Writing class for ex-prostitutes

We run a writing class for women in a halfway house for women leaving the sex trade. This is our second time running this class. It takes place over approximately nine weeks, give or take a week. Our experience has been amazing. We've uncovered a few talents writers who have a remarkable story to share. In addition, we've helped the women get used to "journaling" to express their feelings.

As the class progresses, we will be developing a detailed outline so that if anyone else wishes to start such a class, the package should be sufficient to start you on the road.

In our class, we have one Ph.D. student who teaches English and a writer and ex-addict who left the sex industry over twenty years ago. As we move through the class, which culminates in our own poetry reading with featured guest readers, it is amazing how talented these women are, especially in writing shorter poems like haiku.

The teachers report that they receive much more from the class than the participants. It is simply amazing to watch as the women, newly detached from their horrific lives, blossom. Most of the gals in this class were drug abusers, so we are also dealing with their feelings as they detox and struggle to stay clean. Much of what we do we tie back to the twelve steps when appropriate.

As we get this package together, we are happy to share it with others who work with this population. I'm sure the model could be adopted for others, as well.

This class runs now only twice a year and is closed to women who are in a program that supports their exiting the life.