Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jul 2006
Source: Daily Times, The (MD)
Copyright: 2006 The Daily Times
Contact: http://www.delmarvanow.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.thedailytimesonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/116
Author: Joseph Gidjunis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)

MONEY TO DRUGS TO SEX - PROSTITUTION ON THE RISE

Sex Trade Plays A Part In Vicious Cycle Of Urban Blight

Editor's Note: Aliases have been used to protect the identity of some sources.

SALISBURY -- In the middle of the humid July heat, Shelly Johnson sat 
down to the first full meal she's had in weeks wearing a long-sleeved 
hooded sweatshirt, which was far too big, and baggy blue jeans that 
had seen better days.

ADVERTISEMENT These were the only clothes she had left, and in the 
past six months, her clothes had been stolen six times.

Prostitution has placed Johnson in situations that TV dramatizes and 
normal people cast aside as unbelievable. But on Wednesday, Johnson 
started her confession.

"Last night, I was on the railroad tracks sleeping. All I wanted was 
something to eat. I made $10," Johnson said, almost whimpering and 
ignoring direct eye contact and speaking under a fake name. "I got 
something to eat and a place to sleep. I drink too. It kills the 
pain. I hated myself last night."

A new kind of triangle trade is infecting city streets.

In the 18th century, rum to molasses to slaves left scars this 
country is still healing from. Now, any day on Church Street and the 
surrounding neighborhood, money to drugs to sex, is creating chaos in 
the hub of Delmarva.

Prostitution used to be a low-profile crime affecting only a handful 
of participants, but the sex trade has entered the spotlight in a 
city trying to combat urban blight and curb violent activity.

In the past seven years -- the only data available -- the number of 
prostitution arrests has increased six-fold, and this year, the 
police are on track to exceed last year's total.

For as little as $10 to $20, men can get some Salisbury hookers to do 
anything they want. Some even accept a mere hit of crack cocaine or a 
few ounces of heroin for their services.

"She may be dumb as a post and ugly, but there's always a man willing 
to buy her body," said Donna Clark, a nurse with Salisbury Urban 
Ministries on Church Street. "She has no teeth, she is flaked out on 
crack, but she can still sell herself."

Where substance abuse and addiction are prevalent, survival is not 
far behind. For many, prostitution wasn't the career choice they 
chose -- it's the option that's left.

"Obviously prostitution continues to be a stigmatized operation, so 
when women are in it, one has to look hard at why they're there, and 
what their options are," said Anita Clair Fellman, Chair of Women's 
Studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

Blame the environment in which they grew up, a poor education, 
expensive housing, avoiding responsibility or the physical ailments 
that prevent them from a normal job.

Just don't say they're worthless. Nearly a dozen local agencies and 
organizations haven't given up hope.Condoms and hugs

Most people can find several reasons to live. Shelly Johnson only 
acknowledges one.

"I've done a lot of bad things in my life. I don't need God hating me, too."

Her husband committed suicide years ago.

It was shortly after he beat her with a rock. He knocked out eight of 
her teeth, broke her jaw in three places and left her to die in a 
ditch, she said. At least he was kind enough to leave a note on her 
body telling the police who should take custody of their children.

"I've always been on the bottom. I can get from my feet to my knees, 
but I can't get above that. How do I get above that?" she said. "I 
guess I hate myself so much that I don't care anymore."

Johnson may say she doesn't care, but she does.

In fact, she has many talents. She can hang dry wall, paint walls or 
even be a seamstress. She also was a caregiver to some elderly 
clients from time to time. Her past, bureaucracy and her 
grandmotherly age, however, catches up with her.

"Let's say I get a job. I have no ID. It takes 10 weeks to get the 
ID. Then it gets stolen," she said. "I have so many barriers to jump 
over. I have three (bad) discs in my back. My bladder's falling down 
on me. I want to punch somebody some days. You just feel like getting 
in the middle of a room and shouting."

When she's not rummaging through Salisbury for food, shelter and the 
occasional hook, she offers the only thing she can give: Condoms and hugs.

"Girls just want me to hold them like a mom does and comfort them ... 
When I have extra money, I buy condoms for them, too."

Her kindness, however, has backfired at times. While she gains 
acceptance within multiple street gangs and factions, the police have 
seen her as a valuable resource and stopped her as many as nine times 
in a single night.

Johnson understands they're doing their jobs, but she feels they're 
going after the wrong people.

"The little people are just trying to survive," she said.Major effort 
for misdemeanors

The Salisbury Police Department has mounted a large effort to 
decrease prostitution across the city in the past three weeks, 
nabbing a dozen suspects through the use of undercover officers and 
surveillance.

The effort targeted not only prostitutes, but the "johns," or 
customers, who frequent them.

"If I didn't have johns, I wouldn't have the prostitutes," Salisbury 
Police Chief Allan Webster said. "These people who solicit these 
girls, you're playing Russian roulette -- you could get robbed, you 
could get some disease. Why would someone jeopardize their own life 
or the life of their family when they got back home?"

Much of the problem is concentrated around the Church Street 
neighborhood near routes 50 and Business 13. According to an analysis 
by The Daily Times, four out of every five prostitution arrests since 
1999 happen there, and it's getting worse.

"During the months of June and July 2006, officers of the Salisbury 
Police Department observed an increase in prostitution related 
activity in several neighborhoods of the city ... in the Church 
Street/Railroad Avenue area and the Smith Street/Newton Street area," 
according to a news release.

There is no tally or even an estimate as to the numbers of 
prostitutes working in Salisbury, but they're usually from Delmarva. 
Even when they're placed in jail, it's never for long because the 
crime doesn't carry a felony penalty.

Webster said his department is dedicated to ridding prostitution from 
city streets, and he hopes they seek treatment and rehabilitation. 
But he admits, drug addiction is a serious problem that the police 
department cannot handle on its own.

"Crack is a very addictive drug. The high doesn't last that long. 
It's so addictive, that once you come down, you need money to buy 
that drug," he said. "Incarceration will keep them off the street, 
but if you don't cure the addiction, they're going to be right back 
out there again."Sex for drugs

Crack and heroin are so manipulative that they change the way the 
mind works. Even after someone stops using crack, it doesn't leave.

"They're still fighting an addiction problem because the residue 
sticks in the brain for a year and short circuits the 
neurotransmitters," said Susi Powell-Todd, director of The Village of 
Hope that helps women with rehabilitation and housing. "The first 
time you're on crack, you think you're omnipotent. There's nothing 
you can't do."

Powell-Todd, who was once addicted herself, said users chase this 
first high, but it's never as good again, no matter how much they 
use. Those addicted keep trying and they'll do anything to get it.

Powell-Todd said that despite the "coldness" involved, it was the 
easiest way for these girls to get their fix.

"You're laying down in this man's arms. This man lays down on top of 
you. You don't really know him from Adam, but you're laying down with 
this person, and he has his way with you. You do it because you want 
that $20 piece (of drugs) and you have to do whatever he wants to get it."

These narcotics are addictive to the point that 90 percent of people 
fail to kick the drug the first time because they relapse.

Many people work against the users -- especially the dealers who will 
give free hits so they don't lose customers. Many of the pimps or 
boy-friends will also encourage use so they can keep control.

"Unless that person is very committed, it's hard to get them to come 
around," she said. "It's particularly difficult if they've crossed 
that line into prostitution because of the fact that when they cross 
that line, it really does a number on them."

But this doesn't stop Powell-Todd from making regular drives through 
the Church Street neighborhood. She wants to serve as a reminder that 
she is there, waiting for them, if they decide to quit.Easy money

On Friday nights, it's the same group of old men who prowl the 
streets looking for their favorite girl, Clark said.

She is in the center of the situation with office windows that 
overlook the daily problems. She used to be able to walk the streets. 
She used to be able to talk at length with girls. She even used to 
have drug-dealer protection because she helped them with dental work.

All of that has changed now.

"I could befriend the girls, but the pimps didn't like me because I 
was asking them to care about themselves and the girls," she said.

She's been far from scared off, but now she drives the streets in her 
tan minivan with a bit more caution.

When she makes contact with a prostitute, she tells them to have 
hope, and that they're worth something more than what they're doing.

"You're talking to someone who has no self-esteem. Most of them are 
broken," Clark said. "They mentally cope by not thinking about what 
they do. If they start to think about it, they start to feel bad for 
themselves, so they get high and don't think about it anymore."

It takes time for her message to sink in.

But for temporary sanctity from drugs, pimps and violence, some women 
walk to the Christian Shelter run by Brother Jim Barnes. The 
protection, however, isn't always appreciated.

"One lady stayed with us a couple of weeks. Then the next thing we 
know, she's hustling her johns across the street in a burned out 
broken down home working during the day," Barnes said. "Often, they 
do it because they have nothing else in their lives. They have no 
sense that there is something disgusting or degrading in their life."

Barnes said he tells the women about the value of their life and that 
God hopes they'll change their lives.

Unfortunately, he said, drugs are in control, and even the tiniest of 
amounts will make them happy.

"If they can get $2 together, that's what they want," Barnes said. 
"Even 50 cents worth is enough to get you over to the next one."Vicious cycle

Barnes estimates the education of most Salisbury prostitutes to be 
minimal, and this lack of knowledge contributes to the recurring 
problem in several ways.

Besides not understanding the consequences of their actions, they 
don't have the skills for higher-paying jobs. And without the 
education, they're a higher risk for employers who might try to train 
them, Barnes said.

"Many have very little education, no more than 10th grade," he said. 
"If the alternative is taking a job in a chicken factory which is 
hard work, 40 hours a week, why would you want to work?"

The problem is compounded by being able to work as a prostitute, 
tax-free, for larger sums of money.

It's not as simple as saying, get off the street and get a real job.

"If you're saying get off the street so they can work at McDonald's, 
they're getting oil burns, or working in poultry and all of those 
factories who have been through many labor issues," Fellman said. "If 
you point them off the street to get them into Perdue or Tyson's, is 
that an improvement in their lives?"

Fellman doesn't support prostitution, but she doesn't think the women 
are evil or there by choice.

"Those vulnerable to prostitution have no other skills or 
experience," Fellman said. "The perspective may be less in terms of 
moral turpitude .. It's a survival strategy for women who have very 
few other options."

The region's current low unemployment rate -- 3.9 percent -- might 
also be a contributing problem because more competition exists for 
the low-paying jobs.

"People who are skilled are gobbled up, so the lower-skilled 
individuals are eventually fighting wherever they can," said Memo 
Diriker, a business trend analyst for Salisbury University.

In addition, those who engage in prostitution usually have domestic 
factors hindering job performance ranging from substance abuse, 
finding child-care and reliable transportation.

"I doubt that this is a choice for a lot of them," he said. "For a 
lot of them, it's going to be the sole solution."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman