A council? A TWENTY-ONE person advisory COUNCIL on PROSTITUTION? Dear baby Jesus: please guide me to the path that leads to being EMPLOYED on an advisory council for whores. Amen.

@Miss Amazon: I don't think they got paid. They may have gotten lunch or dinner but more likely some carrot sticks and coffee. It varies of course; the best food that I've found is at the sewage treatment plant meetings.

@amazonfemme: "whores"? show some compassion and class, fer crissakes. there but for the grace, etc, go you and i.

Miss Mirk -
I have spoken with you on numerous occasions and it is unfortunate that you continually portray myself and my neighbors in such a negative light.

I also expect a retraction of your claim in this article that I "hijacked" a press conference. As I discussed with you that very day at that very press conference, myself, Brian Wong & a few other neighbors were all personally invited by the Mayor's office & by Commander Crebbs. We were asked to speak just like representatives of Madison South did. I did respectfully say to then Mayor Potter that the City needs to holistically address the issues of prostitution in Portland. Not only did they take away the Prostitution Free Zone and there was a blatant increase in the crime, but at the time there were NO services for the women involved.

Of course there was a crisis in our City that led us to draw attention to the City’s neglect of the issue and that this press conference happening 1 year after lifting the PFZ & doing nothing to support the women – our City leaders failed on this issue.

At the time it was also documented by the Portland Vice Squad & the FBI – that since the PFZ was lifted, out of state pimps were trafficking in women to Portland – some as young as 11 to work our neighborhoods since our laws against pimps & johns were so laxed. In that same summer of 2008, a young prostitute stabbed her pimp to death right off the Ave of Roses since the pimps were turning the Avenue into a turf war.

Yes, our neighbors had to get loud & be the squeaky wheel & because of it 1 year later the City allocated 250k for services for these women. We did not think that the PFZ would solve the many issues surrounding this crime. We saw a blatant cause & effect after the PFZ was lifted and the lack of NO services. We wanted the City to react and be proactive – that press conference was held 1 year after the PFZ was lifted & no services were put in place. Here we are 1 year later 250k invested in this issue and we have seen some results all in the right direction. The support & services need to continue and evolve.

Please don’t portrait myself or my neighbors wanting the women involved locked up – we wanted the City to truly address this issue at the time & this past year with the funding that we were able to acquire was the start of this.

Thank you, Liz Sullivan

What's the difference between a child "laborer" who is enslaved and a "prostitute" who is enslaved? Nothing yet we call one a victim and the other a criminal. It is time we use correct terminology in order to guide appropriate societal response. We can probably all agree that an underage "prostitute" in the U.S. or Cambodia or where ever is a trafficked child. And many adult "prostitutes" started as trafficked children.

The trafficking of sex workers in the U.S. is exactly the same as the trafficking of sex workers in Asia or Eastern Europe. Let's define and name the issue accurately. For most sex workers, prostitution is not a career choice.

Sex slaves typically begin their "career" while as young as 7 by being abducted or sold. Then they are systematically raped, sometimes by a group, beaten, starved and finally put to "work". This is the way of prostitution today. This is the way in Asia, Europe AND in the U.S. For most sex workers, prostitution is not a career choice. They are trafficked humans, many are children. This is the correct definition

Frank van Waardenburg

Wait, you mean to tell me that class division and capitalism breed anti-social, and self-endangering behaviour? Duh! But, if you think this council is going to change much though, think again. The problem is much deeper than just a few houses. People need food, shelter, health and comfort, all of which could be provided for everyone but is reserved for those above a certain class. As long as capitalism exists people will be forced to find harmful means of sustaining themselves.