Dear Pastor,

I am 19 and have a boyfriend. He is 20 and is not working. I can't get any work and my boyfriend can't support me. He is my protector. I live in the ghetto and have to hustle. Men here don't give women anything unless they get something in return, so I sell my body. I have two friends who do the same. We work together.

I am trying not to stay in this kind of work for long. I was a dancer, but the boss was not paying me enough. I make more now than what I made at the club. Three of us don't work unless our protectors are around. We only deny specific kinds of men and only conduct business at one spot.

Pastor, if only you could see me, I look good. I want to move away because people know what I do and told my mother. My mother is a Christian and said she feels ashamed, but I give her money and she takes it. She shouldn't take it if she is ashamed of what I am doing.

I want to get married and migrate. I cannot tell my protector because he won't want me to go. I am not going back to the club, and I don't want to work for anybody but myself. What do I do?

G.I.

Dear G.I.,

Many girls have told me it's easier to hustle on the street than to do a 40-hour workweek. The only problem is, you rob yourself of your dignity, and these men who have sex with you do not feel any love for you.

I once asked a high-school student who was a prostitute, how she had sex with men she did not love. Without hesitation she said, "I do not have sex for love. I have sex for money." This was an attractive young woman. She taught me a lesson I will never forget.

This man who is your protector and boyfriend knows what to do. You have not said whether he is armed, but I suppose he is. Men who would take the risk to stop and have sex with you should know their lives are at risk.

I will not condemn you. I would like to hear from you again. When that time comes, I want you to tell me you are not in that line of work anymore.

Pastor