But I Was Just Offering Her a Ride

From the Chicago Tribune:

People seeking prostitutes in Chicago already face arrest and impoundment of their cars if they are caught, but now they risk something else: public embarrassment on a city Web site.

The city has begun posting the names and photographs of alleged "johns" on the Police Department's Web site for all to see, including spouses, children, employers, friends and neighbors, Mayor Richard Daley announced Tuesday...

Chicago is not the first city that has attempted to use shame as a deterrent to prostitution.

"Operation John Be Gone" in Akron, Ohio, "draws the most hits on our Web site by far"--100,000 in its first year of operationsaid Police Lt. Rick Edwards.

You can see the Chicago johns here, and the Akron johns here. The super sexy Akron prostitutes are here.

Before you laugh too much, consider:

"Its [prostitution's] victims are, first of all, the prostitutes themselves," [Mayor]Daley said. "It is estimated that between 16,000 and 25,000 women are involved in prostitution in Chicago over the course of a year. Most of them were victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence from a very young age.

"Once they become prostitutes, they're subject to even more violence, abuse and possible death from their pimps and their customers. They spend their lives surrounded by criminals and drugs and [are] vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases."

Not feeling sorry for prostitutes yet? Read Edward P. Jones' excellent short story, Old Boys, Old Girls, from the May 3, 2004 New Yorker.