Violence and fear can go hand-in-hand with prostitution.
Kim Carpenter, director of Resonate, an Omaha company that offers training and consultation to those working with trauma survivors, has made a documentary film about prostitution in Omaha.
A year in the making, her film is called “Hidden in Plain Sight: Prostitution in Nebraska.” It is based on interviews with professional counselors who work with prostitutes and those who have escaped prostitution.
Carpenter prefers not to call them prostitutes, but people who “prostitute themselves.”
She says the women are “very invisible in our culture and society,” and that makes them especially vulnerable to violent crime.
“Perpetrators know they won’t be missed and probably won’t be reported if they were hurt,” Carpenter said.
Police say some women who may be victims in a recent series of sexual assaults did not report the attacks or didn’t want to cooperate with police.
Carpenter said many of them may feel police are less likely to take their reports of abuse seriously because of their occupation. Drug and alcohol abuse can add to the danger and create further reluctance to report abuse.
“A lot of women aren’t really cognizant of the dangers out there,” Carpenter said.
Contact the writer:
444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com
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