Sharon went on into her adult movie industry career and made many movies. While she was still into the adult industry she started to do drugs and when she was at her highest peak in the entertainment life she would spend about $300.00's just on heroine. She became addicted to the drug. While she was still performing in adult movies she started stripping at a club and did heroine at the same time.
One night in 1996 while Sharon was stripping at a club she had a customer come in. This customer kept talking to Sharon while she was doing her job and telling her all the movies he had seen her in and how good she was in it and how much he loved her. Sharon didn't think anything of the man she just kept doing her job and kept talking to the man.
After she had got done with her job she went in the back of the club and took a few hits of heroine. Shortly after that she got her things together, got into her car and went home. While Sharon was entering her house and still sprung off of heroine the man at the club had followed her home and went into her house. The man proceeded to rape her. He had sex with her and beat her. He broke her nose and gave her many bruises on her arms and face. The police came in shortly after that and the man was taken to jail
After that horrific incident Sharon had expierenced she decided to quit the adult film business and the stripping business. She went back to college and became a certified counselor specializing in HIV and Chemical Dependency. She is now a MPH/Clinical Sexologist and has received her Ph.D in Human Sexuality from the institue for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. People started to refer to her as Dr.Mitchell.
In 1998 there was an HIV outbreak in the Adult Entertainment industry. Many people that Sharon had worked with in her movies were affected by this HIV break out. Sharon took it upon herself to do something about this right away. She asked that everyone in the adult industry not to have sex with anyone for the next three months until she could determine which of the people had contracted AIDS. This cost the Adult Movie industry millions of dollars but it was worth it to them.
The industry gave Dr. Mitchell the support that she needed to found the AIM healthcare Foundation. AIM is a nonprofit organization serving sexworkers and the general public in areas of HIV testing, and counseling of many types. At the AIM center they give STD testing and other testing too.
Many people that Sharon has helped say that if it weren't for her taking over the HIV/AIDS scare and helping everyone get tested this HIV/AIDS breakout would've been way worse. The people she works with definitley thank her.
Sharon has been to many places around the world. In 1999 Dr. Mitchell was invited to Budapest Hungary to teach HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis monitoring programs for the Adult Industry Talen. In February 2001 she was invited by the South African Government to help write documentation that has been sent to the Minister of Health on forming a sexworker organization for better healthcare. Dr. Mitchell is considered as an activist and educator for sexworkers all over the world. AIM has become affiliated with the government health services in Los Angeles County and at the national level through Dr. Mitchell. She regularly speaks out about HIV prevention throughout the US. She is also a featured speaker at the annual US conference on AIDS. She convices companies to donate to the AIM programs.
Dr. Mitchell's long term plans is to emphasize sex workers' rights and to encourage their independent decision making. She's developing harm reduction programs for sexually active adults, teens, and drug users to minimize behavioral risks to themselves and others and to reduce the spread of AIDS and other harmful diseases.
