prostitution | openDemocracy

“To live like a tree, lonely and free / To live as brothers like trees in a forest”

The Exile Nation Project - Interview with Mary Barr (Pt. II)

Charles Shaw 10 July 2012

Part II of the Exile Nation Project's interview with former crack cocaine addict and prostitute Mary Barr, who now works as a lecturer at John Jay College of Law.

The Exile Nation Project - Mary Barr (Pt. 1)

Charles Shaw 2 July 2012

Mary Barr is a former crack cocaine addict and prostitute who now works as a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and as an advocate for addicts and sex workers. During Mary's time on the streets, she was arrested 50 times in 5 years, beaten, stabbed, raped, and left for dead. All the while, she was battling a crippling addiction, which eventually resulted in the loss of her children to Child Protective Services. A chance encounter with a social worker at Riker's Island Prison opened the door to her recovery when she was told, simply, "you don't have to live like this anymore."

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