Why is it that in such cases, the government reaches for the CEO right away; but when Wells Fargo employees open millions of fraudulent accounts, it's not the CEO's fault? If I were to commit identity theft (which is basically what the WF employees did), then I would be facing jail time; why hasn't anyone in WF been charged with criminal fraud yet? Why not the CEO?
Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
21–30 of 308 posts
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#22There really is only one appropriate solution for this and that is universal basic income.
This really ignores the reality of sex trafficking. Sure, sometimes you become a prostitute because you need money for you or your family, but much of the time it's against your will[See 1, page 13 PP 3]. A universal basic income will not solve that. A UBI may help a prostitute get out of their profession, because many do want to leave and money is a large concern[See 1, page 14 PP 1], but that still ignores other issues such as health issues e.g. STDs and addiction to drugs.
1: See https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238796.pdf
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#23Even if you are morally opposed to prostitution, is there really any benefit to authorities when you remove a centralized location and move it to the street or many different websites? If you really want to manage the prostitution "problem", having it all on a single website seems like a benefit for managing and researching the issue.
Most sex workers agree that their safety is improved dramatically by having the business side of it out in the open. And, there have been studies on sex worker safety that indicate strongly that legal prostitution is safer for everyone; it also reduces coercion when it is not underground (women don't need a pimp, if law enforcement is on their side). Since I started paying attention a few years ago, I've noticed that…
"Most sex workers agree that their safety is improved dramatically by having the business side of it out in the open. And, there have been studies on sex worker safety that indicate strongly that legal prostitution is safer for everyone; it also reduces coercion when it is not underground (women don't need a pimp, if law enforcement is on their side)."
I did a lot of research on that in college for some legalizing prostitution essays. The research I found, both scholarly and anecdotal, totally supported this. The worst thing I found is that there were many incidences of rape or abuse by clients, pimps, or even cops that were made easier to get away with via the stigma of prostitution. Just bringing up the details of the crime was enough to get themselves arrested. In some cases, judges tossed it out since they equated prostitution with asking for it.
So, taking action like this isn't just taking a stand against the act of prostitution: it's also supporting worse crimes to happen to prostitutes and others around them. Not even necessarily people participating. It can be just a caring person that runs afoul of the pimps that want the status quo to remain for specific women.
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#24Why is it that in such cases, the government reaches for the CEO right away; but when Wells Fargo employees open millions of fraudulent accounts, it's not the CEO's fault? If I were to commit identity theft (which is basically what the WF employees did), then I would be facing jail time; why hasn't anyone in WF been charged with criminal fraud yet? Why not the CEO?
The CEO has money, connections, and the thin veneer of respectability. The issues involved are not so simple and emotive as the ones relating to sex and minors.
You know... the usual bullshit.
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#25Why is it that in such cases, the government reaches for the CEO right away; but when Wells Fargo employees open millions of fraudulent accounts, it's not the CEO's fault? If I were to commit identity theft (which is basically what the WF employees did), then I would be facing jail time; why hasn't anyone in WF been charged with criminal fraud yet? Why not the CEO?
The vice lobby is apparently kinda weak.
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I posted a new thread w/ the NYT link [1], [2] because it had this helpful tidbit: A congressional investigation this year found that the website changed some of its adult classifieds to conceal the fact that the advertisements were for sex acts with minors. Mr. Ferrer was subpoenaed by a Senate subcommittee last fall to answer questions about reported child sex-trafficking ads, but he did not show up. Found to be co…
Ah, that changes everything about this. I can't believe anyone would skip that detail when writing about this.
Either they didn't know, or are trying to spin the story a certain way
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most sex workers agree that their safety is improved dramatically by having the business side of it out in the open. And, there have been studies on sex worker safety that indicate strongly that legal prostitution is safer for everyone; it also reduces coercion when it is not underground (women don't need a pimp, if law enforcement is on their side). Since I started paying attention a few years ago, I've noticed that…
"Most sex workers agree that their safety is improved dramatically by having the business side of it out in the open. And, there have been studies on sex worker safety that indicate strongly that legal prostitution is safer for everyone; it also reduces coercion when it is not underground (women don't need a pimp, if law enforcement is on their side)." I did a lot of research on that in college for some legalizing pr…
There was an out-pour of articles on this topic after MyRedBook closure, e.g. http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Closure-of-prostitution-...
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#28Why is it that in such cases, the government reaches for the CEO right away; but when Wells Fargo employees open millions of fraudulent accounts, it's not the CEO's fault? If I were to commit identity theft (which is basically what the WF employees did), then I would be facing jail time; why hasn't anyone in WF been charged with criminal fraud yet? Why not the CEO?
Because, get freaking real, there are 267K FTE at WF .. versus backapage probably hires what, maybe a 100 or so?
If some % of 267K people are not committing fraud, than I'd want to arrest the CEO for doing some terrible brainwashing.
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#29There really is only one appropriate solution for this and that is universal basic income.
This really ignores the reality of sex trafficking. Sure, sometimes you become a prostitute because you need money for you or your family, but much of the time it's against your will[See 1, page 13 PP 3]. A universal basic income will not solve that. A UBI may help a prostitute get out of their profession, because many do want to leave and money is a large concern[See 1, page 14 PP 1], but that still ignores other is…
Is there any source for your partition estimation?
Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges
#30Even if you are morally opposed to prostitution, is there really any benefit to authorities when you remove a centralized location and move it to the street or many different websites? If you really want to manage the prostitution "problem", having it all on a single website seems like a benefit for managing and researching the issue.
In the Craigslist/Newmark case, what one of the State Attorneys said was, "We don't care about a benefit. We'll just keep prosecuting until all of the sites are shut down."
Newmark made the same case as the parent commend, but that was the last thing the last thing the law wanted to hear since they are prosecutors, not social workers.