The details of desperation that led them to prostitution are as unique as the women telling their stories, but from each harrowing tale a pattern also emerges. These are victims of childhood abuse, drug addiction and violence.
Still, somehow, they are the lucky ones. Because they have survived, they have a chance to piece their lives back together to a semblance of normalcy. The unlucky ones loved the wrong man, trusted the wrong smile, got in the wrong car.
There are no more chances left for them. The three-part series begins in print today and is available online in full. This is the demimonde of pimps, prostitutes and johns, far from our glittering downtown or gentrifying Heights. The series also brings our attention to another group of people who are almost as ignored, the ones who try to go about their business in a neighborhood that has gained an international reputation as a hub of prostitution. The mothers trying to get their children to school without them seeing a half-naked woman, the business owners picking up discarded condoms from their parking lots, the apartment dwellers bumping into illicit hookups in their laundry room.
An immediate reaction is to ask, well, where are the authorities? But they are there, and they are trying. The Track is an open-air sex market, day and night. Law enforcement conducts sting operations, makes arrests and vows to make an impact, but this has been going on for decades with little change. Advocates call the measure unconstitutional, dangerous to trafficking victims and aimed mostly at women. After four years of court battles there, injunctions were granted against prostitutes in three neighborhoods in Before the program was abandoned, less than 10 women ended up paying fines after violating the order.
All they would do is move people out of the Bissonnet Track; good for that neighborhood, bad for the next one over. If we are serious about confronting this problem, if we are willing to support these neighborhoods, the answer is not more law enforcement. Programs that can help you find a job and get a second chance. Not all want or are ready to receive help, but it should be there when they need it.
