Hookers at church: Sex worker stings.

AuthorBrown, Elizabeth Nolan
PositionCitings - Diversion program for sex workers - Brief article

ARIZONA POLICE have been busting prostitutes in mass stings. But instead of taking them to jail, cops are depositing the sex workers at Phoenix's Bethany Bible Church. There, they are greeted by a pastor, more cops, and a bevy of social services options--mental health, drug treatment, housing. They're also informed they can avoid arrest by signing up for intensive life coaching from Catholic Charities.

Welcome to Project ROSE, Phoenix's controversial "prostitution diversion" program. The initiative, launched in 2011, is a collaboration between Arizona State University and the Phoenix Police Department, with assistance from Catholic Charities, the Phoenix prosecutor's office, and community groups such as Healthcare for the Homeless. The project's backers say its mission is to help sex workers rather than lock them up. But opponents say Project ROSE--an acronym for Reaching Out to the Sexually Exploited--is coercive, ineffective, and the same old...

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