Prostitution has been a problem our country has faced for many years. San Jose underwent a sting in order to help stop prostitution in the area. San Jose police arrested 14 people in two prostitution stings last week and rescued a sixteen year old girl. This girl started prostituting at the age of 11. The San Jose Police Department’s human trafficking task force made the arrest by using undercover cops. The undercover cops were posing as “johns” and were pretending to be customers. In the past week police arrested eight adults for prostitution. In order to catch the prostitutes the officers typically drive up in a car and wait to see if someone approaches. While undercover the officers were trying to find underage prostitutes. They arrested four male customers, two female adult prostitutes, and took a sixteen year old girl into protective custody.
When talking to the underage prostitute detectives stated she was extremely cooperative. This girl was an East Bay runaway who was forced to work in the streets the past five years. Now that this girl is off the streets officers are working to get her some sort of help and provide her with the proper services.
Prostitution has been a large problem in San Jose and the Silicon Valley. One prostitute discussed what it was like being a prostitute in San Jose. There is a whole other world that many pass though but never actually see. If you actually looked a little closer at the streets of San Jose, you can catch a glimpse of the prostitution life. One lady who had been a prostitute for twenty years claims she was not your Hollywood Pretty Woman type of prostitute. She describes that from using drugs and being in her mid 50s her sex appeal is dwindling. This prostitute claims she is never worried about getting caught by the cops. Being a prostitute in San Jose is a dangerous and scary job.
Prostitution is bad enough, but when the issue is with juveniles it’s an entire different situation. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for officers to come across juvenile prostitutes. This is a major reason why officers are working so hard to help end prostitution. Often times when juvenile prostitutes are picked up by police they are treated as offenders rather than victims. San Jose Police Officers are working hard to do the opposite. They are working to rehabilitate the juvenile instead of treating them as criminals. In order to stop the issue of prostitution the criminal justice system needs to work on rehabilitation and figuring out how to keep women from entering this line of “work”. Most prostitutes state they have no other option. This reason is why the system needs to work on having other outlets for women so they do not end up in this situation, especially at such a young age.