The Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) officially opened its door in June of 2006, but the idea for the organization began five years earlier when a friend invited me to attend a film at the Chicago International Film Festival titled “Lana’s Rain”. The film told the story of a woman fleeing war-torn Bosnia to start a new life in the United States. After Lana’s arrival in Chicago she became a victim of sex trafficking.

The film haunted me. I couldn’t stop thinking about issues of human trafficking and the unimaginable horrors experienced by trafficked victims. I decided I needed to do something to help. I soon joined the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless’s Prostitution Alternatives Round Table Campaign and enrolled in graduate school to gain a broader knowledge base and skill set so I could work with this issue. I also traveled to Thailand and India to gain experience working directly with survivors of the sex trade.

As I continued to learn about the sex trade and international initiatives aimed at eliminating the harms experienced by sexually exploited individuals, I realized that as long as a demand exists to buy the bodies of vulnerable women and children, the sex trade would continue to flourish. What was needed was an organization that would work on eliminating the demand for prostituted individuals. And that is how CAASE was born.

Though young, CAASE already has had multiple successes. An example of some of CAASE’s accomplishments include:

July 2006: CAASE hosts New York Theater Troupe "Isadora Productions" to perform their show about human sex trafficking “Becoming Natasha” in Chicago

August 2006: A "Letter to the Editor" from CAASE is published in Time Out Chicago denouncing their endorsement of the play “Pimprov”.

August 2006: CAASE's director represents the Partnership to Rescue Our Minors (PROMISE) on CAN-TV

August 2006: Michael Reese Health Trust awarded CAASE, in collaboration with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, a grant to work on the international research project: "Attitudes Investigating the Belief Systems of Individuals Who Purchase Sex"

September 2006: CAASE was asked to join the Chicago Foundation For Women's State-Wide Anti-Violence Initiative

October 2006: Rachel Durchslag presented "When Prostitution Becomes 'Sex Work': How Women & Children Are Harmed by the Legalization of Prostitution" at the 3rd National Conference on Prostitution, Sex Work, and the Commercial Sex Industry in Toledo, OH. October 2006: CAASE partners with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to help mobilize a city-wide boycott of Transit nightclub's "Pimp And Ho" Halloween Party. CAASE's action is featured in the Chicago RedEye and on CBS.

October 2006: Rachel Durchslag is awarded the Promise Leadership award by the YWCA

December 2006: CAASE launches a research initiative to gain information on cognitive and behavioral patterns of men who buy sex.

January 2007: CAASE’s action against Transit’s “Pimp and Ho” party is featured on Current TV.

March 2007: CAASE partners with the Center On Halsted, Columbia College, and PROMISE to produce the play "Body and Sold" which addresses the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

April 2007:  CAASE works with PAVE (Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment) to host a three day festival in support of Sexaul Assault Awareness month titled "Art for Awareness"