Reporters were barred from attending an emergency meeting called by city officials in response to a recent rash of violence targeted at prostitutes.
The meeting, held Friday morning at the city health department headquarters, gathered advocates, police and health officials to plot strategies for protecting city sex workers from further violence. Since April, five women linked to prostitution have been strangled.
But city Health Commissioner Josh Sharfstein said the meeting was closed after The Examiner requested to attend.
“My understanding is that it’s an invitation-only meeting … for the groups working on the issue,” said Sharfstein in an e-mail.
Advocates who attended said the meeting was productive, noting that detectives from the police department said they had several suspects in custody related to the recent slayings of prostitutes, but would not give specifics.
“I think it was a good first step toward bringing together all the people in the city who care about the women to begin finding ways to make them safer,” said Sidney Ford, director of You Are Never Alone, an organization that provides outreach services for city sex workers.
“There were lots of ideas put forward on what types of information to pass out to women who are still on the streets.”
Ford said another meeting is planned for September, but no specific date had been sent.
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