Author Albert Camus believed that man must risk his life and become involved with people. He said, "we must become involved in the experiences of our fellow man to assist them in the most precious possession on earth, the pursuit of freedom." (Arizona Tribune, May 20, 2000)

Kathleen Mitchell has done just that. She became involved with others. She also involved others when she spoke to the luncheon crowd at District 3 Toastmasters Spring Conference on May 20. She helped the audience to understand a little about what happened to the prostituting women and what they need to do to get out. While telling the audience about the situation, Kathleen told about her own strengths, struggles as she pulled herself out of the pits of the abusive situation. She gave a small understanding of the plight of the young scantily dressed women selling their bodies in prostitution. 

She herself left an emotionally abusive husband in 1967, moved to Arizona in 1986 to start a new life but found herself back into prostitution to support herself. She was living a shattered, broken, degraded and a horribly devastated life.

When she ended up in jail for a year, she saw women come and go. In 1989 she started a self-help group with the aid of a Chemical Dependent Counselor. In this group the women found compassion in each other and began to turn their lives around. 

Mitchell said that it is not easy for a woman to go into prostitution. She quoted deplorable statistics so fast I couldn't keep up with her. For example, the average age to begin pornography is 11, and the average age to begin prostitution is 14. Eighty-five percent of prostitutes were victims in their home. Sixty six percent were sexually assaulted by a boyfriend and the prostitute's chance of being murdered is five hundred times the national average. The prostituted woman has unlimited exposure to disease, drugs, incarceration, and sexual abuse. They are manipulated, forced, trapped and educationally deprived. They loose all their career building years, have hi-risk pregnancies, and have difficulty establishing intimate relationships. They carry the scarlet letter with them the rest of their lives. 

"If you meet them in any other place in their lives, they are wonderful, beautiful women," said Mitchell. They are struggling to take care of their children with limited resources. Although the prostituting woman deserves a chance to start over, many find themselves back on the streets to survive. They are trying to build a life like builders building a house - one brick at a time - one positive experience at a time - but they do not have the tools. 

DIGNITY House is putting out a hand to help the women. Twenty-two women have come through the program. Mitchell said they are fortunate to work with the police department which have given them much encouragement. 

These women don't deserve to live that life and through Mitchell's help in DIGNITY House, they have a helping hand ready to reach out to provide them with the much needed support to regain their dignity and a new way of life. 

Kudos to Mitchell for her strength to share her life's story as she tries to help other women to become self-assured women who dream of achieving what other women enjoy - freedom, a good life, and the opportunity to try to be the best they can be. 

Mitchell, her extraordinary courage, and DIGNITY House may be just a flicker but little flickers can grow past the 100 watt bulbs into a beacon of light as bright as any coming from the lighthouses surrounding our nation. Together, let us break the mind set that prostituting women are trash and let us look for the beauty of the person. 

This presentation reminded me that we all have moral choices to make and in the complexities of the street situation, city life and the survival drive, we can step forward and become involved. Instead of laughing, promoting the degradation, we can reach out and ask ourselves, "are we leaders?" How could I help?