There is no doubt that deadly violence against sex workers is a recurring social pattern. Nor is there any doubt that serial killers know sex workers are afraid to seek protection from police; or that the public believe violence is part of a prostitute's job description. Until prostitution is legalized, sex providers will continue to toil down on the ocean floor, miles away from the light, in constant fear of predators.
Policy makers often fail to draw the crucial distinction between street and offstreet prostitution, partly because both types are criminalized by law throughout the United States. But since prostitution manifests itself in fundamentally different ways on the street and in indoor venues, it is only sensible to treat the two differently. One model would (1) target resources exclusively toward the control of street prostitution and (2) relax controls on indoor prostitution such as escort agencies, massage parlors, call girls, and brothels...

The two-track model outlined here has advantages over both the current policy of blanket criminalization and the alternatives of decriminalization and legalization. It is arguably superior to the other approaches in satisfying key tests: public preferences regarding the proper focus of law enforcement, effecient use of criminal justice resources, and the harm-reduction principle. Essential ingredients of the policy include (1) redirecting control efforts from indoor to street prostitution, (2) gender-neutral law enforcement, and (3) the use of zoning laws to keep street prostitution out of residential areas as opposed to merly arresting them. Many women all over the world go to courageous lengths to enter the sex industry. In our world today, people in general and women in particular are often faced with limited opportunities to provide for themselves and their families. These are women considering all the dangers to which social exclusion will expose them, and the economic exploitation that they may face, and still calculating that this is their best available option...

Can we tell them that we would take away their power to choose this occupation, maybe condemning them to worse conditions in another field?...Let us fight laws which exclude women in the sex industry from society and which deprive them of the rights that everyone else enjoys.
Nothing is inherently dangerous about this business. It’s the way we’re forced to work that makes it dangerous. If prostitution was decriminalized, like it is in Australia and South Wales, there would be fewer bad dates occurring and the escort agencies would be more likely to protect their workers.
Compared with other jobs, sex work pays quite well for the amount of time you spend. It’s a great job for students because you work on your own schedule
if you make enough you can take the next day off, you never have to worry about getting fired because you had to leave early to pick up your kids
and to me working fast food would be much more demeaning.

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing kim,
she works out of a hotel I used to frequent,
she agreed to this interview because like her
I was in the same boat at one point, and we
had gotten into a conversation about the
judgement cast on working girls.
since I was attacked last month I have been

thinking about what brought me to this point
and my views on the business, and after seeing
the reaction to this site from the more upscale girls I have choosen to present
stories about girls who dont have the luxury of being high priced call girls.
To get started let me introduce kim, she is 39 and moved to arlington to
escape an abusive relationship she worked at a bar until she got fired.
She hasn't gotten another job. I met her at this hotel while riding with 
mortalez to keep him company while waiting on a girls incall tobe over.





Becky: So first let me ask you how you got here?

Kim: Well my ex was a piece of crap who started off as a good
person but after getting laid off started drinking and turned into
someone I did not know. I left found a bar job and thn lost that
and its just as well because the bar closed anyway.

Becky: so thats how you ended up in this profession?

Kim: not really, I had some money for awhile, and I looked for
other work with no luck, even tried the day labor places but they
usually only had jobs for men at the time. I actually never thought
I would do this and avoided it like the repoman.

Becky: so how did you eventually get into it?

Kim: well it was back in 2000 I think, I had lost my apartment
by then and was sleeping outside because the sheltors were full
and women with children got first dibs, I went into a bar with my
 last $5 and nursed 2 beers till they closed, then I had to leave
 so I was cold and hungry and I was walking to my campsite 
wearing a jean skirt a Tshirt 
and a windbreaker the only clothes I had because my backpack
had been stolen and it must have been 
30 degrees outside. I was walking past what was then the 7-11
on division st. and some guy who wwalking out saw me and asked
if a was just at the bar, I said yes and started to walk again and he
got in his car and asked if I needed a ride.
now at this point I had only been walking 10 minute and could not
feel my hands so though I was scared to get in the car  I figured
at least I would be warm for a little while so I got in and asked if
I could just warm up and he asked where I lived, I told him I was
homeless and he offered to get me a room at the hotel up the road.
Now I was still new out here but I was not stupid I new what he
wanted but lucky for him I was cold and at a point where I'd do
anything just to get warm.


Becky: was it hard for you?(pardon the pun)

Kim: actually yes and no, I was shocked at how easy it was
I was nervous goin into the room, I wanted to ask him to turn
the lights out but that would have made me more scared, I did 
not even get undressed, I just sat on the bed he climb on the 
bed pulled me down with him 
and climbed on top of me moved my panties to the side and 5 
minutes later it was over, 
I know it was the most boring piece that guy ever got because 
I just laid there looking at the ceiling. well 
he said he had to get to work and got dressed and left while
I just laid there and I remember thinking "Thats it?". basically
for laying on my back for 5 minute I had a warm place to sleep,
a shower and cable for the night until 11AM anyway.

Becky: so you started doing this every night?  

Kim: well until I figured it was cheaper to pay by the week then
i would just do it enough to get a weeks
rent and food, I was still looking for work at first.

Becky: and you never found work?

Kim: oh I found work, I worked at the taco bell for awhile
but I was working twice as hard for the same or
less money and I was still having the look for dates
to have money for food  because I barely made 
enough at taco bell to pay rent so I quit.

Becky: I see you have a laptop do you get online?

Kim: yes the bar next door has free wifi and I can get it from here.

Becky: have you thought of geting reviewed or getting your own site?

kim: not realy I tried to use craigslist for awhile but arlington PD has beed busting
girls on craigslist so I stopped.

Becky: look at our site. read these posts and tell me what you think.

Kim: dont suprise me alot of the more upscale girls do tend to be stuck up,
after 10 years out here you learn things I have known a few girls who were
young and pretty when they got out here and they tend to get pimps who
clean them up by them nice clothes and then they become upscale.

Becky: dont all types get pimps?

Kim: yes but if you end up on the streets really  you usually get those sidewalk
pimps who are often abusive or on drugs themselves. women like me usually
get gorilla pimps, big abusive guys who take all your money and buy you
food or drugs.


Becky: no silky pimps? the ones everyone things of?

Kim: maybe in dallas but not around here, I remember seeing
those when visiting DFW as a kid.
but what I was getting at was when a girl is really pretty she catches
the eye of those guys who like I said will clean them up and move
their business from the streets to the penthouse.

Becky: not all of them start on the streets you know.

Kim: I know some go straight to the highend of it but but many of them
still end up here later on.

Becky: ya thats true, so true. so do you worry about your safety out here?

Kim: of course, I have been robbed raped and left miles from home thats
why many girls here have pimps, thats the only REAL benifit from them is
they do protect you, but its best to make your on pimp.

Becky: ya I agree, but explain what you mean by that.

Kim: well before the real pimps get you its best to find some nice guy and make
him into your pimp usually a regular john who is single and knows alot of girls and big is a plus when a jon see's you with a big guy they are less likely to try anything, like that guy
who dropped you off is he your pimp?.

Becky: That was mort, he is cool and he used to be but he does not consider himself one.

Kim: well thats the kind you want.

Becky: so for those girls out there who dont know, how do you make a pimp?

Kim: well first you get the guys number and ask him do do favors like driving you to a jons
house or something, and offer money if he does it you are half way there, and dont just give
him money if he is there when you finish the trick have him take you back to your hotel or
apartment and give him free free sex, do this a few times and he will always be around and
is basically your pimp and the johns know who has pimps so your safer.

Becky: well thanks for talking to me.

Kim: it was fun.

Remember the Craig’s List Killer? The one who was hiring women to perform sex acts, and then killing them? Remember what big news that was?

Today I read the news of a small town in North Carolina where at least 9 women who were sex workers have been murdered and/or are missing.

Since 2005, nine women who lived at the edges of the poor community in this small North Carolina city have disappeared. Six bodies were found along rural roads just a few miles outside town, most so decomposed that investigators could not tell how they died. At least one of the women was strangled, and all the deaths have been classified as homicides. Three women are still missing.

Police will not say whether they suspect a serial killer, but people in the community about 60 miles northeast of Raleigh do, and they’re impatient with law enforcement efforts to investigate the slayings.



This is a small town, so nine women gone is something that is noticed by a lot of people. As one of the women who used to work with the missing women said:

“I used to walk these streets and jump in and out of cars. But then when that first girl Melody got killed I stopped that because I knew he would kill another,” said Johnson, 41. “I hate for that to happen to her, but it probably saved my life. I have five babies.”

Counting the names on one hand, she added, “There’s probably five or six girls left around here that will jump in and out of cars. He really did kill the whole neighborhood.“

I knew without being told several aspects of the story: namely, the police didn’t really investigate what was going on until more women wound up dead. And even then, the families are frustrated because police don’t seem to really care. And the media isn’t really covering it all that much. And national pressure is non-existent, and money for body recovery is hard to come by.

And from what I can see, every single one of the women who are missing are black.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that sex work is any safer for white women then it is for women of color–but I DO think that people *care more* when the women who are killed or missing is beautiful, young and white rather than old or older, a mother of multiple kids and black. How the media has covered these separate crimes is evidence of that. When the Craig’s List murder happened, the media was stalking the court rooms, running police images of the suspect, talking to the murder victim’s families, contemplating over and over again–what would make such a beautiful woman *do this* (i.e. sex work)? She had her whole life ahead of her! She could’ve done anything! Oh, the tragedy of women being forced to sell sexual acts so they can survive!

Compared to nine women black women now missing or dead–and ONE article about in the national news.

Whose lives does the media find important? Whose PUSSIES does the media find important? Whose neighborhood’s does the media find important?

Selling sex - it's not as discreet as you think.

Fort Worth police say they face a growing problem - escort services that are a cover for prostitution rings.

Mario Romero, a man who looks like a woman, was arrested for trying to sell sex to other men. Arrested because undercover Fort Worth police detectives are cracking down on escort services.

He was arrested in a sting operation at a Fort Worth motel.

Investigators say he placed an ad on Craigslist. Romero is one of nearly a dozen prostitutes recently arrested.

"A lot of times it's called escort services, but it's the same thing as prostitution," said a police spokesperson.

Investigators say online escort services have become a bigger problem, than street prostitution. They say some street prostitutes are now placing explicit ads on Craigslist and Backpage.com.

Serina Crocket made $17,000 a month.

"The high price ones really do this as a way to pay for the kids to go to college, pay for a certain lifestyle they're accustomed to. But on the lower end of the scale, it's usually for drug money or criminal enterprises," a police spokesperson said.

Both Craigslist and Backpage say they do not condone illegal activity and work closely with police.

    Rhode Island legislators were scrambling to fix an oversight in state law that came to light only earlier this year. While the state treats 16 as the age of sexual consent and the age at which most child labor laws no longer apply, the under-18 sex-worker law bans only "prostitution" and "lewd" activities, leaving girls age 16 and 17 free to work as strippers. (Nudity, by itself, is not "lewd" under constitutional law.) Other Rhode Island laws bar under-18s from, for example, serving drinks, working with power tools or buying pornography. (The city of Providence is also now trying to fix its own ordinance in which prostitution appears to be illegal only for streetwalkers, thus legalizing the trade for those working indoors.)

The revelation that outgoing New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is accused of having one of his career-ending trysts in Dallas may leave the impression that Big D is a hub for pricey escort services.Not so, say those familiar with the local scene.

"We haven't seen a significant number of high-end escort services in the city," said Dallas police Deputy Chief Julian Bernal, commander of the vice unit. "They could exist, but they might be so exclusive we wouldn't know about it."

He said that the Emperors Club VIP, the prostitution ring Mr. Spitzer is accused of using, "had not come across our radar."

The New York Times, citing unidentified sources, reported Wednesday that in addition to Washington, D.C., Mr. Spitzer is accused of having sex with prostitutes in Dallas and Florida.

The Emperors Club employed more than 50 hookers in several U.S. cities and abroad. A criminal complaint outlining the sting does not mention Texas.

Most of Dallas' escorts, many of whom advertise in local weekly magazines, are independent operators who charge well below the $5,500 hourly fee of the most-sought-after Emperors Club girls, police said.

Amanda Brooks, a former independent escort and stripper in Dallas, said Wednesday that she is unaware of any elite high-dollar agencies based here. Ms. Brooks, author of The Internet Escort's Handbook, said she knows a couple of local women charging $500 to $800 an hour.

The city also is not a routine stop for high-dollar touring escorts, she said.

"Dallas is very much a one-hour town" where clients tend to prefer "a girl next door," she said

Even with the blatant advertising in papers and online, call girl operations are not a priority for Dallas vice officers, Chief Bernal said.

Street prostitution "is the focus" because it's visible and garners community complaints, he said. Undercover agents occasionally answer an ad and work a case to keep the call girls "on their toes," the chief said.

In late 2006, nearly two dozen dancers at the Penthouse Key Club in Dallas were busted after they agreed to have sex with undercover agents.

In the past, the vice unit has received complaints discreetly from security staffs at some of the city's higher-end hotels where call girls were plying their trade.

"Clients of the hotels were being robbed by reportedly high-end prostitutes," he said.

The practice is probably more rampant, but moneyed clients "are not going to be doing reports on thefts of a watch," particularly if it will document their activities, he said.

In a rare rebuke, a bar association has criticized a judge for refusing to uphold sexual assault charges against a man accused of letting friends rape a prostitute he had hired. The judge said she considered the case "theft of services."

Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni heightened the furor when she defended her decision to a newspaper. "She consented and she didn't get paid," Deni told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I thought it was a robbery."

Deni also told the newspaper that the case "minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped."

Dominique Gindraw was accused of ordering the accuser at gunpoint to have sex with three men, but Deni dismissed the rape and sexual assault charges Oct. 4. She upheld conspiracy, robbery, false imprisonment and other charges against Gindraw.

The chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association issued a statement Tuesday that questioned Deni's understanding of state law.

"The victim has been brutalized twice in this case: first by the assailants, and now by the court," Chancellor Jane Leslie Dalton wrote. "We cannot imagine any circumstances more violent or coercive than being forced to have sex with four men at gunpoint."

Carol Tracy, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Women's Law Project, called Deni's comments "a throwback to the Middle Ages, when rape was a crime against property, not against a person."

The 20-year-old woman, a single mother, testified that she worked for an escort service that advertised through the Web site Craigslist.

She went to a North Philadelphia home Sept. 20 to meet Gindraw, who had agreed to pay her $150 for sex. He then said that a friend was coming with the money and that the friend would pay her another $100 to perform sex acts.

Instead, three other men arrived, and Gindraw pulled a gun and ordered the woman to have sex with all of them, she testified.

"He said that I'm going to do this for free, and I'm not going nowhere, and I better cooperate or he was going to kill me," she testified at a preliminary hearing.

Gindraw also took her cell phone and a purse containing pepper spray, she said.

The other men have not been identified or charged.

"Even though the woman is a prostitute, it doesn't mean she couldn't be a victim," Dalton said Wednesday. "Once she says 'No, it's not OK,' then to have sex with her is rape."

A bar association committee recently gave Deni high marks and recommended that voters support her in a Nov. 6 judicial retention election.

Deni, who makes $148,596 a year, did not immediately return a phone message left at her office Wednesday. Her lawyer, George Bochetto, said Deni called Dalton's statement that the victim was brutalized twice "regrettable."

"The transcript doesn't necessarily tell the whole story," Bochetto said. He said Deni also considers a witness' tone of voice, demeanor and other factors in her rulings.

Prosecutor Richard DeSipio and Gindraw's public defender, Susan Lin, did not return messages left Wednesday seeking comment.