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Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

nytimes.com

51–60 of 361 posts

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

#51
post #36
post #10

Noooooo! When I ehard about backpage being shut down because it was the biggest place for child sex trafficking, I said it was the dumbest move they could make. You have a website with the vast majority of illegal sex traffickers COMING TO YOU, and you close it? Why? Make BP a deal, give the FBI an office to scan everything so they can go after child sex traffickers, and you can stay open. We'd have arrested thousand…

If you can't speak English to the prostitute or she seems afraid, it would be a suspicious situation. "child sex traffickers" I don't know where you get that from.

It was one of the big reasons the gov't claimed they shut it down. https://u.osu.edu/osuhtblog/2018/04/17/backpage-com-and-chil...

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

#52
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was so infuriating to watch Democrats willingly get played by the religious right into supporting something that was so blatantly designed to legislate morality rather than actually help victims of trafficking. Glad that elected officials are now rethinking it, at least.

It isn't just the religious right that pushes for backwards prostitution laws. It is also... feminists. Aren't feminists always going on about "my body, my right" when it comes to abortion and other forms of contraceptives? Of course, but when it comes to prostitution, they seem to take a 'differing' view. Why? When prostitution is decriminalized, the price of sex goes down, as would be expected in any market where t…

There are always outliers with strange opinions in any sufficiently large movement, but a much more common feminist position is to be strongly in support of sex workers rights and safety.

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

#53
post #50
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freedom and liberty is one argument for legalization, but I don't think there are enough hard core Libertarians to be a major force in this debate.

It isn't a particularly hard-core position. They aren't a major force in the debate but there will be a very substantial demographic who don't care one way or the other but are in principle happy to leave well enough alone. They'd probably have a mild preference for not arresting people for no reason. Prostitution has been legal in Australia since around the 90s. Nobody particularly cares^. The only people who it has…

I agree it's not a hard core libertarian position. I guess I just meant I don't think there are that many people who consult their libertarian principles to decide their views on an issue.

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

#54
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was so infuriating to watch Democrats willingly get played by the religious right into supporting something that was so blatantly designed to legislate morality rather than actually help victims of trafficking. Glad that elected officials are now rethinking it, at least.

It isn't just the religious right that pushes for backwards prostitution laws. It is also... feminists. Aren't feminists always going on about "my body, my right" when it comes to abortion and other forms of contraceptives? Of course, but when it comes to prostitution, they seem to take a 'differing' view. Why? When prostitution is decriminalized, the price of sex goes down, as would be expected in any market where t…

Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

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

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't just the religious right that pushes for backwards prostitution laws. It is also... feminists. Aren't feminists always going on about "my body, my right" when it comes to abortion and other forms of contraceptives? Of course, but when it comes to prostitution, they seem to take a 'differing' view. Why? When prostitution is decriminalized, the price of sex goes down, as would be expected in any market where t…

There are always outliers with strange opinions in any sufficiently large movement, but a much more common feminist position is to be strongly in support of sex workers rights and safety.

You're very wrong - it is not just a few outliers.

You can Google it easily enough, and that will show you many feminists are against it. But to truly understand the issue, see which groups, along with religious right, are the biggest lobbyists against any state bills that attempt to decriminalize prostitution. You will find that it's many women's groups, not just the evangelicals.

https://now.org/media-center/press-release/decriminalize-pro...

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

#56
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> AGAINST: Women. Women stand to lose if their partners are tempted by legal prostitution. If someone's partner is gonna be tempted away simply by legal prostitution, maybe they aren't the most faithful to begin with.

I suppose it depends on whether you're more concerned with your partner's character in an abstract way or you're more concerned about actual infidelity.

Actual infidelity seems inevitable if the only thing preventing it is inability to find someone to have sex with.

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

#57

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…

Your fourth paragraph is insightful. Prostitution, however, worsens the situation. The detrimental aspect of harem-based societies is not bunches of horny men unable to get laid... rather, it's bunches of single men -- horny or not -- that are not part of a family, and who have no need to be productive. Prostitution lessens the desirability of men and decreases somewhat their desire to marry. This causes further declines in monogamy rates and hastens the societal damage you allude to.

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

#58
post #20

I prefer Germany, Austria and Switzerland's model. Its not a panacea in preventing trafficking but for the workers that want to be there it doesn't criminalize them, and the market for establishments are pretty competitive and great for patrons. Game of Thrones can't even compare, while many tourists corral themselves over to one street in Amsterdam due to its marketing campaign even though there are whole countries…

As far as I know the problem here in Germany is legalization. They could simply have decriminalized prostitution and leave procuration illegal, but no, they had to throw around with laws to make the live of sex-workers harder.

I feel like this is the opposite of what I just described as great

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

#59
post #9

Where prostitution has been completely legalized there’s been a huge increase in demand, and the market has responded not with an increase in wages for sex workers but with an increase in slavery. In practice the least-bad policy seems to be legal/decriminalized to sell but illegal to buy.

> Where prostitution has been completely legalized there’s been a huge increase in demand...

That was not the case in NSW (Australia) or in New Zealand, where decriminalisation led to NO increase in the size of the sex industry.

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

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are always outliers with strange opinions in any sufficiently large movement, but a much more common feminist position is to be strongly in support of sex workers rights and safety.

You're very wrong - it is not just a few outliers. You can Google it easily enough, and that will show you many feminists are against it. But to truly understand the issue, see which groups, along with religious right, are the biggest lobbyists against any state bills that attempt to decriminalize prostitution. You will find that it's many women's groups, not just the evangelicals. https://now.org/media-center/press-…

It's fine to just admit you don't know what you're talking about rather than trying to lump "feminism" as a big homogeneous opinion

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-positive_feminism

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