WHYY will publish a chapter of the story each day of the week. She battled a meth addiction for decades. A transgender woman, Erica dropped out of high school and ran away from foster care at She has been homeless and involved in prostitution ever since. Many of the women were trafficked and forced into prostitution as children or adults.
Others got into the life to fund their drug addiction, or as a way to support themselves financially when no other option was available. Many of the women involved in prostitution, trafficked or not, have traumatic histories or deep-rooted personal issues.
Unlike surrounding states, such as Maryland and Pennsylvania, advocates say Delaware falls behind when collecting key data about sex trafficking and prostitution and providing services to the women. But now several individuals, organizations and state officials are putting the issue in the spotlight by educating law enforcement, health officials and the general public, and by building programs that help women transition out of the life.
Law enforcement also is finally targeting traffickers, as opposed to the women, two years after legislation was passed into law to tackle the issue. For the most part the general public is unaware we have a major issue with human trafficking in Delaware. But on the other end of the spectrum are women struggling to survive. They also perform sex acts in cheap motels along those highways and across the state, often while their pimps wait nearby.
Women who are trafficked in Asia and brought to the U. These women risk their lives every day, meeting as many clients as possible, often just to surviveβto be able to eat, support their drug dependency or to avoid a beating from their pimp. Richard Bratz of the Delaware State Police said in , 27 individuals were charged with prostitution and seven were charged with patronizing a prostitute in New Castle County. He said in Sussex County there were four defendants facing one count of prostitution and one defendant facing two counts of prostitution.
