A letter from behind closed doors…

Dear State of Rhode Island,

I have worked in the Rhode Island spas for the past seven years.  I know there is a lot of talking on the radio and in the newspapers about the spas so I am dictating this letter to Tara with my point of view.

First, the women are not slaves.  Nobody is pushing anyone to make money.  It is our choice to do this.  Nobody holds anyone’s passports.  I work there, I know how it works.  There are no sex slaves.  When women make money they keep it and no one takes it.

Second, the spas are businesses.  They pay taxes and provide a service.  The customers come when they have a problem with their relationship and are not being satisfied.  We are not forcing the customers.  They come to us.  They come and have fun for one hours and leave.  We don’t have a relationship with the customers.  We are helping them.

Third, the newspapers and tv stations are using us.  They just want to make money and don’t know or don’t care about what is really going on in the spas.  Every report talks about mattresses on the floor.  People who visit Korean people’s houses will see a mattress on the floor.  This is how we are comfortable.  We also take off our shoes in the houses.  It is the same thing.  The tv stations always focus on us and never the customers, and that is not fair.  You never see a John on the news.

Forth, I don’t understand why the police have been bothering us when we are not breaking the law.  They look at us in a different way because we work at the spa, but we are the same people.  They look down at us.  I think they should spend their time catching bad people, people with drugs, murderers, gangsters, or even real human traffickers.

“Danielle”

Danielle dictated this letter to me as she packed to leave for another state.  After writing this letter, I brought “Danielle” to an interview with the Providence Journal.   It is yet to be determined if that interview will ever be published.