to guidebook for hookers, has the Philadelphia mayor and city council outraged and up in arms to see that no more get distributed. Meanwhile, City Councilman Richard Mariano is demanding answers from the Health Department official who apparently approved the pamphlet.
The pamphlet is titled "Tricks of the Trade: Health & Safety Tips for Street Workers," and is aimed at street prostitutes. It was published by the AIDS prevention program Prevention Point.
The booklet offers tips to prostitutes on what to wear, how to negotiate with a "john" and how to avoid sexually transmitted disease.
After reading Daily News columnist Elmer Smith's piece Monday, the mayor obtained a copy of the pamphlet. "He is totally opposed to distributing the pamphlet," said Street's press spokeswoman, Barbara Grant. "He doesn't want the city to have anything to do with it. "Prevention Point is a model program for preventing HIV infection," Grant added. "They want to hand out useful information. But this is going too far."
The agency has run a needle-exchange program since 1991 and gets about 60 percent of its funding from the city. Its publications must be approved by the city and apparently the guide to hookers was approved last year by Deputy Health Commissioner Mark Bencivengo. Distribution of "Tricks of the Trade" was halted temporarily because of criticism of the title and cover illustration, according to Rob O'Brien, executive director of Prevention Point. O'Brien said the pamphlet was scheduled for review by an agency committee on Monday.
In a letter to Bencivengo, Mariano wrote, "As a member of the Public Health and Welfare Committee I am gravely concerned that $300,000 in public funds given to Prevention Point by the city are going toward documents that might encourage or assist in prostitution, an obviously illegal act."
Mariano also wanted to know how much in city funds goes for the needle-exchange program and for the pamphlet.
The pamphlet advises hookers that "clothing and accessories should be attractive to customers, but still safe. Do not wear anything that will slow you down if you have to run."
It further advises "sex workers" to "negotiate services and prices outside the car and circle it completely before entering to see the number of riders and the location of door handles. "Have a price list and time limits and stick to them. GET YOUR MONEY UP FRONT!"
O'Brien defended the pamphlet, saying that prostitution is a fact of life. Teaching safety to street- walkers and protecting them from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases requires realistic language, he said.
Distributing clean needles to drug users is actually a violation of Pennsylvania law. But the city has helped to fund the program from the beginning, and the state has never enforced the law. Mariano is also upset about the needle-exchange program. He has already drawn up a resolution calling for Council hearings on the controversy.
