SAN JOSE — A war is being waged against the world’s oldest profession in a small working-class neighborhood south of downtown that authorities have dubbed “ground zero” for prostitution in the city.

And by several accounts, the tide is turning in favor of residents who were once too frightened to venture outside after dark.

“This is ground zero for prostitution in San Jose,” said Santa Clara County deputy district attorney Josue Fuentes about the Guadalupe-Washington Neighborhood that is bounded by Interstate 280, South 1st Street, Willow Street and Highway 87. Fuentes estimates that more than 80 percent of the city’s street-level prostitution happens in the area, extending south along 1st Street to West Alma Avenue.

Central to the 2-year-old effort to reclaim the streets are a revitalized neighborhood association and a police department that has poured resources into eradicating the sex trade.

“I know what I see, and I see that the streets are calmer,” said Martha Carrasco, vice president of the neighborhood association. “I feel like I took my own neighborhood back. I feel more comfortable to be driving in the neighborhood or walking to the store.”

Fuentes agreed.

“It’s working,” he said. “Families are out on their porches. Children are out riding their bikes, they’re playing on their front lawns — something we didn’t see two years ago.”

People participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Josue Fuentes, center right, participates in a march down S. First St. for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

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People head south on S. First St. in front of Biblioteca Latinoamericana Library as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)



People head south on S. First St. in front of Biblioteca Latinoamericana Library as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

People head south on S. First St. as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

People head west on Willow St. as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose.



People head east on Oak St. towards S. First St. as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

City officials pose for a group picture at Cadwallader Park during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

People head south on S. First St. as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)



People meet at Cadwallader Park during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Santa Clara Deputy Attorney Jeff Rosen talks with a person at Cadwallader Park during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Josue Fuentes, speaks to the Mercury News before a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)



Santa Clara Deputy Attorney Jeff Rosen speaks at Cadwallader Park during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. At left is San Jose City Councilmember Tam Nguyen. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Martha Carrasco puts a vest on her son Vicente, 5, as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez speaks at Cadwallader Park during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. At left is Santa Clara County Deputy Attorney Jeff Rosen. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)



Beth Edmonds, from Community Solutions, speaks to the Mercury News before a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Josue Fuentes, center, speaks at Cadwallader Park during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. At left is San Jose City Councilmember Tam Nguyen. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

San Jose City Councilmember Tam Nguyen poses for a picture while holding a sign during a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)



People participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, center right, along with Deputy District A ttorney Josue Fuentes, center left, talk with some property owners during a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

People head east on Oak St. towards S. First St. as they participate in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)



People listen to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Josue Fuentes, in a march for a "Call to Action Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution" sponsored by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office and community members in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Back then, transactions were carried out in the driveways of residences and condoms littered the ground outside Washington Elementary School on Oak Street, Fuentes said.

Carrasco also recalled having to explain to her then-13-year-old daughter why women were walking the streets dressed in skimpy outfits in the dead of winter. A shooting across the street from the school finally spurred her to attend a meeting to air her grievances.

“I was upset — at the neighborhood, at the police department — because I felt that there was nothing being done,” she said. “But when I got there, there wasn’t much of a neighborhood association to complain to.”

Carrasco instead found herself pressed into service by Fuentes, himself recently appointed by District Attorney Jeff Rosen to coordinate community-based anti-crime efforts in the area.

One countermeasure developed by the neighborhood association is a monthly walk around the neighborhood. Carrasco said it helps build camaraderie while driving away prostitutes and johns.

“Here we go,” she said during a recent walk, referring to a pair of women who appeared to be prostitutes strolling down South First Street.

“That’s what we’re used to,” Carrasco added after the women turned and scurried out of sight.

Bolstering the neighborhood association’s efforts are crackdowns by the San Jose Police Department, which cited 27 people for prostitution-related offenses in the area in May. Chief Eddie Garcia said prostitution is far from being a victimless crime, as some critics have alleged, and worthy of the resources that have been dedicated to wiping it out.

“The one constant victim is my community out there,” Garcia said. “That’s who we have to answer to.”

Authorities also are doing what they can to help prostitutes who are victims of human trafficking. Beth Edmonds, a volunteer with Shared Hope International, said it’s not uncommon for children as young as 12 to be lured into the sex trade.

“There is no such thing as a child prostitute,” Edmonds said. “It is a child that is being exploited and victimized. And they don’t understand what is happening to them.”

Statistics provided by the police department support the narrative that things are getting better in the neighborhood. In 2015, 144 prostitution-related incidents were reported, resulting in 184 arrests or citations. Those numbers fell dramatically the following year when 43 incidents were called in and 53 arrests or citations were made.