# Vednita Carter

Vednita Carter is an American anti-sex trafficking and anti-prostitution activist. Carter is an author and the executive director of Breaking Free, an organization which helps women seeking to leave prostitution.

## Biography

Carter grew up in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota. Unable to afford college, she responded to an advertisement seeking dancers, which she later discovered was for a position as a stripper. Carter observed that many women in her profession transitioned into prostitution. She worked in the industry for a year before leaving.
In 1989, Carter began to work with women in prostitution in Minnesota at a different agency, which later closed, and became program director. In 1996, Carter founded Breaking Free, an organization that aids girls and women in exiting prostitution. She subsequently became the executive director of Breaking Free, and the program expanded to provide additional support services, including emergency assistance such as food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and legal aid for victims of human trafficking. By 1998, the organization rented an apartment block to permanently re-house women and girls, and by 2010, they had more apartments and three "transitional houses". In 2015, the housing block named "Jerry's Place", named after Saint Paul Police Department Sgt. Gerald Vick, closed due to funding issues.
In their book Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice, Francine Sherman and Francine Jacobs call Carter "a leading service provider for exploited women and girls".
Carter has been published in Hastings Women's Law Journal, the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, and the Journal of Trauma Practice. Carter contributed the piece "Prostitution = Slavery" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.

## Activism

Breaking Free is a non-profit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota with the goal of helping women escape prostitution. Breaking Free provides a variety of services to the women. These services include food, clothing, and emotional support. Breaking Free also provides addiction services, permanent and temporary housing, as well as legal assistance and job training. The services are offered with no strings attached.
Since 1996, Breaking Free has helped over 6,000 women.
Carter also established a "John School", which educates men arrested for solicitation about the effects of their actions to persuade them not to solicit again. Carter believes that as long as men continue to purchase sexual favors, sex trafficking will not end.

## Awards

Carter won the 2010 Survivor Centered-Service Provider category from the Norma Hotaling Award.
Carter was one of six women granted the Women of Distinction award by Century College in 2012.
Carter was awarded the Path Breaker Award from Shared Hope International in 2014. That same year, she was also named a CNN Hero.
In 2015, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity, Ambassador-at-Large and Chaplaincy from CICAInternational University and Seminary.

## Selected bibliography

   I know that working with women and girls who have been used in prostitution/trafficking is my destiny in this life. ... it is what I am meant to do. When I think about the millions of women and children throughout the world who are exploited and have no other options to change the course of their life, I feel compelled to do all that I can do to help them in some way.

### Chapters in books

* Carter, Vednita (2003). "Prostitution = Slavery". In Morgan, Robin (ed.). Sisterhood is forever: the women's anthology for a new millennium. New York, New York: Washington Square Press. pp. 315–324. ISBN 9780743466271. Details.
* Carter, Vednita (2004). "Prostitution and the new slavery". In Whisnant, Rebecca; Stark, Christine (eds.). Not for sale: feminists resisting prostitution and pornography. North Melbourne, Victoria: Spinifex Press. pp. 85–88. ISBN 9781876756499.
* Carter, Vednita (2004). "Providing services to African American prostituted women". In Farley, Melissa (ed.). Prostitution, trafficking and traumatic stress. Binghamton, New York: Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press. pp. 213–222. ISBN 9781136764905. Pdf.
* Carter, Vednita; Giobbe, Evelina (2006). "Duet: prostitution, racism and feminist discourse". In Spector, Jessica (ed.). Prostitution and pornography: philosophical debate about the sex industry. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 17–39. ISBN 9780804749381.

### Journal articles

* Carter, Vednita (1993). "Prostitution: where racism & sexism intersect". Michigan Journal of Gender and Law. 1: 81–89. Pdf. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
* Carter, Vednita; Giobbe, Evelina (1999). "Duet: prostitution, racism and feminist discourse". Hastings Women's Law Journal, Symposium Issue: Economic Justice for Sex Workers. 10 (1): 37–58. Pdf.
* Carter, Vednita (January 2004). "Providing services to African American prostituted women". Journal of Trauma Practice. 2 (3–4): 213–222. doi:10.1300/J189v02n03_03. S2CID 153827303.