Thousands of addicted, homeless or prostituted women of color try to survive in the District — the most crime-ridden area of Albuquerque, NM
Erika Peña is a hero. She was doing a car date in Laredo, Texas, on September 14, 2018 when the man pointed a gun at her and grabbed her blouse. She was able to slip out of her shirt, escape the car then run until she found a state trooper. The man who attacked her,... Continue Reading →
I’ve talked to this woman just a few times, but there is comfort between us that allows our conversation to skip the niceties and warp speed into crime topics. Our discussion twists and turned from violence and brutality to self-preservation. She told me a story of when she was young and her and her friend... Continue Reading →
This part of the West Mesa is littered with debris. Mattresses, busted entertainment centers, discards from a fancy granite countertop remodel and bags of what I think is dog feces ironically stuffed back into the dog food bags it came in. After the monsoon rain seems to be a good time to look for remains.... Continue Reading →
On the street, everything is present tense. You need rent money now. You need to find a safe place to sleep now. You need to get away from the man attacking you now. There is no planning for things that might happen in two hours or two days or two months. It's all action, all... Continue Reading →
I run my hand along the police tape at the corner of Cenote and Beads Street. This undeveloped lot is not far from the burial site on Amole Mesa and much like that site litter and weeds have taken over. At this location crews had been clearing the area this week to start construction on... Continue Reading →
I’m late and the party is in full swing when I arrive. Several volunteers sorting through donations of clothing, accessories, but shoes go to the front of the line. Tonight one of our generous volunteers sent three shoes without mates. If you are reading this and find them, we’ve set their mates aside please feel... Continue Reading →
The clock is ticking on our billboards so I drove up and down Central Avenue one last time to check them out. Any day now they will be replaced by the next campaign. Despite the promised 1.8 million views, there were only a handful of new leads. No one named the serial murderer. No one... Continue Reading →
It is not our job to be sweet and "everything nice" in order to protect the feelings of people who clearly don't care about our feelings (or safety). We get to draw boundaries and define who we are.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) every 98 seconds an American woman is sexually assaulted. REPORT IT. Get help by calling RAINN at 1.800.656.HOPE (4673) https://www.rainn.org/ m, volunteer, Street Safe New Mexico
Women who sell sex on the street have a list of survival rules. These rules aren’t written down anywhere. And they can’t be rattled off like the alphabet. But they are known. They are an amalgamation of lessons learned by instinct and experience. A woman who is new to the street is easy to spot... Continue Reading →
Women of the District 