Atlanta Strip Clubs: Sex-trafficking fight goes beyond streets
Posted on June 17th, 2009 in Atlanta strip clubs
They formed the group Street Grace (for “Galvanizing Resources Against Child Exploitation”) and hired a consultant to create an action plan. It pushed the faith community into wider cooperation with law enforcement, social services, other faiths and political groups with which they often contend as opponents.
“Being a self-proclaimed feminist, I haven’t had much chance to work with the far right,” said Stephanie Davis, policy adviser on women’s issues for Mayor Shirley Franklin. “But the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children creates an automatic response in any human being. No one has personal ownership of that issue.”
Legislative effort
Sen. Unterman sponsored Senate Bill 69 this year, which created better reporting of child sex trafficking. Supporters also proposed $5 fees on anyone entering a strip club, which would go to treatment of young prostitutes, and to raise the age to get a stripping license from 18 to 21. When Atlanta did that in 2007, 2,600 women had to turn their licenses in, said Davis, of the mayor’s office.
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