Valerie: Free of Past Traumas

Valerie was a happy, innocent child until she was raped by Uncle Albert when she was only five years old.  Uncle Albert’s sexual abuse continued for several years.  Finally at age twelve, Valerie left home to live on the streets.

She lived for a few months at the home of a young man who she thought truly loved her.  “He turned out to be a tennis shoe wearing, crack-smoking, pimp,” reported Valerie. This pimp provided Valerie with an orientation to prostitution.

At fourteen, Valerie got a job as a dancer for an in-call out-call service.  “This was just a front for prostitution,” she explained.  “[Dancers] were paid a flat fee to perform in the backroom.  What else you did and what else you were paid in the backroom, was your own business.”

During the course of the next few years, Valerie worked as a prostitute and used drugs to cope with the humiliation of Uncle Albert and all of the others.  “I needed to be high to do the work,” Valerie said.  Additionally, she wrote bad checks to keep up with her growing drug addiction.

Prostitution was also a dangerous career choice.  Some days, customers were unusually cruel and she’d finish the day bruised and beaten.  Other days, she’d find herself with a gun held to her head by an angry pimp.  Valerie was constantly looking over her shoulder.  So, it was a relief when Valerie was arrested and put in jail.  “I asked for it,” she said, “I was just sick and tired of prostituting.”

The turning point came when Valerie gave birth to a drug-addicted baby girl.  “When I saw her fight for her life, it made me want to fight for my own,” Valerie explained.

Next, Valerie was admitted into Volunteers of America of Minnesota’s Women's Recovery Center, which is a program for chemically dependent women who have who have experienced multiple traumas such as physical, emotional or sexual abuse – and particularly the traumas associated with a lifestyle of prostitution.  There, she received treatment for her drug addictions and related mental health problems, and received independent living skills training and housing placement.  

Today, Valerie continues to be drug and prostitution free.  She’s proud of her job, and has two healthy children and a wonderful boyfriend.  She says she’s truly happy and, “All that’s missing is the white, picket fence.”

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