THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 4, 1997 TAG: 9701040003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 27 lines
I whole-heartedly agree with Thelma Drake's proposals for tougher prostitution laws. (``Law-maker targets prostitution,'' Dec. 26).
It's high time we had these laws. Maybe once they are in effect, they'll cause some of the other prostitution-related crimes to go down, such as drug-dealing, rape, muggings, extortion, assaults and murder.
Our daughters, sisters, girlfriends and wives can't even walk down the streets alone to go shopping or wait for a bus in neighborhoods like Ocean View without being harassed, insulted or propositioned for sex because some john has mistaken the lady for a prostitute.
I sympathize with the ladies who feel that they have no other choice to earn a living except to resort to prostitution, but I have no sympathy for their customers, and I sympathize even more with the female residents of these neighborhoods who are not prostitutes.
The message that I hope Ms. Drake's new laws get across to the prostitutes, and their customers, is: ``Take it somewhere else. We won't have it - not in our neighborhood, and not in Virginia.''
BENNY R. FOSTER
Norfolk, Dec. 26, 1996