Anne Bissell, a third-generation writer and former technical writer in the computer industry, has a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Performing Arts/Journalism) from the University of Maryland. She has worked for well over fifteen years as a professional writer, and has also earned a certificate in writing from the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of the popular new book "Memoirs of a sex Industry Survivor."
Bissell has studied women in the sex industry for over two decades. She has worked successfully with women in the criminal justice system with the mission to help them get out of prostitution.
She lives with her husband and son in Southern California.

RECOMMENDED QUESTIONS:

1. What inspired you to write your book?
2. What motivates teens to get involved in prostitution?
3. What are the signs of teen involvement in designer sex?
4. Are women forced to have sex as a "slave"?
5. How do your recovery groups work?
6. What advice would you give parents today?

Availability: Anne has been a guest on scores of radio and TV Shows including FOX Network News. She is available for interviews nationwide by arrangement and via telephone or satellite. He is also available as a last-minute guest. For more information please contact:
Joe Ullrich
Omni Publicity
813-624-7767

Stacey learned a lesson: “Potentially good sex is a small price to pay for the freedom to spend money on what I want.” The easiest way was to offer her body in trade. To her parents Stacey acted like a normal 17 year-old. She lives with them in an upscale middle class neighborhood. Away from home, she began stripping for men in hotel rooms in exchange for money to buy clothes—then went on to more intimate activities. She placed ads on a local personals service, offering “wealthy, generous” men “an evening of fun” for $400. All the while telling her parents she was with friends or at the mall.

“Teen prostitution, what was once thought as a problem for the poor lower class has now crossed over into mainstream middle-class America. These kids have no idea as to the devastating effects their ‘live for the moment’ attitude will have on them in the future.” says Anne Bissell, an author and a leading expert on the subject. Anne continued: “Young middle class teenage girls are lured into ‘designer sex’ by the desire for power, glamour, money, designer clothes, cell phones, attention, and simply for the thrill of it. They give the outright impression of being normal teenagers. They have friends, get good grades, play sports, and they’re home before their curfew- making their risqué activities very difficult to detect for suspecting parents.”

Law-enforcement officials have noted a marked increase in teen prostitution in cities across the country. Richard Estes, a University of Pennsylvania researcher, states the so-called “designer sex” is becoming more common in cities across the country. Although solid statistics are hard to come by, what is known is the recorded incidences of teen prostitution from kids in middle- to upper-middle-class is nearly twice what it was three years ago.

“It’s a silent epidemic and growing” says Bissell, author of the popular new book “Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor” (2004 Cleopatra International Publications ISBN 0-9746060-0-6) which is part of the Juliet West Trilogy. Her new book is an exposé into the sex industry and the consequent negative effects it has on the lost souls in “The Life.”

But more than a mere author, Anne is an activist who has lit a revolution. She has dedicated her life to deglamourizing the multi-billion dollar sex industry while rehabilitating its victims and the victims of sexual abuse. Through the global networks of groups and organizations she has championed or supports, Anne is able to provide direction to both young and old victims and pivotal help that is necessary for recovery. Anne is the founder of Sex Industry Survivors Anonymous, co-founder of Sexual Abuse Survivors in Recovery Anonymous and is a member of the Rescue and Restore Coalition. Bissell is currently expanding the networks to the top 200 markets in the United States and into Canada.

Among the topics that Anne is an expert and discusses:

• Designer Sex
• Minors in the sex industry
• The link between sexual abused teens and prostitution
• Sex industry and sexual abuse recovery
• Sex Trafficking/Sex Slavery