June 8, 2009, 11:16 am
Read the entire article at The Montgomery Advertiser…
Seeking solutions to prostitution
By Jill Nolin
It is hard for many to even imagine how these women came to walk the streets. It is even more difficult coming up with a plan to get them to stop. Some believe the solution is to minister to the women — showing them the love of society and the church and helping them get off drugs.
Two Montgomery City Council members believe the solution is a little tough love. Martha Roby and Charles Smith co-sponsored an ordinance that created hasher penalties for prostitutes and those who “support” prostitution.
Their target: the repeat offenders who were notoriously making bail and going right back to the streets. The ordinance also created penalties that are more severe than surrounding areas, which rely on the state’s law on prostitution.
“They come out and they don’t have anything to do but go back to what they were doing,” said Dannette Foreman, a former prostitute who has created a new life for herself.
But has the tougher law had the intended effect?
Those who are familiar with prostitution in Montgomery say the numbers are an unreliable indicator of how often prostitution is actually being committed in the Capital City. Many people — including a recently reformed prostitute — say the open activity may have dwindled or may have simply slunk into neighborhoods.
There were six prostitutes who were repeat offenders in both 2006 and 2007. That number fell to three in 2008 — the same year the ordinance passed — but the number is already up to five for this year, according to information from Montgomery Municipal Court.
A major part of the city’s plan, which could not be written into an ordinance, has not happened yet. Part of the city’s new approach last year was to call on nonprofit agencies that receive funding from the city to help address the problem by working with the women after they’re arrested and jailed.
That never happened.
But the ordinance’s two sponsors say they know there are agencies willing to help and the council members intend to find a way to close the gap between that help and the women who need it.
“I’m disappointed in that. It goes back to that old adage: You better inspect what you expect,” Smith said Friday.
“I do think that we’re missing an opportunity to see if we can get some of these people out of (the lifestyle),” Smith added. “Almost always, substance abuse is part of it.”
Read the entire article here.
