LAPD Prostitution Task Force in effect at 29th and 30th streets at Hobart | Courtesy STOP PROSTITUTION @‏29thAndWestern

The United Nations recently stated that legalizing prostitution could be the key to controlling what happens in the business while also helping to decrease sex trafficking. Is this a feasible strategy? Annenberg Radio News spoke to several experts and observers to hear their perspectives.

Here in Los Angeles, Van Nuys recently took the spotlight when councilwoman Nury Martinez announced a plan to crackdown on prostitution on Lankershim and Sepulveda boulevards by adding extra police patrols and implementing a program to steer prostitutes away from a criminal lifestyle.

South Los Angeles continues to contend with prostitution as well. In 2011, the most recent year with available data, LAPD’s Southwest stations made 300 prostitution-related arrests, a 39 percent increase from the previous year. About 40 percent of the total arrests were near 29th Street and Western Avenue. South L.A. locals such as the couple behind the Twitter account “Stop Prostitution” have struggled to shed light on this issue and engage police assistance.

Learn more in a story from Annenberg Radio News:

See previously from Intersections:

South LA couple battles ongoing prostitution

South LA neighborhood meets about prostitution problem

South LA neighborhood moves to action against prostitution

How young girls are enslaved in the sex trafficking trade

South LA neighborhood fed up with prostitution