sisters Offering Support closing
By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
As police battle a rise in prostitution on O'ahu, the only organization in the Islands aimed at helping prostitutes escape sexual exploitation for better lives is closing because of a lack of money.
Over the last decade, organizers said Sisters Offering Support has helped hundreds leave prostitution. It has also worked to prevent young people from being lured into the industry, promoted safe sex among prostitutes and helped federal authorities reduce sex trafficking
in Hawai'i."
It has been the most rewarding years of my life, being part of an organization that has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals get out of an exploitative lifestyle," said Lorraine Faithful, executive director since 2001.
"For so many years, I've been helping to build the organization. Now, I'm having to tear it down." Residents and advocates for women say closure of the nonprofit is a loss to the community and couldn't come at a worse time.
In August, Honolulu police reported prostitution arrests were up in 2005 for the first time in four years. Last year, prostitution arrests jumped 51 percent from 2004, from 265 to 401 islandwide, according to police statistics.
The increase, along with a July homicide linked to prostitution, spurred an outcry Downtown, with residents calling for prostitution free zones and tougher sentences for prostitutes and "clients" who get caught.
Tom Smyth, Downtown Honolulu Neighborhood Board chairman, said bringing harsher punishments against prostitutes will likely decrease crime. But the best deterrent, he said, is to get prostitutes out of the sex industry.
"That, to me, is the most effective way to deal with the overall problem because it addresses the overall population," Smyth said, expressing dismay at the closure of Sisters Offering Support. "We definitely recognize their efforts."
The nonprofit will officially dismantle on Sept. 30, about a month after its board decided to shut down in the face of diminishing funds. Already, the agency's two employees have been laid off, a 24-hour crisis hotline is no longer manned and new clients are not being accepted. Worst of all, Faithful said, about 500 people being helped with counseling programs were told in mid-September they would have to seek help elsewhere.
Hale Kipa, a nonprofit serving at-risk youth, agreed to pick up the educational component of Sisters Offering Support. "That is the nice, positive spin to this whole story," Faithful said. "Some of our programs will survive."
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