Business is still booming on Bissonnet for Houston’s prostitutes

In this July 31, 2014, photo, a sex worker talks to a potential client in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Dirceu Greco, the former head of the Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, AIDS and Viral Hepatitis at the health ministry, said opposition by evangelical leaders “caused notorious backtracking” in AIDS policy. Another former leader of the program, Dr. Pedro Chequer, complained that the restrictions have hurt campaigns targeting vulnerable populations such as gays and sex workers. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Bissonnet at US 59 has quite the reputation.

Videos by Rare

In a May 2017 interview, a local business owner on Bissonnet revealed that the prostitutes often work in the parking lots of local businesses, discarding baby wipes and condoms for others to clean up.

RELATED: A Richmond minor was illegally married last year, and the arrangement may have been against her will

Even after a series of investigative videos from Fox26 reporter Isiah Carey shed light on the strip’s thriving prostitution, girls continue to work the street.

Former prostitute Kenya Randall told Newsfix that “the word around the country is that Bissonnet is a million-dollar strip. Everybody everywhere is trying to get to Houston – to get on Bissonnet.”

Randall changed her life and left prostitution after becoming well-known as Peaches, the star of a viral video about Houston’s prostitutes. After appearing in the video, Randall left prostitution less than a year later because she felt like she had hit rock bottom. Randall said she became a target after the video, but she believes that the added police attention “saved her life” because it took her off the streets during dangerous periods.

Because of her honesty and openness, Randall was able to show some of the hardships faced by Houston’s prostitutes, including rape, customers who don’t pay, violence, drugs, and sexually-transmitted diseases. As Peaches, she contracted syphilis.

Randall’s original interview took place five years ago, but Bissonnet is still the number one spot in Houston for prostitution. In a recent raid, police arrested 589 people in just that 1.3 mile stretch alone.

RELATED: Sugar Land police announce arrests of 13 alleged predators in “Operation Broken Heart”

While Randall has left the life, many girls followed after her, keeping the Bissonnet strip active even on weeknights. One working girl explained that the girls often make about $800 on a weeknight and $1,000 on Friday and Saturday.

Those numbers might make it hard for girls who are entrenched in the life to make a change.

What do you think?

This pet duck getting excited when the school bus rolls up redefines “man’s best friend”

Historic site of Westheimer Flea Market in Montrose may get a new look