Essentially it boils down to the idea that if the percent of people harmed is low enough, then we don’t have to care. – Francis Walker
Whores are bad, because drugs! And “trafficking”! And disease! And vehicles!
It’s gone from the back alleys to websites like Backpage.com. Some women are no longer working the streets, but rather the keyboard…Huntington [West Virginia] Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli said…it’s really all…to fuel the woman’s drug habit. “While almost universally, the women involved are addicted or drug users…this plague of drug addiction knows no bounds. Somebody who might be your next door neighbor yesterday could be unfortunately a prostitute tomorrow”…most of the ads on…Backpage.com…are trapped in sex trafficking rings…Police say it’s a dangerous situation…for the paying customers, as well. “Certainly, the customers always run the risk of being robbed, or having their vehicles being stolen…communicable diseases that are spread by IV drug users in sexual situations is astronomical.” So what’s being done to stop this? Several local police agencies, including the Charleston Police Department, now run online sting operations… “We’re well aware of what’s going on. Anybody who thinks they can evade us by using some sort of anonymity online is sadly mistaken”…
If this pompous, doughnut-addicted ignoramus knows as little about internet security as he does about sex work, even the most elementary precautions would be more than enough to evade him.
This is all pure nonsense, of course, and dozens of studies (including two US government ones) have found the exact opposite. But look at the cast of characters:
…Patrick Trueman…of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCSE)…said Congress passes appropriations to fight sex trafficking, child pornography and sexual violence against women, but fails to address the root causes of those crimes. To change that, the NCSE is holding a symposium next week intended to educate lawmakers and congressional staffers about the effects of pornography on society and criminal activity…NCSE said pornography shapes the sexual templates of children and contributes to the rise in sexual dysfunction now experienced by young men…“You have to address what attracts a man to enslave a woman or…have sex with an enslaved woman, and that’s pornography,” Trueman said. Speakers…include…Ernie Allen…and Melissa Farley…
Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic
More of this, please:
A clinical psychologist has ruled out “sex addiction” as the motive for a 22-year-old’s manipulation and threats that led to charges of blackmail and fraud…James Charles White…admitted charges of blackmailing one gay sexual partner, and obtaining sexual services from another young and vulnerable victim…by offering large amounts of money which were never paid…White had said he had a sex addiction and was getting help. But defence counsel Phillip Allan said the clinical psychologist’s view was that there was no such thing as sex addiction…
Girls, Girls, Girls!
This listicle debunking myths about strippers would be better without the gratuitous whorearchy: “The lie: You can always pay more for “extras”. The truth: There’s no price for that. Nope. Just nope.” Except that some (certainly not all) girls do indeed sell “extras”, and Elle Stranger knows it as well as I do.
Above the Law
Yeah, I’m sure this sex was 100% consensual; we always give it up for free to cops who arrest us because they’ve just so damned sexy:
…a young Eastern European sex worker [was arrested] after her apartment was raided because it was being used as a “brothel”…after she and another sex worker…were…questioned [and released, one of]…the [gardai] later returned alone to the apartment and raped her. The garda denied this and said they had “consensual” sex and that he was off-duty at the time…The second woman…gave evidence that she had witnessed the rape…
First They Came for the Hookers…
Strippers and other adult entertainers may soon find themselves having to register with the Monroe County [Florida] government as a way to deter sex trafficking…The Monroe County Commission could opt for a less drastic measure and have adult entertainment clubs “post human trafficking awareness signs printed in both English and in Spanish in conspicuous locations clearly visible to the public and employees”…
The Truth About “The Truth About…”
A statistician vivisects the ridiculous notion that false accusations of rape are so rare they can be ignored:
…Even if false reporting of rape is low, rape as percentage of total sex is even lower and very few people would argue that we don’t really need to care about rape. About the only argument you can make here with any validity would be that rape affects more people than false accusations of rape. But that isn’t a particularly great argument either…On a percentage basis, there aren’t many Jews in the US, nor are there many homosexuals. The percentage of trans-gendered individuals is even smaller. What rights would society be rightfully allowed to deprive those populations of simply because they are in the minority?…
Not Good Enough (#545)
More than two hundred scientists are calling on the Food and Drug Administration to reject the so-called “female Viagra” pill…experts in disciplines ranging from bioethics to sexology say that flibanserin is “minimally effective”…only 9 to 15 percent more effective than a placebo in increasing desire. They also highlight its…side-effects, including hypotension and sudden unconsciousness, and its negative interactions with several drugs, including…alcohol and birth control pills…Flibanserin was rejected by the administration twice before, but an FDA panel recently…recommended it for approval [after]…an effective public relations campaign…blamed…previous rejections on sexism on the part of the FDA. “Approving flibanserin will not only unleash an unsafe drug onto the U.S. market…but will send a message to industry that pressuring the FDA through public relations campaigns can get a drug approved.”
Seizing Power
They’re not even trying to be credible any more:
…According to Shared Hope International, 495 victims of child sex trafficking in 46 states and D.C. have been linked to Backpage.com. A study by YouthSpark in Atlanta, Georgia, found 53% of children receiving care from service providers across the country were bought and sold for sex on Backpage.com. With the recent decision of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, many are wondering what’s next for Backpage.com and its impact on the future of the child sex trafficking industry…
