Not familiar enough with the person's history to know if they did bad things, or if they were uncooperative, or simply ran a website and became a scapegoat. Anyone got insight into this?
Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
11–20 of 86 posts
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#12[flagged]
Cops still take more stuff from people than burglars do
https://thewhyaxis.substack.com/p/cops-still-take-more-stuff...
"This process is called civil asset forfeiture, and in practice it often works very similar to highway robbery. Authorities can take literally whatever they want from you — cash, vehicles, your home, your Playstation 5 — and they can keep it, without ever convicting or even charging you with a crime. All they have to do is say they suspect you committed a crime. And here’s the kicker: if you want your stuff back, you have to go to court and affirmatively prove your innocence. Basically, you must prove a negative: that you did not commit a crime. It’s a complete inversion of the “innocent until proven guilty” philosophy driving most of the criminal justice system."
"Here’s one way to think of the scale: in 2019, the most recent year for which complete federal data is available, federal authorities took more cash and property from people than burglars did."
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#13“unlike virtually every other website that is used for prostitution and sex trafficking, Backpage is remarkably responsive to law enforcement requests and often takes proactive steps to assist in investigations.” - DOJ "In short, contrary to the public narrative you may have heard, Backpage worked closely with federal law enforcement to actually stop sex trafficking (and not just take it down, but to track down the p…
From the Wired piece mentioned: > The government indictment that triggered Lacey and Larkin’s arrests, United States v. Lacey, et al., includes 17 “victim summaries”—stories of women who say they were sexually exploited through Backpage. Victim 5 first appeared in an ad on the platform when she was 14; her “customers” made her “perform sexual acts at gunpoint, choked her to the point of having seizures, and gang-rape…
So when's Mark Zuckerberg getting arrested for all the crime that happens on his platform?
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the Wired piece mentioned: > The government indictment that triggered Lacey and Larkin’s arrests, United States v. Lacey, et al., includes 17 “victim summaries”—stories of women who say they were sexually exploited through Backpage. Victim 5 first appeared in an ad on the platform when she was 14; her “customers” made her “perform sexual acts at gunpoint, choked her to the point of having seizures, and gang-rape…
From what I've read, it seems sex workers hold that they are safer online because they are able to directly manage their relationships with clients. This enables them to enforce vetting processes before they meet up in person (impossible in the street), and eliminate abusive middle men (pimps). We could do better than Backpage, we could probably make abuse of sex workers rare rather than a cliche, but it would requir…
Bluntly, we tried drug decriminalization in the theory that decriminalization meant people could seek help. Instead of more people getting help, fewer did because the stick had been removed. [0]
We should ask, well, does sex trafficking happen more or less in areas where prostitution is legal? That'll give us a good indicator of the effects of decriminalization.
We have a great study on this [1]. Decriminalization makes sex trafficking WORSE - full stop. Prostitution means more sex trafficking happens, and crackdowns on prostitution successfully reduce sex trafficking too.
[0]: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/07/oregon-...
[1]: https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-...
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#15[flagged]
Top 3 at least
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#16“unlike virtually every other website that is used for prostitution and sex trafficking, Backpage is remarkably responsive to law enforcement requests and often takes proactive steps to assist in investigations.” - DOJ "In short, contrary to the public narrative you may have heard, Backpage worked closely with federal law enforcement to actually stop sex trafficking (and not just take it down, but to track down the p…
I feel like discussions around sex trafficking are weird.
By legal definition they facilitated sex trafficking. Perhaps they could argue they are better than Average Joe Pimp, but Average Joe Pimp is also going to say he was kinder or more fair than Average Bob Pimp.
It seems like everyone accepts face value numbers of sex trafficking when trying to make a point about how widespread the issue is - but then except most forms of it from being "bad" or "actual sex trafficking".
I don't know what the best solution is. Legalizing is seems like it would solve most of the current issues, but ultimately I don't know how you get around issues of coercion with defenders (and backpage) would probably still consider "consensual". In places around the world where sex work is legal, its hard to point to many examples where there are no issues involving coercion.
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#17“unlike virtually every other website that is used for prostitution and sex trafficking, Backpage is remarkably responsive to law enforcement requests and often takes proactive steps to assist in investigations.” - DOJ "In short, contrary to the public narrative you may have heard, Backpage worked closely with federal law enforcement to actually stop sex trafficking (and not just take it down, but to track down the p…
I feel like discussions around sex trafficking are weird. By legal definition they facilitated sex trafficking. Perhaps they could argue they are better than Average Joe Pimp, but Average Joe Pimp is also going to say he was kinder or more fair than Average Bob Pimp. It seems like everyone accepts face value numbers of sex trafficking when trying to make a point about how widespread the issue is - but then except mos…
I also don't know how you can differentiate "consensual" from "non-consensual" sex work.
1. They say "no im not exploited" because they are afraid
2. They say "no im not exploited" because they are not exploited
You gain no information from interviewing them. No vice unit has the resources to do a top secret clearance level check on them to confirm externally they are not exploited. To act like the two can simply be distinguished really is willfully ignoring the very real problem that you cannot verify the honesty of the person through any line of questioning. I suspect despite the foaming mouthed progressives claiming it's some puritanical hatred for women the reason for it still being illegal is because of this exact problem. There's no actual way to confirm this concept of "consent" in a legally rigid frame of reference because nearly every aspect of a sex workers job can be coerced.
EDIT: Somewhat hilarious I'm getting downvoted for an opinion. Groupthink HN truly the pinnacle of individualistic moral superiority.
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#18"suicide"
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#19“unlike virtually every other website that is used for prostitution and sex trafficking, Backpage is remarkably responsive to law enforcement requests and often takes proactive steps to assist in investigations.” - DOJ "In short, contrary to the public narrative you may have heard, Backpage worked closely with federal law enforcement to actually stop sex trafficking (and not just take it down, but to track down the p…
From the Wired piece mentioned: > The government indictment that triggered Lacey and Larkin’s arrests, United States v. Lacey, et al., includes 17 “victim summaries”—stories of women who say they were sexually exploited through Backpage. Victim 5 first appeared in an ad on the platform when she was 14; her “customers” made her “perform sexual acts at gunpoint, choked her to the point of having seizures, and gang-rape…
> and legitimate consensual sex work
What is legitimate consensual sex work? For those of us who don't transact with prostitutes, all we know about this is a stream of narratives we've seen on tv and in film. Julia Roberts falling for Richard Gere, or Maggie Gyllenhall refusing to have a pimp "manage" her.
Yet, I remember reading one account of a porn actress, who despite signing all the paperwork, waivers and contracts and such, later claimed that every single act felt like rape to her.
Even when there are no pimps or sex traffickers, many claim that they feel coerced by circumstances. Exploited by their clientele.
On top of that we have to deal with ever-evolving ideas about what consent even means. That one cannot properly give consent if one party is more powerful than the other (and how could that ever not be the case, when one is a man and the other a woman... does not plain strength count as power in that scenario?).
In one episode of Californication, Fox Mulder's sitting there mocking a man that showed up with the hooker, calling him a pimp, asking where's his feathered velvet hat, and the guy drolly explains "I'm just here to make sure creeps don't try to beat up the girls".
It's very unclear whether there is such a thing as legitimate consensual sex work, or that humans are even capable of formulating a reasonable definition of consent that would satisfy idiot frat boys and feminist activists both. To call this "tough" is world-class championship understatement. It looks absolutely intractable.
Re: Jim Larkin, Backpage exec, has died
#20“unlike virtually every other website that is used for prostitution and sex trafficking, Backpage is remarkably responsive to law enforcement requests and often takes proactive steps to assist in investigations.” - DOJ "In short, contrary to the public narrative you may have heard, Backpage worked closely with federal law enforcement to actually stop sex trafficking (and not just take it down, but to track down the p…
I feel like discussions around sex trafficking are weird. By legal definition they facilitated sex trafficking. Perhaps they could argue they are better than Average Joe Pimp, but Average Joe Pimp is also going to say he was kinder or more fair than Average Bob Pimp. It seems like everyone accepts face value numbers of sex trafficking when trying to make a point about how widespread the issue is - but then except mos…
All work for pay involves some sort of "coercion" depending on how you define it - if my company ain't paying me, I ain't showing up for work. And even if I was independently wealthy and wanted to do some work, it probably wouldn't be this work.