Greenfield Ave. The Problem of Prostitution. Photo by Edgar Mendez. For Mary Ward , who worked as a prostitute on West Lincoln and West Greenfield avenues for decades, the scenario had played itself out a thousand times before. During her date, her pimp was to show up, deliver drugs, collect money and leave. Faced with the decision of whether to stay or run away, Ward waited for police to arrive. That was the last day she used drugs or allowed someone to abuse her body.
Savage violence is a daily part of life for prostitutes, said Deanne Lawson , who sees the carnage firsthand. Layton Blvd. Those who arrive at the center, a safe place for sexually exploited women, often show up beaten, stitched up, drug addicted and without hope, said Lawson. The women come from broken homes and live broken lives, some forced into prostitution by boyfriends, parents or other family members, while others were plied with heroin, Lawson said.
Many of the women who work on Greenfield Avenue were trafficked from out of state, she added. Any one of them might not have realized she was a victim of human trafficking until she stepped into a house full of women being held captive. The drugs, dope houses, pimps and johns are all there in abundance, Ward explained.
Lawson and a team of volunteers, sometimes including city leaders such as Ald. Jose Perez , hit Greenfield Avenue on Wednesday and Friday nights, offering women dignity bags containing food and self-care supplies.
Also inside each bag is a resource card with the addresses of IBC and a drop-in center on the North Side. Last year the outreach teams made contacts with 90 different women; of those, they saw 58 only once, suggesting that they have moved elsewhere, according to Lawson.
