WORCESTER—The average age of entry into prostitution is just 13-years-old and from there girls and women in the sex trade are often trapped in a destructive and painful cycle that could last decades.
Enter Audra Doody, a survivor of sex trafficking, who is now the co-executive director of the Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) in Worcester. In 2024 the organization helped 660 individuals in the sex trade. These are mostly women exchanging sex for money, food, drugs or a place to live.
Doody says SEI offers a unique model of care. “People are in control of their own recovery,” she said. “You will create your own plan and what works for you. We are very person centric.” Rather than having SEI dictate the recovery plan, Doody said this is an opportunity for women to take control of their lives and make their own decisions, something survivors typically aren’t doing while in the sex trade.
The organization’s drop-in safe house, Harbor, is a place where women can get a meal, a shower or a nap. It also offers social services, counseling, detox assistance and more. Safe Exit also maintains a 16-bed residential program called Jana’s House that supports sober women in recovery. SEI offers mental health care as well as a multitude of services for helping women in the sex trade re-entry society. Survivors receive assistance with things as simple as getting out into the community by participating in free events around the city, meeting neighbors or registering to vote. It’s about “re-entry into society because they have been trapped in the life,” said Doody.
“We are survivor led and informed,” Doody continued. “We have a survivor lens.” Of the 44 employees at Safe Exit, Doody said most everyone is survivor of the sex trade if not domestic violence. Doody, who was told she was a problem child, was part of two federal trafficking cases, and knows what it’s like to completely lose your identity. She knows what it feels like for many of the women who come to SEI and she understands the long road to recovery and change that lies ahead for survivors who are working to get out of what Doody calls “the life.” Substance abuse is also common among those in the sex trade, adds Doody. Either people are using because the drugs are forced on them or because they are addicted, and the sex trade offers access to more drugs in exchange for the sex.
Of the women who reach out to SEI, Doody said approximately 95 percent are also experiencing homelessness. Most people find the organization through word of mouth. “Women on the streets know we are here,” said Doody. SEI also does street outreach and a van goes out into the community three times a week delivering meals, hygiene supplies, wound supplies and more. SEI has been in Worcester since 2017, when the group was known as Living In Freedom Together (LIFT). The name change happened in 2023 when Doody and her co-executive director Courtney Ross Escobar were tapped to head up the organization. Escobar
leads a small but expanding office in Baltimore. SEI also provides incarcerated women in Massachusetts with support. In 2022 SEI began a legal project as well, with one lawyer on staff helping participants navigate various aspects of the legal system.
“We’ve become a safe haven for a lot of women,” said Doody, adding that survivors who have come to SEI range in age from 11 to their mid-70’s. “We serve every race and ethnicity, and we support trans females as well.”
When women seek help from Safe Exit they often “dump a lot of trauma” on the staff when they are at Harbor or Jana’s House, Doody shared. Staff have to be prepared and supported as well, mindful of their own trauma and feeling triggered or burned out. She makes sure that the staff receives wellness coaching and a very accommodating work environment, including time off when needed.
Most of the women at Harbor are from Worcester or Worcester county, but Doody said they have had people come from around the state and one woman even arrived from Utah seeking assistance. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Human Trafficking Hotline received 50,123 contacts in 2024. This includes calls, texts and online chats. In 2024 the hotline identified 11,999 cases of human trafficking with 21,865 victims.
With a $4.3 million operating budget Doody hopes to expand Safe Exit services into western Massachusetts, including outreach and services, and grow their impact in Baltimore. The work is exhausting as well as rewarding, explains Doody. So often there are participants who aren’t able to break out of the sex trade system and instead stay in the life. But the success stories are uplifting.
Doody said there was one woman who was in the life, pregnant and using drugs. Her baby was taken from her at birth and for nearly a year she wasn’t working on turning things around. And then something changed. “She became sober, she now has full custody of her child, has a great job,” Doody said. “We have a lot of wins.”
Bridget Samburg is a freelance editor, reporter and ghostwriter. She has written for Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe and Yankee Magazine, among other outlets. She can be reached at bsamburg@comcast.net
