|
from The Telegraph
March 31, 2004
City aims to reduce prostitution
Officials attend workshop to list options for programs
by LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph
ALTON -- A variety of innovative, interagency programs to assist street prostitutes with health, social and economic needs is key to cutting their illegal activity in Alton, officials said Tuesday.
Among the options might be:
- A recovery center for the women leaving street prostitution and for their children to address their mental and physical health needs, including alcohol and drug abuse, sexual addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder from sexual abuse. Some funding could come from fines on "johns," or customers.
- A "diversion program," where charges might be dropped if the woman quits the business, run similarly to Madison County’s drug court. Arrested "johns" also could be involved.
- Assistance in earning a general equivalency diploma or in finding full-time employment that pays more than minimum wage.
- Transportation or day care that would help the women hold down those jobs.
- Housing.
- Mentoring, self-esteem and empowerment programs for grade- and middle-school girls to direct them away from prostitution.
A myriad of remedies are needed to address the multi-faceted, underlying reasons for prostitution, said attendees of a five-hour prostitution abatement strategy development workshop. Some cooperative efforts have started between private and public bodies and neighborhood groups, said William Kessler, president and chief executive officer of Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton.
Among those are Alton Operation Weed and Seed Strategy and the Coro Foundation’s training sessions for residents to learn to improve their neighborhoods and fight crime.
Kessler said prostitutes are victims and that the community needs to find ways to help them with a strategy "that doesn’t re-victimize the victims."
The program, sponsored by Weed and Seed, was at the Alton Holiday Inn and drew some 55 representatives from the Alton and East Alton police departments, Weed and Seed, Madison County’s Probation, Health and State’s Attorney’s offices, a judge, several mental health and social service agencies and others.
The keynote speaker was Bill Nelson of Minneapolis, a nationally known specialist in prostitution abatement through community strategies. Nelson guided the participants in writing out lists of how prostitution affects them -- including work -- ideas of what should be done about helping curb prostitution and who can do it.
One by one, a representative from each table presented the lists, which generated questions and comments, all to spur creative thinking about what could work in Alton.
Nelson said street prostitutes are "people who have been abused, misused and who have nothing in life except for their bodies. It is wrong because it harms women and children; prostitution costs the community immensely," he said.
Nelson, the director of correctional services for Volunteers of America of Minnesota, has more than 40 years of experience combined as a jailer, probation officer, social worker and parole officer. He has a master’s degree in social work.
He helped create a drug-free zone in inner Minneapolis, began a recovery home for prostitutes and was portrayed in the PBS series, "The Visionaries." He serves as host of a cable television talk show, "Creative Solutions," which deals with criminal justice and community issues.
He will speak at 7 p.m. today at City on the Hill, 318 E. Broadway, in Alton.
Organizer Jennifer Campbell, neighborhood liaison and community justice coordinator for Weed and Seed, said the workshop was held to bring representatives together from several agencies "to hear all the voices having all these conversations" to start them working together on the problem of prostitution in Alton.
"It’s another step forward," Campbell said.
Last year, prostitution in Alton and Granite City was the focus of a Madison County grand jury investigation and report, with a number of men and women indicted.
Participants disagreed as to how much drug abuse plays into street prostitution.
"The community perception regarding prostitution is skewed. It’s not all drug-related; it’s socio-economic," said Bruce Bertolino, Weed and Seed director. He suggested groups sit down with prostitutes and talk about what they need to get out of the business.
A table of Alton police officers, however, said 60 percent to 90 percent of prostitutes are drug-dependent, with some stressing the higher number. Lt. Mike McNamara said police believe there are 20 to 30 prostitutes, at most, working in Alton.
A man whose work involves talking to prostitutes said he is concerned about hidden prostitution, of pre-teens and teenagers from dysfunctional homes who barter sex for goods or drugs. One participant related how a prostitute told her she learned what to do from her mother; the younger woman peeked out from inside a closet and watched her prostitute mother performing tricks.
Representatives from Alton-based Healthy Options for Positive Environments, established a year ago to help women get out of prostitution, announced a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Saint Clare’s Hospital Auditorium.
"We want to see a safe, halfway house; we are committed to working collaboratively, and we want money collected from fines from johns to be diverted to help in a prostitution recovery program," member Gloria Dooley said.
lnweller@hotmail.com
|
