Natasha Hall

About Natasha Hall

Who is it?: Actress, Writer, Director
Birth Year: 1973
Residence: Toronto, Ontario
Alma mater: George Brown College
Occupation: Professor Public speaker Former prostitute
Employer: Humber College Toronto Police Service
Organization: Sex Trade 101
Known for: Advocating that Sweden's Sex Purchase Act be adopted in Canada

Natasha Hall

Natasha Hall was born on 1973, is Actress, Writer, Director. Natasha Hall is an actress and writer, known for Game Night (2018), Castle Nha Van Pha an (2009) and 90210 (2008).
Natasha Hall is a member of Actress

Some Natasha Hall images

Biography/Timeline

1927

Eventually, the personal horror stories Falle heard from other women in her situation convinced her that she needed to get out of prostitution. Her substance dependence became so severe that she almost died. Her best friend was killed by her pimp. By this point, many of her friends in the sex industry had died, and she thought that she would be next. One night, Falle was hiding alone in a hotel room when she found a Bible placed there by Gideons International. She began reading the Psalms and later said, "For the first time I understood what God was saying to me. That night my life began to move in a new direction." On her 27th birthday, Falle left her husband and returned to her mother. Because of the delusions, Falle did not recognize her mother, thinking she had been replaced with a clone. Falle told her mother about being dependent on cocaine, entering prostitution, and marrying her pimp. Her mother accepted her back. It took several more years before Falle gave up hope that her husband would change.

2001

In 2001, Falle began counselling women in prostitution at Streetlight Support Services. Once she received her diploma from George Brown College, she redeveloped the organization's Choices program, a four-week program that helps women leave prostitution. Between 1997 and 2005, Choices helped 325 women out of the sex trade. Women entered into the program through the Criminal justice system after being arrested for offences related to prostitution. By 2011, Falle had conselled more than 800 women. Of these women, 97% wrote on their intake surveys that they wanted to exit the sex industry, and 95% wrote that they had been physically abused by either a pimp, a client, or another woman in the sex industry. Falle believed these statistics to be representative of women in prostitution in Canada because the women she counselled did not come to her by choice; they were required to undergo the counselling by court order. In 2010, Falle said that hundreds of the women she had met were controlled by pimps, either as sexual partners or as traffickers. She also said that women in prostitution tend to be moved around a lot because they tend to fetch higher prices when they are new to a region. One of the women she counselled through Streetlight Support Services had been kept in a closet when she was not providing sexual services to men.

2010

In October 2010, Falle picketed a courthouse in downtown Toronto in recognition of International Day of No Prostitution. She was joined by Trisha Baptie, Bridget Perrier, Katarina MacLeod, and Christine Barkhouse; all were former human trafficking victims and sex workers. At the protest, Falle said that "only 1% of prostitutes say they enjoy sex with johns and 97% say they want to get out."

2011

In January 2011, Falle appeared at the Party for Freedom at York University in Toronto, which launched the Alliance Against Modern Slavery, a nonprofit organization seeking to combat human trafficking through partnerships, education, and research. Falle was joined by Glendene Grant, human trafficking victim Jessie Foster's mother; Kevin Bales, co-founder and President of Free the Slaves; Kate Todd, a singer-songwriter and actor; Janelle Belgrave of Samba Elégua Drummers and Peace Concept; Roger Cram of Hiram College; and Jeff Gunn, a Guitarist. That September, Falle attended Toronto's second annual Freedom Walk, which was hosted by Stop Child Trafficking Now, Freedom Relay Canada, and Oakville's Free-Them. At this event aimed at raising awareness about human trafficking nationally and internationally, Falle was joined by other abolitionists including Tara Teng, who was Miss Canada at the time; Trisha Baptie, co-founder of EVE; Shae Invidiata, founder of Free-Them; Timea Nagy; Constable Lepa Jankovic; MP Joy Smith; MP Olivia Chow; and MP Terence Young.

2012

In October 2012, Falle was the keynote speaker at a symposium on street prostitution and human trafficking, which took place at Croatian Hall in Greater Sudbury and was attended by approximately 100 people. Sergeant Corinne Fewster of the Greater Sudbury Police Service said that the manner in which Falle was aided in her transition out of prostitution is a good Example for local social and health services to follow in helping other women exit the sex industry. The following month, Falle told her story at a lunch hosted by The Salvation Army in Vancouver. That year, Falle said, "Where there's high-track prostitutes, escorts, strippers and masseuses; there's pimp violence."

2013

In March 2013, Falle spoke at the 57th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, where she sat on a panel called "Survivors Speak: Prostitution and Sex Trafficking" that was sponsored by Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. That May, Falle spoke at a fundraiser for the Servants Anonymous Society of Calgary, an organization that supports sex workers in the city. It was her first time in Calgary since she had been part of the sex industry there. The fundraiser was called "Cry of the Streets: An Evening for Freedom" and raised money for Servants Anonymous Facilitates Exit, a women's shelter for those seeking to leave the sex industry. At the fundraiser, Falle advocated adopting a law in Canada analogous to Sweden's Sex Purchase Act, which decriminalized the selling of sex and criminalized pimping and the purchasing of sex. Falle argued in support of modelling prostitution law in Canada after Sweden's laws because she believes that prostitution cannot be regulated. At another time, she had said that "it's not Canada's laws that make prostitution unsafe, it's the johns who are raping and abusing the women and their pimps." Also in 2013, Falle said that the average age at which girls get involved in prostitution in Canada is 14, and that their emotional intelligence does not develop while in prostitution, preventing many of them from leaving. She also said that prostitution has grown significantly in Canada since she left the sex industry, and that most human trafficking victims in Canada were born and raised in Canada.

2014

The Government of Canada disagreed with Ontario's ruling and announced that the decision would be appealed. Falle helped the Crown formulate their case. That November, Falle was a panelist at a debate about the case. At the debate, which was hosted by the Queen's Law and Public Policy Club at Queen's University, Falle said that, whatever the outcome of the appeal, she was glad that the case was removing the taboos surrounding talking about prostitution. The following June, Falle and more than twelve others intervened in the case, arguing that the laws should be reinstated to protect women from pimps. As part of this anti-prostitution coalition, Falle said that all areas of the sex industry are unsafe, including escort agencies and strip clubs. Falle testified in the lower courts, saying that "the more they say the women are there by choice, the harder it is for us to convince police, social workers and everyone else that these people are vulnerable." She also said that striking down anti-prostitution laws sends a message to men that it is acceptable to harass women. Falle said that all the applicants in Bedford v. Canada—including Terri-Jean Bedford, the dominatrix seeking to have the anti-brothel law struck down—entered the sex industry as children. For this reason, Falle argued that neither of these women chose a life of prostitution as a consenting adult; that life had already been chosen for them by the time that they had reached the age of consent. Falle encouraged Canadians to take an interest in Bedford v. Canada because any Canadian girl can become a victim of prostitution.

Natasha Hall trend