Jackie, a 27-year-old prostitute who has been in the business for only six months. (Shane Hamm/Borderzine.com)

Anguish and abuse define the life of a young El Paso prostitute

EL PASO – The young woman has a frail frame, thin from a lack of food and an appetite for cocaine, black hair shaved on the sides, two silver rings piercing her bottom lip and tattoos on her arms and legs. Jackie, a 27-year-old prostitute doesn’t touch the wads of bills folded up on a dresser in a hotel room on Mesa Street. A friend will pick that up before she has sex with the man who made the payment, an average American guy, five-feet-10-inches tall, normal build. He was looking for sex, but she gave him more than that. He also received kind words and support from Jackie, who believes it her job to provide something more to the men who come to her.