While Perusing through the internet, I came across an interesting story about prostitution in Dallas, Texas. According to Associated Press, "The program starts with a monthly roundup of prostitutes in an area health officials consider the national epicenter of syphilis. Dallas vice police have identified more than 1,300 prostitutes working four truck stops serve that more than 2,000 big rigs a day."

"Truckers were conducting counter-surveillance for prostitutes," Dallas police Sgt. Louis Felini said. "They let them use CB radios to advertise prostitution and drugs. As soon as a squad car entered the lot, every truck driver along I-20 knew how many cops and where they were."

With this sting Operation, Many workers are hoping to help the young women get off the streets and turn their lives around, so they offer them a different alternative.

His brainstorm became the Prostitution Diversion Initiative. Police set up a staging area once a month in a vacant lot near the truck stops. Four mobile command trucks surround folding tables and chairs where social service workers set up shop. The action usually begins about 7 p.m. and runs until 3 a.m., according to the Associated Press.

Police confiscate the prostitute's property and interview them for information about criminal activity, such as whether pimps are running underage prostitutes out of area motels. Then social service workers assess the women's drug, alcohol and mental health counseling needs. The women get STD tests and other medical care a mobile health clinic.

WOW

According to Salon.com, "If the women have no felony warrants and seem sincere, the judge gives them the opportunity to avoid jail and enter rehab," according to the AP. "After 45 days of inpatient counseling, they receive help with education, child care and housing.

" There is no doubt these women are desperately in need of the help: The truck stops are the "bottom rung of prostitution," according to Dallas police Sgt. Louis Felini.

The Program has been hailed as a Success Story and the city's National Prostitution Diversion conference in November drew hundreds of law enforcement officials from across the U.S. and Canada. But the stats show the extent of the challenge ahead:

Just half of the 375 women rounded up under the program have chosen the rehab option and only 21 have left sex work altogether.

My Thoughts...

Many young women are lured into prostitution at a young age by numerous people for many reasons, and it is important that law enforcement, social services, and programs like these are available to show them that their are other options, you don't have to be a victim of your environment. I hope that many other communities will take a look at the Dallas area and find ways they can incorporate such a great idea into their area.

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