RE "ARRESTING activity: Thanks to the Internet, prostitution is thriving in the suburbs; police, and hotels, are fighting back" (Globe NorthWest, Jan. 13): It is a sad irony that in 2008 female prostitutes are searched on the Internet and arrested by the police, while their male customers are let go without a murmur. Surely prostitution necessitates a symbiotic relationship: The business cannot exist without the customer.
This attitude toward law enforcement seems not only unbalanced but sexist.
M. JINX NOLAN
Belmont
THERE IS so much one can say about prostitution. It is a vulnerable and dangerous way of life for women, sometimes leading to physical violence and even death. It disproportionately draws in women who are downtrodden - drug-addicted, poor, or desperate. It holds a mirror up to our society, where many women cannot obtain or sustain jobs with decent wages, and instead choose to sell their bodies to the highest bidder.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, most prostitutes have been victimized at some point in their lives by sexual violence.
"Arresting activity"discuss any of this. Instead, it painted a picture of gullible women chased by police officers. The law-enforcement officials you spotlight seem utterly unapologetic about arresting the people who sell sex while letting the purchasers, who may be just as guilty of engaging in a crime, off the hook. Would Woburn detective Bob Rufo, who feels that "it's embarrassing enough" for the men buying sex, consider letting the prostitute walk in exchange for information about the men who are violating M.G.L. 272, Section 53A?
Whether one agrees with the current state of prostitution laws, surely it is beyond debate that our law enforcement is charged with equally enforcing the law.
VICTORIA STEINBERG
Copresident
Massachusetts chapter National Organization for Women
Boston
