New laws aim to curb
Waikiki prostitution

People arrested or convicted
of 'hooking' will be banned from
walking in Waikiki at night.

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

The four young women wearing tight clothing and high heels walked down Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki at about 11 p.m. on a recent weeknight.

Stores were still open and the street in front of the International Marketplace was crowded with tourists.

Three of the women kept pulling up the back of a mini-skirt worn by the fourth. Then they spotted a male Japanese visitor wearing a T-shirt and walking shorts.

"It's my birthday," said the woman in the mini-skirt as she solicited him for sex.

Supporters of two new laws aimed at curbing prostitution say scenes like this show why the laws are needed.

Last week, Gov. Ben Cayetano signed a bill that creates a new offense of street solicitation in Waikiki. It bans those arrested or convicted of prostitution from walking in Waikiki from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. as a condition of bail or probation.

And yesterday, Cayetano signed a bill allowing judges to sentence prostitutes to probation and intervention classes as an alternative to jail.

Waikiki streetwalkers had differing opinions about the new laws.

"I think it would be good, I guess, bad for business though," said a young woman dressed in red bell-bottom stretch pants and matching halter top.

A woman who goes by the street name of "Tia" said the law will not stop her from doing business.

"I'd just change my looks and walk the back streets," she said.

Waikiki businessman Peter Gellatly, who pushed for both laws, said signing the street solicitation bill is only a first step, since it could face a court challenge.

Kelly Hill from Sisters Offering Support, a group that helps prostitutes leave the business, said the solicitation law could have an impact on prostitution in Waikiki because it will keep prostitutes from their place of business.

"It has to be used effectively, otherwise prostitution is going to be moved elsewhere," she said.

Hill's group will be offering prostitution intervention classes, aimed at assisting women to stop streetwalking.

The first class will start next month. Her group has funding from a $10,000 donation, allowing it to handle 25 to 35 cases this year, but the group could take up to 150 cases with more donations or state funding.

"The pity of the new law is that there is not money attached to it," Hill said. "But, nevertheless, this is a big step in the right direction."

"I'm hoping that the law does provide an alternative for people who feel that their only choice is a life on the streets," said Major Susan Dowsett of the Honolulu Police Department's vice and narcotics division.

But in Waikiki, "Tia" also didn't think much of intervention counseling.

"It might work for some hookers who really want to change," she said. "Not for me, though."