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Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

nytimes.com

261–270 of 361 posts

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coverage of the case is here: https://frontpageconfidential.com/category/backpage/ The fed's argument is that there was so much illegal prostitution activity on Backpage that the owners must have been supporting it. The defense is currently occupied with getting access to the servers, presumably to show that the frequency of illegal postings was small compared to the rest of the site and that all reported postings we…

Fun fact, prostitution isn't a federal offense.

The Mann Act, a federal law, forbids transport for the purposes of illegal sexual activity. If prostitution is illegal in your state, and you arrange to meet a prostitute online and provide her with a taxicab or Uber, then you have committed a federal crime and are a human trafficker in the eyes of the law. (Though federal LE will probably not get involved unless it crosses state lines.)

Fun fact: Originally the Mann Act was passed to give the government the power to prosecute interracial couples. Kinda like how sex-offender registries were first implemented to allow police in California to track gays.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#262

Its so simple for me. Just like with weed.... Legalize it! Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Of course, have law enforcement root out the kiddie stuff, and have a legal framework to ensure safety (STI testing, etc) but my goodness, the efforts we currently go through to catch consenting adults in mutual benefit...

> Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Because "legalizing it" doesn't stop sex trafficking or sexual exploitation, in fact all evidences point to the contrary, it increases sex slavery. https://nordicmodelnow.org/2019/12/17/the-child-sexual-abuse... ?

The article paints a sad picture ...although your conclusion seems far fetched. Even marriage can be made into paid rape by the wordings of that article.

AFAIK ... decriminalization allows for

1. The sex worker to approach authorities without any fear of prosecution.

2. To set up freelance sex work without pimps and brothels.

There shouldn't be a debate about this. Criminalization makes things worse at the expense of moral tidiness.

Regulated sex work allows for

1. Brothels

2. Strip clubs

3. Massage parlors

4. Sex Therapists

If the regulators are corrupt or weak or there are no strong checks ... then the model will be as bad as an unregulated market and will actually be worse as it allows trafficked victims to work under quasi-legal protection. That's what the article implies.

From what I know the nordic model has a large number of social services that help sex-workers quit the profession if they wish to and helps sex-workers unionise.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus, you'd have the assistance of legal sex workers in rooting out the traffickers.

Nice use of Aussie slang, mate.

Nothing's funnier than Aussies watching American baseball in a pub during the 7th inning stretch... "...Root, root root for the home team!"

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You talk about this in such a way that makes me think you're a virgin. In the odd event you're telling the truth, I'm guessing you're rife with STDs. I can see lots of benefits with just paying for it. They show up, do the thing, and leave. You get to determine when and where (mostly). You get an enthusiastic partner regardless of the effort you yourself put in, and exactly the sort of sex you want. If I had the mone…

This was really uncalled for. Nothing I wrote, has anything to do with what you wrote in the first two sentences. I was asking a question, because I was curious as to the reason.

It wasn't meant as an insult but the fact you take it as such a slight kind of leads me to the same conclusions.

Nothing wrong with it. It's just the way you're talking about sex doesn't match up with any reality I've ever heard of.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#266

Its so simple for me. Just like with weed.... Legalize it! Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Of course, have law enforcement root out the kiddie stuff, and have a legal framework to ensure safety (STI testing, etc) but my goodness, the efforts we currently go through to catch consenting adults in mutual benefit...

Sex trafficking is not consenting adults. There is a significant difference between a sex worker who voluntarily engages in their profession vs. people who are forced into it.

> Sex trafficking is not consenting adults

By the dictionary defintion, this is true.

If you look at what gets called "sex trafficking" in the media, by politicians, by police and prosecutors, and in some cases, by the legal system, this is not true. One common definition is anyone who travelled across state (or country) lines has been trafficked, which is a bit like saying anyone who moves to SF for a tech job is a victim of human slavery.

It's not uncommon for a crackdown on sex trafficking to not find a single victim of sex trafficking (or anything else), but still result in a lot of arrests (overwhelmingly of women) and self-congratulatory press releases. The mind boggles.

In any case, the fight against "sex trafficking" (aka, consensual sex between adults) absolutely harms many victims of actual real trafficking. And bluntly, people who haven't yet got the memo yet and think the phrase is still only being used against actual unethical behaviour are making this worse.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#267

I think the most unmentioned facet regarding prostitution is that for many men, prostitution may be the only way for them to obtain sex, which I feel is just as much of a "right" as is the right for women to obtain an abortion. No I don't believe taxpayers should be required to pay for prostitutes, nor for abortions. But the market for both should be decriminalized. Not only is this something that is morally right, t…

Nobody actually has a right to make someone else have sex with them.

Good thing nobody's saying they do.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you legalize it you can arrest the human traffickers while enabling professional sex workers to be professionals just look at the enlightened approach to the problem taken by Australia. No brothels allowed and no pimps but independent sex work is legal.

Plus, you'd have the assistance of legal sex workers in rooting out the traffickers.

Any evidence of that being true? Some sex worker is going to helpfully point out how Alex is bringing in East European “models” or how Miguel just brought some girls up? And what’s going to happen to the legal sex workers when they start snitching on the Rudaj or Zetas?

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#270

Its so simple for me. Just like with weed.... Legalize it! Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Of course, have law enforcement root out the kiddie stuff, and have a legal framework to ensure safety (STI testing, etc) but my goodness, the efforts we currently go through to catch consenting adults in mutual benefit...

sex trafficking is objectively not right. What is wrong with you?
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