Survivor of Prostitution, Founder and Former Director, EVA Center; Director, SPACE International
Cherie Jimenez
Cherie Jimenez is the Founder and Former Director of the EVA Center, a survivor-led exit program for women leaving sex trafficking. Currently she is serving as Director of SPACE International after having been a representative of this organization since its inception in 2013 and its Board Chair for a number of years. An international organization that consists of a network of survivor “changemakers” from around the world, SPACE International seeks to amplify the voices of survivors, elevate their stories to counter harmful narratives, and ensure that those most impacted, especially those who have been overrepresented in the sex trade, lead and advance needed policies, programming and Equality Model legislative efforts everywhere. As an activist and survivor of the sex trade with a special understanding of the challenges of exiting out and having to re-create a new life role after years of being caught up in systems of prostitution, Ms. Jimenez has over twenty years’ lived experience in organizing advocacy work.
“I have had the privilege of meeting and listening to the stories of hundreds of young women over the years at the EVA Center. Through them, I have learned how their life circumstances have worsened over these past decades and how our own failed policies and growing inequities have resulted in too many women and girls being victimized in a growing and more brutal sex trade. It’s totally unacceptable.”