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 Listening to Olivia: Violence, Poverty, and ProstitutionJody Raphael (2004) Prostitution, like rape, is hardly a stranger to today’s taboo culture. In Jody Raphael’s “Listening to Olivia,” the reader is given an opportunity to learn about the issue head-on with all its alarming truths, yet with much compassion and hope as well. This is Raphael’s second work in a trilogy dealing specifically with the interrelationships between poverty and violence, and why a life tangled within these has become such a complicated trap for so many women. As in “Saving Bernice,” Raphael once more targets the issue where it counts most: at its heart, via the survivor’s own story. The survivor profiled is Olivia, whose intention for the book is to, quite simply and admirably, help those who are in the same position as she was once in. Her moving tale of survival, braided with Raphael’s account of its social implications, proves to us that today’s sex trade industry is more than just conceptual; we cannot turn a blind eye on it anymore. “Listening to Olivia” provides research and straightforward information on the structure of the prostitution industry, including its global relevance. It touches on issues such as drug addiction, the false idea of glamour and female independence in the prostitution industry, and why it becomes so easy for so many to get trapped. Furthermore, “Listening to Olivia” is smart; it commands an effective way of storytelling because its contents reflect the average person’s knowledge of it, making it accessible, readable, and understandable. The messages of the book are even more emphasized and gripping as the voices of the women in prostitution become visible throughout the stories they tell. It is an honest, yet earnest, and often inspiring account on what the public needs to know about this complex, often unmentionable subject. |