This is in response to a column by David Sargent (March 27) about some city reports that dated back more than 100 years.

What caught my attention was the “Police Matron’s Report.” The comments she made were grim. She stated, “I have little hope for some of them,” and, “A reformatory for women is Lewiston’s greatest need.”

Those statements about the female youth and drug-addicted population of Lewiston can still be used today.

Anyone who knows Lewiston knows there is a problem with prostitution, and it is directly linked to the crack/opiate epidemic that plagues the city. On any given day, rain or shine, you can drive through the neighborhood of Pine Street and Walnut Street and may see young women working as prostitutes to pay for their costly drug habits.

Prostitution is a crime, but we owe it to the community to help these women. I ask myself, “Why? Why would they do what they do?”

The answer is often that they were victims of unspeakable abuse and feel as though they are worthless. Maybe there is “little hope for some of them,” but I think it is a travesty that an issue of this magnitude has yet to be addressed.

The century-old comment of that police matron says it all: “A reformatory for women is Lewiston’s greatest need.”

Jason Bishop, Lewiston