Saturday, April 15, 2000

Sex industry workers offered escape

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BY Susan Vela
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        FORT MITCHELL — Former stripper Amy Dupree recalls making $100,000 a year, living in a three-bedroom townhouse and riding around in a sports car.

Former stripper Amy Dupree (Enquirer photo) | ZOOM |

        “The darkness” is how she describes her seven years as a “feature dancer” traveling the states when she stripped, abused alcohol and drugs and had men groping at her.

        The money, which helped pay for the luxuries and $12,000 in cosmetic surgery, just wasn't worth it, she said Friday.

        The work “gave me a false sense of esteem,” she said.

        “It gave me money. I became somebody else. I became famous. I became in control. It gave me so much, but it took so much more. It was so, so, so lewd. And it's getting worse.”

        Mrs. Dupree was speaking at the two-day National Pro-Family Conference on Pornography, Sexually-Oriented Businesses and Material Harmful to Children.

        The conference, at the Drawbridge Inn, concludes today.

        Mrs. Dupree, 33, of Dallas, hasn't danced for a living since December 1996. She still travels across the nation but merely for speaking engagements.

        She is the founder of Amy's Friends, a 2-year-old Christian ministry that helps women wean themselves from sexually oriented employment, such as stripping and prostitution, by providing financial, emotional, spiritual and educational support.

        The session she led Friday was titled “Helping Women Escape the Strip Bar Industry.” She urged the audience of about 25 men and women to pray for such women and to network with city officials.

        It is important, she said, to know which organizations and agencies steer these women toward education, sober lifestyles and non-sexually oriented employment.

        “You're going to need more people than just you,” she said.

        Mrs. Dupree noted that dancers and prostitutes may hate what they're doing but have a difficult time giving up the money.

        What helped her, she said, was meeting her husband, and the two of them focusing on their religious faith.

        She met Kyle Dupree at a men's club where she was performing.

        As their relationship fell on rough times, the couple began attending church. It was through their church, Preston Road Church of Christ, that they both decided to help others.

        Mr. Dupree is a recovering alcoholic who also does many speaking engagements. He focuses on men addicted to pornography. Sometimes the Duprees speak together — each giving their own perspectives.

        Amy's Friends has served 30 women. The ministry enforces a 12-step program that starts with admitting there's a problem and ends with being a Christian and helping others.

        Other steps entail taking moral inventories, admitting wrongs and making amends. Most of the steps have a religious tone.

        Mrs. Dupree said it can take up to six months to complete the program. The group spends about $5,500 on each woman who completes it successfully.

        There are also rules. The women must not work in a sexually-oriented business after monetary assistance has begun.

        Mrs. Dupree speaks again at 1:45 p.m. today. The conference fee is $30.

       

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