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My first day at Freeset I got to go with Kerry, one of the founders of Freeset, and one of the women who’s on the leadership committee of Freeset women to interview some women who were interested in working at Freeset. We went to the brothel homes of three women who’d walked in the front door of Freeset asking for employment. The goal was to find out about them to make sure they were eligible for employment at Freeset and anticipate what challenges they’d face leaving the sex trade. Freeset only employees women who are over 18 and are in the sex trade or highly at risk of entering the trade.

The first room we visited had a twin bed—and that’s how wide the room was. There was about a foot of space at the end of the bed by the door. In this small space a young woman trafficked from Bangladesh lived and worked.

The three of us sat on the bed while the woman, her friend, and her madam stood in the door. They spent an exorbitant amount of money to buy us Sprite. I sat in surreal silence, sipping Sprite and watching everyone’s faces as the conversation progressed in Bangla. I watched the women laugh and smile, and I watched fear and shame wash over their faces when the questions turned to where they’d come from and who was currently pressuring them to stay in the trade. Through the conversation, they found out about her boyfriend who took much of the money she earned. They also got to look at a meager medical report she had from a doctor she’d visited at a free clinic. She couldn’t read, so she had no idea what the doctor had found: HIV.

Later that afternoon, we went to another larger brothel room. Inside lived a husband and wife and their eighteen-year-old daughter. They had a bed and a dresser and a little floor space. The mother had worked in the trade, but was now to old; the father wasn’t working; the girl had never been in the trade and had never been to school. It was clear that as soon as an illness struck her one of her parents this young girl would be standing on the street. Her eyes had a fear and earnestness; and her mother spoke with devastating firsthand knowledge of what her daughter’s life would be like if she didn’t find a way out—now. I watched their faces and tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up for eighteen years in this room, and watch your future play out in vivid detail through the life of your mother.

The very next morning both of these young women started work at Freeset. The very next morning they took a bold step toward health, hope, and freedom.

The first got a chance to get health insurance and guidance that will help her through the tough years ahead. She got to chance to take charge of a life where so many decisions had been forced upon her.

The second got a chance to escape the fate that had been hovering over her since the day she was born. She got the chance to dare to imagine a different life for herself and her kids.

Keep reading over the next few days for more about Freeset—and stay tuned for the unveiling of our new Freeset tees!

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