Pubdate: Wed, 11 Oct 2006
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2006 Bradenton Herald
Contact:  http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)

TRAIL OF VICTIMS

Tamiami Prostitution Clean-Up Overdue

The thing that apologists invariably say about prostitution is that 
it is a "victimless" crime. That rationalization usually comes amid 
efforts to legalize the "oldest profession," which advocates like to 
euphemize as the "sex trade" and its practitioners as "sex workers."

Prostitution is anything but victimless. Start with the women - and 
it's a predominantly female "profession" - themselves. Many begin as 
runaways who are befriended by men who get them hooked on drugs and 
then force them to sell their bodies to pay for their habits. Others 
are women who start with recreational drug use, then graduate to 
becoming addicts and selling themselves to support their habits.

But the victimization doesn't stop there. Prostitution brings with it 
drug activity, street crime and break-ins. The unsavory element among 
its clientele chase away customers of legitimate businesses in 
prostitutes' haunts. The law-abiding people whose neighborhoods they 
ply live in fear of the drivers cruising through, and their property 
values decline. They fear for the safety of their children playing in 
their yards. Day care center workers who walk outside on break are 
propositioned.

And that doesn't even touch on the health issues related to 
prostitution: Sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, that can 
be passed from customer to prostitute and then to the spouses and 
girl friends of customers without their knowledge. These are truly 
innocent victims.

Thus we cheer the group of citizens from Manatee and Sarasota 
counties trying to rid the Tamiami Trail of prostitution. The 
Citizens Advisory Taskforce on Prostitution has set a goal of raising 
the penalties for prostitution in an effort to keep repeat offenders 
from returning to the street almost before the ink on their arrest 
forms is dry. They correctly identify the problem that law 
enforcement has long complained of: the maximum penalty for a 
second-degree misdemeanor of prostitution is 60 days in jail or six 
months of probation. As Sarasota Police Lt. Steve Breakstone noted 
with sarcasm, "It (prostitution) is right up there with parking 
tickets and running stop signs."

The task force wants to have it changed to a first-degree misdemeanor 
which would require a jail sentence followed by a full year of 
probation. Second offense would earn up to a year in jail if caught 
working within 1,00 feet of a school, park, day care or church, and 
repeat offenders could go to prison for five years.

Task force members say it takes a long lockup to break the vicious 
cycle of arrest, probation and return to work. Once women have a 
chance to "detox" from the streets and get professional help, they 
can begin to turn their lives around. With the revolving-door justice 
that now prevails, they never are in a program long enough to become 
rehabilitated.

We hope the local legislative delegation and criminal justice 
officials will get behind state Rep. Donna Clarke's bill to toughen 
the penalties for prostitution. The bill was defeated in the House in 
the last session because members thought its penalties were too harsh 
for a "victimless" crime. Clarke should have some convincing 
witnesses next session from the Tamiami Trail task force who can 
testify to the victimization of their neighborhood for decades.

Until prostitution is cleaned up, the revival of the Trail envisioned 
in a U.S. 41 corridor master plan can't get underway. This road, home 
to some of the area's most prized cultural institutions, can't reach 
its potential with prostitutes plying their illicit trade on its 
sidewalks and empty lots.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman