As Expected, Prostitutes Move Elsewhere After Craigslist Change
from the good-job-doing-nothing dept
We pointed out how little sense it made for various state attorneys general to force Craigslist to charge for the "erotic services" group. It would appear that at least 40 states' attorneys general are not chess players, because they only were thinking one move out. That is, they thought: "Well, there's prostitution happening via Craigslist. Let's stop Craigslist from allowing that." But, of course, they didn't bother to think of what would happen next: which is that the prostitutes would scatter to numerous other sites, meaning that the amount of prostitution would continue pretty much unabated, but it would be more scattered and much more difficult for police to track down and stop. You would think that the folks in charge of such things would recognize that the way you stop crime is by going after the actual criminals, rather than the tools they use.So, what happened after Craigslist implemented the change? Exactly what you'd expect. Ed Kohler checked it out and noticed (as you'd expect) that the number of ads on Craigslist's erotic services dropped significantly, but the number of ads elsewhere jumped up somewhat (including some on Craigslist's "Therapeutic Services" -- suggesting that some are trying to skirt the new charging system). Kohler only looked at one other site, so it may look like the increase in ads isn't that big -- but if you add up a variety of similar sites, you can bet that it's quite likely that in total it added up to quite a lot. It's just that, now, it's a lot more work for police to actually monitor.
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Filed Under: attorney general, liability, prostitution, richard blumenthal
Companies: craigslist
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This is as true on the net as it is in a city. If residents of a particular area complain about increased prostitution, the police will crack down pushing prostitution somewhere else. Problem solved.
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Response to: Ima Fish on Nov 10th, 2008 @ 12:54pm
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Lol. No. This is what keeps cops, judges, bondsman, parole officers, probation officers, COs and the whole rigmarole in business... blue-collar crime.
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Visibility
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I wonder what will happen in 10 years or so when men in general get even more fed up with the #MeToo bull shit that's going on these days. Hopefully something violent like slavery or genocide of women.
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A person is free to do with their body as they please. It doesn't matter whether you think it's right or wrong. It's none of your fucking business.
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Regulate it
Law enforcement has not chased prostitution as long as it has existed, contrary to what one poster has said here. For most of recorded history, prostitution, even in Christian countries, has been an industry that law enforcement regulated, but did not ban.
Nevada gets it right. Regulate it. Confine it to certain locations. Regulate it's advertising. Remove the public health risks as much as is feasible. Pass laws preventing the exploitation of sex workers.
This will have two effects: Girls who turn to prostitution (something that will always happen) will have a place to go where they will not be exploited by pimps and drug dealers. Johns will have a place to go that is legal, thus drying up much of the customer base of the pimps. Consequently, prostitution will no longer be the nuisance it presently is, and the police can redirect their enforcement efforts where it is needed, instead of wasting tons of money on prosecuting what, in every state, is a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.
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Agreed. Regulate drugs and prostitution. America needs more of both.
But since Americans are so dumb, this wont happen for a long time.
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Re: Regulate it
Nevada treats prostitution much like societies in the Middle Ages did (prior to the Protestant Reformation, after which prostitution was generally outlawed in Protestant countries).
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Exibit A
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Does anyone in law enforcement THINK?
Epic Fail.
Now if the AG's were REALLY on the ball, they would have had just urged Craigslist to require the word "Donut" in all posts in the 'Erotic Services' category, thus ensuring plenty of ongoing Police attention.
Ah yea. That felt good.
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Re: Does anyone in law enforcement THINK?
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Maybe it should be muffins now?
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You would think...
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You would think...
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In other news,
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In other news...
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Of course Jesus and Allah don't approve so every politician gets on his soapbox and spews the same tired rhetoric as to why prostitution is such an "evil" blight on society. The fact that it involves two adults who do things in the privacy of their own residences is an annoyance they'd rather do away with.
FWIW Craigs has stopped trying to remove ads. Also, the providers have simply tailored their ads to coincide with Crags posting guidelines. They can still get a message across without being blatant about it.
by the looks of it, Craigs just paid the politicos the lip-service they wanted for a few weeks and eventually everything is back to normal.
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Everyone wins
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This only affects "legitimate" prostitutes
Assuming this is true, then these are the ones who are doing it for the money, the excitement, or some other reason than they have no other choice; essentially they are the type to work in a brothel rather than hang out at bus stations and street corners. They do it because they choose to, not because they have to.
In that sense, I don't see what the problem is. As Lucretious said, they practice safe sex, do it in the privacy of their house/apartment, and are generally providing a service that people need/want.
Vice laws are some of the worst ones on the books and are a waste of tax dollars, police work, and judicial time.
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Re: This only affects "legitimate" prostitutes
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Your View is Short Sighted
Stopping prostitution is like trying to stop the rain, and the powers that be realize this. You can, however, separate it from popular and legitimized sources. When there is one large central location for such services to be bartered, it is easier for a consumer to find such services.
Yes the prostitutes scattered to multiple smaller sites, which would make it more difficult for police to crack down on individuals, but it also makes it more difficult for consumers to find the services they are looking for, which in turn cuts down on the amount of services rendered. This can be executed multiple times.. If taking prostitution from Craigslist spawned 3 smaller sites, then take out one of those other sites causing it to spawn 3 even smaller sites... the more scattered it becomes, the less online prostitution will happen.
If you can't understand how taking "Whores" out of the yellow pages will greatly reduce prostitution then I don't know if there is any hope for you, Mike.
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Re: Your View is Short Sighted
If you can show a single solid piece of evidence to back up that little lie, you might actually be able to change his mind.
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What is the point
The "moral" grounds with which people justify these laws against prostitution is incomprehensible to me. Most of the excuses they use to justify such laws were the result of these very laws.
I would love to hear what exactly is so immoral about prostitution, because so far, I haven't been able to figure it out.
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Politicians
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Re: Politicians
if that were the case they could just do whats done in northern Europe and create some standards...registration, mandatory blood testing, mandatory protection etc. Allow massage parlors but only in specific areas where it won't devalue property (ie industrial parks etc). States can levy a minimal tax. We all win.
To me, this all falls back to mainly indirect christian involvement in governmental affairs since I've yet to hear any rational argument to keep laws the way they've been. And, as much as I respect them, the police are to blame as well. They know full well the futility of trying to control the prostitution "industry" yet they keep backing inane useless laws rather than come out as individuals on the front line and state just how much of a failure its all been. It reminds me a LOT of the "war on drugs". Year after year they choose to lock up addicts rather than push to make it a medical issue rather than a criminal one. Why they insist on following such a parochial attitude in matters like these is beyond me.
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If brothels were regulated, inspected, and taxed it would turn so many dangerous streets into honest working districts. Women will sell their bodies no matter what laws are made to stop them and men will always pay. Government should respect this universal truth.
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dart
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Freedom for Sale
Has ANYONE noticed how the so-called President of Freedom is actually pushing the same tactics as Bush on the dumbfounded American populous???
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So this is a crime why?
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Where to look now.
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Lots of Hookers
You can search by city or zip cod, pretty cool
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True, they'll just keep moving from place to place.
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