3 ms·

No one (including Craigslist) disputes that sex trafficking is a reprehensible practice that should be vigorously opposed. Wait, what does "sex trafficking" me

by hugh3 16y ago

No one (including Craigslist) disputes that sex trafficking is a reprehensible practice that should be vigorously opposed. Wait, what does "sex trafficking" mean in this context? Is it just "prostitution"? Because many people disagree with the banning of prostitution.

dangrossman 16y ago
No, it means something more than just prostitution -- slavery and forced prostitution. Women, both from the US and forcibly smuggled from other countries, are forced to prostitute themselves while turning over their income under threat of violence or death.
- ataggart 16y ago
  >it means something more than just prostitution And the prohibitionists love to use this type of package-deal language. That one can oppose criminalizing sex for money between two consenting adults, but still support criminalizing sex slavery is a notion intentionally excluded from the conversation.
  - todayiamme 16y ago
    I accidentally up voted you, but can you please tell me how this package-deal language works? Preferably with empirical evidence to prove just the same. I couldn't sleep at night even if one child's future was destroyed through something I had created like this.
kevinpet 16y ago
It depends who you ask. People who are opposed to prostitution like to argue against forced sex slavery, get everyone to agree, then redefine sex trafficking to include all sex for pay.
tptacek 16y ago
This is a hand-wavy argument. If most people disagreed with the banning of prostitution, there'd be popular ballot measures aimed at legalizing it, like there are for cannabis.
- enjo 16y ago
  http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/poll-says-yes-to-paterson-no-to-legalized-prostitution/ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/poll-says-yes-t... In this poll of New York voters 30% supported legalizing it. Clearly the parent is correct, the use. of "no one" in the quote is clearly not true
  - tptacek 16y ago
    Of course it isn't, though, because "trafficking" involves the specific kinds of prostitution in which people are transported from one locale to another with the intent of alienating them from the local population and locking them into a lifestyle that depends on the sex trade.
- gojomo 16y ago
  Give it time. Marijuana was legal; then it wasn't; and now after many decades, various stages of re-legalization are proceeding via legislation and ballot measures. Prostitution was once legal in many jurisdictions where it's illegal now; some jurisdictions have tried forms of re-legalization, or tacit acceptance in various kinds of 'red-light districts' (real or virtual), sometimes as a means of sex-trafficking harm-reduction. In 2008, a San Francisco proposition to decriminalize prostitution got a 42% 'yes' vote. 'Everyone' except for some rather heartless criminals is against 'sex trafficking'; views on the more general 'prostitution' are far more varied.
- djcapelis 16y ago
  SF voted on legalizing prostitution in 2008. It was called Prop K and got 41% of the vote. http://www.yesonpropk.org/ http://www.yesonpropk.org/ Measure Q in Berkeley in 2004 pulled 36%. In the Bay Area a considerable number of people support decriminalization. Craigslist is hardly completely out of whack in terms of public opinion of the population in their region of the world.

by hugh3 16y ago

dangrossman 16y ago

No, it means something more than just prostitution -- slavery and forced prostitution. Women, both from the US and forcibly smuggled from other countries, are forced to prostitute themselves while turning over their income under threat of violence or death.

ataggart 16y ago
>it means something more than just prostitution And the prohibitionists love to use this type of package-deal language. That one can oppose criminalizing sex for money between two consenting adults, but still support criminalizing sex slavery is a notion intentionally excluded from the conversation.
- todayiamme 16y ago
  I accidentally up voted you, but can you please tell me how this package-deal language works? Preferably with empirical evidence to prove just the same. I couldn't sleep at night even if one child's future was destroyed through something I had created like this.

kevinpet 16y ago

It depends who you ask. People who are opposed to prostitution like to argue against forced sex slavery, get everyone to agree, then redefine sex trafficking to include all sex for pay.

tptacek 16y ago

This is a hand-wavy argument. If most people disagreed with the banning of prostitution, there'd be popular ballot measures aimed at legalizing it, like there are for cannabis.

enjo 16y ago
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/poll-says-yes-to-paterson-no-to-legalized-prostitution/ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/poll-says-yes-t... In this poll of New York voters 30% supported legalizing it. Clearly the parent is correct, the use. of "no one" in the quote is clearly not true
- tptacek 16y ago
  Of course it isn't, though, because "trafficking" involves the specific kinds of prostitution in which people are transported from one locale to another with the intent of alienating them from the local population and locking them into a lifestyle that depends on the sex trade.
gojomo 16y ago
Give it time. Marijuana was legal; then it wasn't; and now after many decades, various stages of re-legalization are proceeding via legislation and ballot measures. Prostitution was once legal in many jurisdictions where it's illegal now; some jurisdictions have tried forms of re-legalization, or tacit acceptance in various kinds of 'red-light districts' (real or virtual), sometimes as a means of sex-trafficking harm-reduction. In 2008, a San Francisco proposition to decriminalize prostitution got a 42% 'yes' vote. 'Everyone' except for some rather heartless criminals is against 'sex trafficking'; views on the more general 'prostitution' are far more varied.
djcapelis 16y ago
SF voted on legalizing prostitution in 2008. It was called Prop K and got 41% of the vote. http://www.yesonpropk.org/ http://www.yesonpropk.org/ Measure Q in Berkeley in 2004 pulled 36%. In the Bay Area a considerable number of people support decriminalization. Craigslist is hardly completely out of whack in terms of public opinion of the population in their region of the world.