Fraudulently achieving sexual intercourse…constitutes rape.
– Judge Hilary Penfold
Schadenfreude 
Despite the title of this subsection, I take no joy in reporting the horrible abuse perpetrated on young Liberian girls by the rescue industry group “More Than Me”:
…The charity would raise over $8 million, including almost $600,000 from the U.S. government. [Katie] Meyler would…rub shoulders with Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, and even get invited to the Obama White House. MTM’s footprint in Liberia would multiply to 19 schools teaching 4,000 students. Yet some of the girls…[were not] saved from sexual exploitation, [but rather] being raped by the man standing beside Meyler on the stage. His assaults went on for years and…he was protected by his position…he and Meyler had had an intimate relationship, and she kept him in place even after having reason to suspect his predilections. But he was also shielded from exposure in the community by everything that she had brought: a school, scholarships and, above all, hope. After his crimes became known…the charity worked to obscure the details and to place responsibility almost anywhere but with Meyler or MTM…They argued that the good they had done in Liberia more than made up for any harm…
Legal Is as Legal Does (#20)
As silly as this may seem, it’s an example of the kind of arbitrary control Turkish brothel owners exercise:
Three prostitutes sued a bordello that fired them…[for] feeding stray cats…in the Turkish province of Erdine…One of the prostitutes, Mürvet Taşvur, claimed: “They fired us and kicked us out of the apartment due to us looking after the animals. They shot one of our cats with a pump shotgun, he’s named Kinah. He’s still alive with 11 pellets in his body.” The three prostitutes filed a complaint to the Edrine Chief Persecutor’s Office…
King of the Hill
It’s fascinating to watch the various ways in which states try to claim the top spots in the “sex trafficking” pissing contest:
A new report…reveals Florida ranks third in the nation for active sex and labor trafficking cases being prosecuted in federal court…[prohibitionist] Alyssa Beck…said…“Jacksonville has a lot of hotels and also I-95 runs right through…So, it’s really just easy access to a lot of different things that traffickers may need”…
Micromanagement
Any new technology which can be used to spy on you, will be:
A new study argues that more than half of Americans could be identified by name if all you had to start with was a sample of their DNA and a few basic facts, such as the region where they live and about how old they might be…once 3 million Americans have uploaded their genomes to public genealogy websites, nearly everyone in the U.S. would be identifiable by their DNA alone and just a few additional clues. More than 1 million Americans have already published their genetic information, and dozens more do so every day…This new reality represents the convergence of two long-standing trends. One of them is the rise of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Companies such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe can sequence anyone’s DNA for about $100. All you have to do is provide a sample of saliva and drop it in the mail. The other essential element is the proliferation of publicly searchable genealogy databases like GEDmatch. Anyone can upload a full genome to these sites and powerful computers will crunch through it, looking for stretches of matching DNA sequences that can be used to build out a family tree…
Rough Trade (#513)
Yes, this is absolutely rape. No, I don’t want to “discuss” it:
In some jurisdictions, courts have found that when a person cons a sex worker – refuses or evades the agreed payment for sex – such acts constitute rape, because consent for the sexual act was obtained fraudulently. But [in other places such attackers are only]…convicted of fraud [if tried at all]…Experts and sex worker groups…believe such cases clearly constitute rape and say parts of Australia’s justice system still fail to properly deal with offenders who fraudulently obtain the consent of sex workers…many [of whom] fear…[going] to the police, and [a]re often not treated as sexual assault victims if they [do]…studies [also] show…sentencing [is] also comparatively low for men who…sexually assault…sex workers…[in a recent] case [in]…Queensland…the man was charged with two counts of fraud…and was ordered to pay $350 restitution to each woman and was fined $750 for each offense. But…In the ACT, a similar set of circumstances led to a rape conviction for…Akis Emmanouel Livas…gave the woman a sealed envelope…[claiming] the full amount owed was inside, but [pretending]…“it’s part of my fantasy that it’s all about the romance and I need you to trust me”…Livas physically blocked her from opening the envelope…Eventually, she discovered there was no money inside…
In the US, most sex workers who report rape are arrested and charged with prostitution, and their rapes are ignored.
Guinea Pigs (#630)
Remember: they say it’s about “pimps”, but really it’s about sex workers and clients today, and about everybody once they get it perfected:
Minerva [software] helps NCMEC find information in large, hard to search data sets. Specifically, Minerva has helped NCMEC locate additional phone numbers in online advertisements and further analyze who that phone might be registered to, which can lead to possible current location for the [targeted sex worker]…with human trafficking, there are bad guys acting with malice…Minerva has now identified 989 individual [sex workers] and is tracking 22,000 more…
Signs (#813) 
“Sex trafficking” provides a new excuse for cops to use the same old bogus “evidence” to harass women:
It’s possible Amaya could have escaped sooner than she did, at 24 years old, had [cops] been trained to look for the warning signs of trafficking: Maybe she had no identification…Did she avoid eye contact with [pigs]? Was her purse full of condoms? Was she really as old she claimed to be? These are just a few of the many [excuses cops]…across the country are being trained to [employ]. The increased awareness and training reflects a shift as law enforcement agencies [use]…the [excuse of “sex trafficking” to]…arrest…prostitutes…
First They Came for the Hookers… (#840)
Stripping is no different from prostitution; say nothing when they attack the latter, expect them to come for the former:
…the government is…mulling rules for Malta’s strip-club industry which could ban the use of private rooms and…allow pole dancers only to be naked on stage…private dancing rooms will no longer be allowed, which previously meant that customers could get private dancers but also negotiate prices for sexual favours…There will also be restrictions on advertising outdoors [and] new zoning guidelines that could prevent such clubs from appearing within a certain distance of schools or places of worship…
Disaster (#853)
Another “monkey see, monkey do” FOSTA copycat:
The [South Korean] government plans to strengthen its monitoring of websites linked to prostitution and sex trafficking,…to control the websites and prevent prostitution…The ministry will develop a large data-based artificial intelligence program to monitor the prostitution situation in the country. When the program is operational, the websites will be shut down and the operators warned of relevant punishment. The government believes it is important to take pre-emptive actions against the sites because they lead many people to start paying for sex…
Gee, it’s almost like governments don’t like the open internet.
Fair-Weather Friends (#859)
Every sex worker arrested in a “sting” should sue the cops if at all possible:
Ohio police spent $768 on strip club tickets, tips, and booze during a July sting that ended in the arrest of Stormy Daniels…The undercover excursion could wind up costing cops a whole lot more than that. The charges filed against Daniels and two other women arrested that night, Miranda Panda and Brittany Walters, were quickly dismissed. Now Panda and Walters have sued several Columbus [cops] in federal court, arguing that the arrests were politically motivated. As a result…Panda and Walters…suffered reputational harm and exposure to harassment. Someone painted the word whore across the door of Panda’s home, for example, and reporters outed Walters as a stripper to her immediate family. The women are seeking at least $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorneys’ fees…
Disaster (#878)
Mark Draughn does not see any good coming out of the FOSTA Facebook suit:
…I’m not…optimistic…about Facebook coming under attack in the sex trafficking panic. I agree…that Facebook is going to throw money, lawyers, and lobbyists at the problem, and they’ll come out of this just fine. But I’m not convinced that Facebook’s victory will be a victory for sex workers. That’s because I expect Facebook to work toward a[n]…outcome [that will only benefit Facebook]. Their lobbyists and lawyers will offer their expertise at social media to work with Congress to help craft the most effective legislation for “protecting vulnerable people”…Facebook, with $40 billion a year or so in revenue, could easily afford to create a department and hire 10 or 20 people to comply with a law like that, as could many of the other social media giants. But a lot of smaller businesses would be casualties, not all of them escort advertising sites…
