Sex for Sale~Prostitution, Pornography and the Sex Industry by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sociology
Published: 2011-02-07T06:00:00+00:00

JUDITH PORTER AND LOUIS BONILLA

was located outdoors on a street corner in the stroll area. Prostitutes began using the program soon after it started. They received information about AIDS

and medical and social services at the site when they came to exchange needles, and over time they began to trust the volunteers. They frequently brought their male partners, who were often willing to talk to us, so it was possible to get information to both the woman and her partner.

Because the African-American prostitutes were more connected to both social service and family and friendship networks, AIDS presentations and distribution of condoms in welfare offices, city-funded health clinics, and drug detoxification units, as well as up to date information on new and existing services of other types, are effective ways of reaching them. In some cases the information might come to them indirectly, through providing information to their families, who often take the information and pass it on. Reaching the African-American car prostitutes in the park directly was difficult because they were watched by pimps. But workers can approach the women through their pimps with the information; unlike the male partners of the white women, the African-American pimps frequently sat in cars in an open park area where the women were soliciting. A mobile van providing condoms, AIDS information, and information on services for crack users may be another way of reaching these women and their pimps. Weiner has described a similar van-based strategy to reach sex workers in New York City.35

In the hotel area, a team of outreach workers who walk the streets can be extremely effective. The prostitutes worked on their own, had more freedom to interact, and also were a more consistent population than in the car stroll areas, and so they came to know and trust outreach workers more easily. Using the men in these hotels as gatekeepers was an important strategy in reaching this population. Street networks are particularly important in African-American neighborhoods, where they are strong and effective at disseminating information. We were assisted, for example, by men at the hotels in the distribution of fliers we created which listed various services the women might need. The male gatekeepers were not always cooperative. In one of the hotels the male manager sold the condoms we gave him and tried to keep the women away from us so we could not give them condoms for free.

Because the African-American prostitutes often mentioned their children and expressed concerns for them, addressing the needs of their children or providing drug rehabilitation services that include children may be an important strategy for behavior change in this population.

We do not know whether our findings can be generalized to other locales in Philadelphia or to other cities. However, even if specific contextual patterns differ, our research in Philadelphia suggests that street prostitution 182

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