Women who live near the Track say they've been propositioned by men who thought they were prostitutes. Photo: Godofredo A. These are victims of childhood abuse, drug addiction and violence.
Still, somehow, they are the lucky ones. Because they have survived, they have a chance to piece their lives back together to a semblance of normalcy. The unlucky ones loved the wrong man, trusted the wrong smile, got in the wrong car. There are no more chances left for them.
The three-part series begins in print today and is available online in full. It is an indictment of a failing society. This is the demimonde of pimps, prostitutes and johns, far from our glittering downtown or gentrifying Heights. The series also brings our attention to another group of people who are almost as ignored, the ones who try to go about their business in a neighborhood that has gained an international reputation as a hub of prostitution.
The mothers trying to get their children to school without them seeing a half-naked woman, the business owners picking up discarded condoms from their parking lots, the apartment dwellers bumping into illicit hookups in their laundry room. An immediate reaction is to ask, well, where are the authorities?
But they are there, and they are trying. The Track is an open-air sex market, day and night. Law enforcement conducts sting operations, makes arrests and vows to make an impact, but this has been going on for decades with little change.
