The Flashlight Project

I was thinking a lot this morning about the women who own the parlors. There are programs out there for women who want to leave prostitution. There are plenty of programs out there for people who want to leave any negative situation. There are, however, no programs for women, in this case, who are owners of these parlors and who are tired of what they are doing.

Society always assumes that the owners' mentality is set in stone, that they cannot change and stop exploiting women. What if we're wrong? What if a big reason why they don't is because no one has ever tried to help them do that?

What if we go to these women and mentor them? Bring them our programs and love them unconditionally? While we can't agree, of course, with what they're doing, they have seen and/or experienced plenty of violence in their lives, including r**e. Their own experiences have led them to where they are today.

We must stop thinking that they are not interested in having peace in their own lives. Yes, they are involved in activities we cannot condone, but I think incredible things can happen if we focus on showing them unconditional acceptance. If they begin to value themselves and to heal themselves of their pasts, then how they treat other people will change.