After breaking down doors and waving…guns around, it’s gratifying [for cops]…to pacify terrified slaves by tasering them. - Joyce Arthur
Recognition
An elderly Italian man got a rather unwelcome surprise when he ordered an escort – and his…40-year-old son’s South American girlfriend…arrived at his house…the pair declined to take the encounter further and swiftly parted ways. The man [decided]…to tell his son…prompting a bitter fight between the pair…the son [sued] his father for injuries…
Barbie
While whitebread feminists wet themselves over the newest version of “Happy To Be Me”, Virginia Postrel isn’t having any of it:
…All right-thinking people seem convinced that Barbie instills in her pre-school fans a false and remarkably detailed standard of beauty. Hence the widespread praise for Lammily, the latest anti-Barbie concept doll. A crowd-funded project from artist Nickolay Lamm (the source of her ungainly moniker), Lammily is based on the average proportions for a 19-year-old…[but] the average 19-year-old female American stands 5 feet 4 inches tall. She has a 33.6-inch waist and…weighs 150 pounds…If Lammily were true to life…she’d have rolls of fat, not a firm plastic tummy…Celebrating one version of average as “normal” and “realistic” implicitly stigmatizes everyone who doesn’t meet that standard. Barbie doesn’t pretend to do that; Lammily does…
A Narrow View
This NPR article on diversion programs is full of the usual “sex trafficking” nonsense and dishonest platitudes about the programs’ effectiveness, but one section was especially troubling:
…Judge Pratt says that initially her treatment-focused approach…improved the ability to prosecute the traffickers. But…a lot of the boys…were becoming pimps. “The foster care system and juvenile justice system is creating both sides of this market, the suppliers and the goods,” she says…
Her revolting dehumanization of girls as “goods” is bad enough, but her willful mischaracterization of young male sex workers as “pimps” in order to prop up the vile “pimps and hos” myth is utterly reprehensible.
To Protect and Serve (August Updates)
San Diego cops use “sex trafficking” as an excuse to send a SWAT team to a strip club:
A manager at Cheetahs strip club says his dancers felt violated by police who photographed them almost nude…10 officers swarmed the building with guns and bulletproof vests, interrupting business for a couple of hours…to make sure all 30 dancers had proper permits and were in compliance…
Don’t Take My Word For It
Male delusions about sex work start extra-early in Sweden: “Swedish police have received a report that three underage boys [as young as ten] speaking bad German tried to sell sex to women at a busy commuter hub in central Sweden…”
Not for Everybody
Though Meg Munoz had a very bad time as a sex worker and for a while supported prohibition, she eventually recognized the harm it creates:
…Poorly conducted, [biased]…research needs to stop being used as the foundation for fundraising…the refusal to have sex work acknowledged as real work…has all but halted any civil discourse…Allowing moral biases to dictate policy is dangerous for those who are there by choice and force…
Above the Law 
No, you lying asshole, it’s exactly what police officers do, which is why this is the second most common subtitle on the blog:
…while police responded to [a] domestic violence call, one of the officers allegedly took the woman into an upstairs bedroom and sexually assaulted her…Deon Nunlee has been charged…Detroit Police Chief James Craig said…“This is an anomaly. This is not what our police officers do”…
In fact, here’s another in the same city:
A former Detroit police officer who was convicted of criminal sexual conduct involving participants in his boot camp for misbehaving teens is being sued by two of the victims…Geoffrey Townsend…began making unwelcome sexual advances [eventually culminating in rape when one]…victim was 13 years old…and…the…[other] 16…
And it’s not limited to the US, either: 
[Durham, Ontario police Constable Scott Andrew Terry] sexually exploited [a 16-year-old girl] …with whom he first came into contact after she was busted for shoplifting in May of 2000. Instead of filing charges…he…[offered] her a rental room in his house…[then] began making advances which…escalated to nude photos, sexual touching and eventually rape…“in exchange for the rent”…
First They Came for the Hookers…
This dumb story about dumb strip-club restrictions in Chicago is, as you might expect, mostly just dumb. But these comments from anti-whore zealot Bob Fioretti venture into a higher realm of dumbness: “we have an underlying social problem. Between 15,000 and 25,000 women a day engage in prostitution…in this city. That underground activity undermines us a city — a world-class city…” I’ll bet you didn’t know we were so dangerous, or that roughly 4% of the adult female population of Chicago were whores.
Higher Education (TW3 #23)
Unlike the last time we saw this, these teachers are actually qualified:
An enterprising association of sex workers in Barcelona has angered some of Spain’s most prominent feminists by offering an “intro to prostitution” course…at a cost of €45…the four-hour intensive course for aspiring sex workers was held last month by the Asociación de Profesionales del Sexo…Lidia Falcón…[who] has spent years fighting to have prostitution [criminalized] in Spain…said…the problem with the course lies in its underlying suggestion that some women are working in the profession out of their own free will…
So Falcón wants the course banned because it blatantly disproves her lies.
Imagination Pinned Down
Though the social climate which led to the Satanic Panic had been building for years, it was the McMartin Preschool hysteria that really launched it. Now that it’s a generation in the past, even media outlets like the New York Times which fully embrace “sex trafficking” hysteria recognize its earlier incarnation for what it was. Here’s a good retrospective called “McMartin Preschool: Anatomy of a Panic”; watch it with the current hysteria in mind and note the many parallels.
The Widening Gyre
If “authorities” don’t want stupid myths about women being abducted spreading around, they sure have a strange way of showing it:
[A rumor] warns of attempts to abduct women and girls in broad daylight at crowded shopping centers. It warns that a new gang initiation requires members to kidnap, rape and beat women
and then dump them in parking lots. For years, authorities have tried to keep such messages from spreading, debunking their claims as urban myths…
To clarify: Women being abducted by gangs for quick rape = “right up there with Bigfoot”, but women abducted by gangs for years of captivity and sexual slavery = 100% credible.
South of the Border
In Mexico, a respected advocate is arrested as a “pimp” for helping sex workers organize:
…the recent arrest of Alejandra Gil…[is due to] new legislation, which…conflates sex work with human trafficking…Gil has worked tirelessly for the human rights of sex workers for many years…Laws and policies that target “third parties” under the premise of “protecting” sex workers, increase our vulnerability to abuse and exploitation, and create real barriers for sex workers organising…
Bottleneck
Considering that more than 90% of whores prefer to work illegally than submit to licensing, how well do you think this colossally stupid Italian law will work?
…prostitution will be permitted in private houses, subject to certain conditions, including the use of condoms…the draft law, which was presented…by…Maria Spillabotte…includes the issuance of a licence, stating that the holder is free of sexually transmitted diseases and confirming that a payment has been made…of €6,000 for a full-time license or half that amount for part-time work…Prostitutes will also be required to get a certificate of mental fitness. “This is a fundamental way of getting women away from coercion,” says Spillabotte. “During an interview, the specialist will be able to tell if the girl is being forced into prostitution or if it is her free choice”…
That Old Black Magic
“The Sharjah Police…arrested an Arab woman and a man for forcing women into prostitution and engaging in black magic…”
Buried Truth
When a politician obsesses about “protecting children from porn”, this is usually the reason: “A senior aide to David Cameron resigned…the day before being arrested on allegations relating to child abuse images. Patrick Rock…was involved in drawing up the government’s policy for…online pornography filters…”
Between the Ears (TW3 #133)
This article on “Why Viagra Ruined Sex Work” quotes a few ladies whose names regular readers may recognize:
…“I wouldn’t say ED drugs are the worst thing, but they are really annoying,” laughed…Jolene Parton…“it…makes it harder for the client to come.” Anna Gristina…dubbed [it]…“The working girl’s worst nightmare come true…It went from wham-bam, thank you ma’am,’ to ‘Oh my god, can you just finish, man’”…Amanda Brooks…says…men become obsessed with having an erection at the expense of any enjoyment for anyone…
It Looks Good On Paper (TW3 #311)
Texas joins the states arresting people to force them into “diversion” programs: “The Corpus Christi Police…conducted a ‘Jane Sting’…in conjunction with the Red Cord Diversion Program…all six arrested persons were signed up to participate…rather than have criminal charges immediately applied.” Yes, they actually referred to sex workers as “janes”.
The Crumbling Dam (TW3 #315)
Joyce Arthur hits it out of the park with this satire:
In a bold move aimed at protecting workers from exploitation while on the job, the government today passed a new law that criminalizes most employers and customers…Law and Order Minister Punter MacCunny…pointed out that 95 per cent of people hate their jobs and want out, according to a new government-commissioned study…Police welcomed the new law, which gives them sweeping new enforcement powers to target the huge increase in organized crime. According to Det. Sgt. Billy Clubber, head of the RCMP’s new Slave Save Squad, “We’ll be cracking down on slavery rings, basically any place where workers are bribed with wages to provide services”…The law now designates employers and customers as “pimps” and “johns,” respectively…
Long Spoon (TW3 #351)
Reason’s video on condom criminalization specifically refers to the Human Rights Watch report condemning the practice in New Orleans:
Ladies of the Night
Saith Dr. Brooke Magnanti in The Telegraph:
It’s an unusual move to go from policy and social commentary to fiction, especially as the stories cover a range of genres from romance to crime to sci-fi. And yet it works. The eye for detail that fans of Maggie’s non-fiction writing appreciate is well played here. She invents worlds with ease and populates them with thought-provoking, yet never two-dimensional, women and men. If you love plots with twists, she has them to spare. (If you’re not into twists, or women who aren’t always whiter than white, probably best to stay away.) And the cover art by acclaimed cartoonist and Louis Riel author Chester Brown is wonderful.
She also reviews Daddy by Madison Young and Playing the Whore by Melissa Gira Grant.
The Course of a Disease (TW3 #410)
Sex columnist Suzi Godson presents “10 Things You Need to Know Before You Support the Swedish Model of Sex Work” in response to the new push by UK prohibitionists. It’s not anything new for readers of this blog, but it’s possible ammo for online discussions you may get involved in.
Traffic Jam (TW3 #410)
Dominique Roe-Sepowitz answers the many criticisms of Project ROSE by denying them to Christian Post after refusing interviews with mainstream reporters. And if you imagine the denials are substantive or backed by facts, think again: her entire rationale for cooperating with cops to railroad people and deny them lawyers is, “sex-work…is against the law.” Meanwhile, in last week’s other installment of “Traffic Jam”, a demonstration of the motivation behind the fakery:
A study of advertising placed during the recent Super Bowl in New Jersey suggests the volume of sex trafficking that will occur when the event comes to Arizona in 2015 will likely exceed the ability of any one law enforcement agency to address. Phoenix Police Lt. James Gallagher, who co-authored the study…said law enforcement must coordinate to combat sex trafficking during major events…
In other words, “give us more money and power!” Here’s a Storify of the fun several of us had with this mess last Saturday.
