A sobering opinion piece offering data about the world’s oldest profession. The author, Christine Bott Schmuker, is a psychotherapist and coordinator of the Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma Program with Center for Child & Family Services.

Read the complete essay at The Virginia Gazette…

ESSAY: Prostitution victims
By Christine Bott

Over the last few weeks the subject of prostitution has been front and center on the Williamsburg stage. The High Street apartment arrest has illuminated the underbelly of what many call the world’s oldest profession.

Most people would not be surprised to find prostitution sprinkled within Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News or Hampton. But Williamsburg? It certainly does not seem to fit Williamsburg’s quaint, historically charmed persona. Or does it?

The Gazette article stated how much the alleged High Street prostitute charges, that she was not willing to surrender her list of male clientele to police, and that neighbors report males combing through the apartment complex at differing times of day.

Her name was printed on the front page of the paper twice in two weeks. Will the paper provide comparable transparency to the male client list that police will find on her computer?

While I in no way condone her behavior, I do want to illuminate the underreported, misunderstood and tragic other side of the debate.

Here are the facts (Farley, M., 2004, Prostitution, Trafficking, & Traumatic Stress):

• Nine out of 10 prostitutes were sexually assaulted as children.
• Nine out of 10 will be beaten physically during encounters with their men clients.
• Two out of 10 will be tortured during such encounters.
• One in 10 will die prostituting within their first three years.
• Eight out of 10 are teenage runaways.
• Nine out of 10 had no father or father-figure living at home.
• Eight out of 10 make contact with men online first.
• Eight out of 10 use drugs and alcohol.

This is less about prostitution and more about untreated childhood sexual trauma.

There is hope. I run a program at the Center for Child & Family Services called the Adult Survivors Program.

The heat is on in Pasco! Read more at The Pasco Tribune…

Prostitution sting in Pasco nets 11 arrests

An undercover operation run by the New Port Richey Police Department and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office netted 11 prostitution arrests Friday.

The sting, which ran from noon to 8 p.m., targeted people soliciting prostitution on the west side of Pasco County, according to a news release.

All were charged with solicitation of prostitution.

Some Madison, Wisconsin hobbyists are blue these days.  Read more at The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel…

Online prostitution forum leads to arrests of 57 people
By The Associated Press

Madison police say they’ve cracked down on the sex trade by infiltrating an online forum popular among customers of prostitutes.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that officers have arrested 57 people following eight months of monitoring the Web site.

Police Officer Jeff Pharo said he stumbled across the site while investigating a separate tip. He said the site offered updates of which prostitutes were walking the sidewalk, updates that he confirmed by driving by.

So he created a fake profile to establish himself, then began studying the comments of other people in the forum. The information led to dozens of arrests and citations.

Read more at The Boston Herald…

Boston cops follow prostitution trail via Craigslist ad
By O’Ryan Johnson

Another prostitute allegedly peddling her services on Craigslist and working out of a Boston hotel was busted by police in an online sting, authorities said.

The arrest Tuesday of the 25-year-old woman comes just two weeks after cops locked up another woman  in an identical sting at the Westin Copley Place.

The woman – also wanted for defaulting on two prostitution warrants out of Chelsea and Dorchester – was arraigned yesterday on a prostitution charge in Boston Municipal Court. She pleaded not guilty.

A Boston detective posing as a john called a number listed on her advertisement, police said. She allegedly told the undercover cop to call her from the lobby of the hotel – which authorities declined to identify. Once he reached her hotel room, the cop handed her $200 and she began to undress, police said. At that point, cops knocked on the door, and she was arrested.

Cops seized four cell phones, a copy of her ad, and her room rental agreement.

Police are hoping to discourage prostitutes from advertising on Craigslist and other electronic billboards in the wake of the murder last year of Julissa Brisman.

Read more at The Province…

64 charges against prostitutes, johns in Calgary sting
By Sherri Zickefoose

A city-wide prostitution sting has seen 64 charges laid against johns and sex trade workers.

Police also have seized 25 cars from johns caught soliciting prostitutes, a penalty provided for in Alberta law.

Police made arrests on nine outstanding warrants as they operated the two-week undercover sting.

First-time johns can get their cars back after performing community service, but those who get caught more than once could see their vehicles seized by the Alberta government and auctioned off.

Read more here…

Police Targeted Suspected Prostitutes, Johns
Fulton County Police Cleaning Up Fulton Industrial Boulevard
By Tony McNary

CBS Atlanta went undercover with the Fulton County Police Department’s Special Operations Unit Friday night.

They were on a mission to clean up Fulton Industrial Boulevard’s reputation for being a haven for prostitution.

“After several years of being tired of this we’ve gotten a new approach. It’s going to be a sustained effort to continue doing this day in and day out,” said Captain Wade Yates.

An undercover officer posed as a “John” and picked up three women who police said offered him sex for money.

Another undercover officer posed as a prostitute. She was on the street less than five minutes before someone tried to solicit her.

Some guys using Craigslist to try and secure some TLC got arrested for their trouble. Read more at KRISTV.com…

Online Prostitution Sting Leads to Five Arrests

The Corpus Christi Police Department went undercover on craigslist this weekend and arrested five men who they say were trying to solicit a prostitute.

Police say they posted ads on Craigslist trying to attract people looking to hire a prostitute. They say it was just part of routine checks they do on networking websites but this is the first time they have actually posted an ad online; and they were able to make five arrests.

…

Police say the men all met up with an undercover female police officer Saturday afternoon and verbally agreed to pay for a sex act.

The vice division says the internet isn’t as big of a problem as prostitution on the streets but it’s still a good tool for their ongoing crack down.

“It doesn’t seem to be the biggest source, I mean most of it is street level prostitution but randomly going through craigslist and other websites that do these kind of networking sites and stuff you can see that its there,” Captain John Houston with the Narcotics/Vice Investigation Division.

Read more at The Richmond Times-Dispatch…

Richmond prostitution stings net 29 arrests
by Mark Bowes

Richmond police arrested 29 men and women on prostitution-related charges during four citywide sting operations this month, authorities said.

The charges included prostitution and solicitation of a prostitute.

“We’re responding to complaints from city residents who live or work in the areas where prostitution occurs,” Richmond police Maj. John Keohane said in a statement.

Reads more at MyEyewitnessNews…

12 Arrested in Prostitution Sting by Memphis Police
by Allison Sossaman

The Memphis Police Department staged an undercover prostitution sting this weekend. More than a dozen women were arrested for prostitution near a school or church. Detectives with the MPD’s Organized Crime Unit conducted these undercover operations overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning.

Garland Paige says he hears about a lot of stuff going on around his neighborhood near Hollywood and Chelsea.

“This is a high crime area,” Paige said. “A lot of things go on at nighttime here, lots of shootings stuff like that.”

Just blocks away from elementary schools, he says prostitution is a big problem. He’s glad to hear police are cracking down.

“Makes me feel good,” Paige said. “Because I’ve got little grandkids out here, and they’ll be out here at night playing.”

Undercover officers posed as decoys in several areas around the city. According to the affidavits, these 12 women were all willing to have sex for money, and they were all within a mile and a half of a church or school.

Read more at NBC Augusta…

Craigslist used in undercover prostitution sting
By Christine O’Donnell

Seven men were arrested in a two day Prostitution Sting set up by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office’s undercover team.

The sting started early Thursday morning and by Friday the following seven men were charged with pandering (soliciting prostitutes for sex).

The team, including an undercover female, listed an ad on craigslist under the “adult services” section.

“The ad itself doesn’t say I’m going to do this or that or anything, it just says adult services,” said one of the undercover investigators.

The investigators said posting a believable ad is easy; all they include is a picture and a phone number. There are dozens of ads for adult services in Georgia-Carolina.

In just a few hours Saturday six women put up new ads.

…

“Shortly after [posting the ad] the phone began to ring and guys would ask her what the rates were for her services,” the undercover investigator said. “All the guys that set up the appointments and came asked for some type of sexual favor or sexual act for a set amount of money. Once they paid her, they were taken into custody.”

This is the third undercover prostitution sting the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office has done this year.

The undercover investigator says all seven of the men are most likely back on the streets after posting a $1,300 bail.

The section now listed as “adult services” used to be called “erotic services.” Craigslist changed the name after Philip Markoff was arrested and charged with killing one of three women investigators say he solicited on their website earlier this year.