Comments on: An Open Invitation to Rachel Lloyd http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/ Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:22:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Tell the Truth http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-346347 Tell the Truth Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:48:40 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-346347 Sex trafficking is illegal and the penalties are very severe. It is very difficult to force someone to be a sex slave, they would have to have 24 hour guards posted and be watched 365 days a year, 24 hours per day. Have the threat of violence if they refused, and have no one notice and complain to the authorities or police. They would need to hide from the general public yet still manage to see customers from the general public and not have the customers turn the traffickers in to the police. They would need to provide them with medical care, food, shelter, and have all their basic needs met. They would need to have the sex slaves put on a fake front that they enjoyed what they were doing, act flirtatious and do their job well. They would have to deal with the authorities looking for the missing women, and hide any money they may make, since it comes from illegal activity. They must do all of this while constantly trying to prevent the sex slaves from escaping and reporting them to the police. They would need to prevent the general public from reporting them into the police. This is extremely difficult to do, which makes this activity rare. These criminals would be breaking dozens of major laws not just one. Kidnapping itself is a serious crime. There are many laws against sex trafficking, sex slavery, kidnapping, sex abuse, rape, sexual harassment etc. If someone is behind it, they will be breaking many serious laws, be in big trouble, and will go to jail for many long years. And do you actually think that there is a long line of people who want to have a career as a sex slave kidnapping pimp? While there are some women who may be true victims. And it is possible for this to happen in rare situations. This is a small rare group of people and that the numbers and scale of this crime is exaggerated. The very nature of someone pulling off a kidnapping and forced sex for profit appears to be very difficult. Since it would be difficult this makes this crime rare. Not impossible, but extremely rare. And do you really think that millions of people are lining up to make a career out of being a illegal violent sex slave kidnapping pimp? A key point is that on the sidelines the adult prostitutes themselves are not being listened to. They oppose laws against prostitution. But no one wants to listen to the prostitutes themselves. Only to the self appointed experts that make up numbers and stories many of which have never met a real forced sex slave or if they did it was only a few. The media and government never ask the prostitutes themselves what would help them in terms of laws. Many women in the sex business are independent workers. They don’t have a pimp. They work for themselves, advertise themselves, and keep all the money for themselves. No one forces them, because there isn’t anyone to force them. They go out and find their own customers, set their own prices, and arrange everything by themselves. Sometimes they may employ others to help them, but these are not pimps. If for example, she hires an Internet web design company to make a website for her, does that make the web design company a pimp? If she pays a phone company for a phone to do business, does this make the phone company a pimp? If she puts an ad in the paper, does this make the editor a pimp? If she puts the money she makes into a bank account does this make the bank a pimp? A lot of anti prostitution groups would say yes. Everyone and everybody is a pimp. These groups make up lies, and false statistics that no one bothers to check. A big reason they do this is because it provides high paying jobs for them. They get big donations, and grants from the government, charity, churches, etc. to have these groups, and pay these high salaries of the anti prostitution workers. Sex Trafficking in Sports Events: Super Bowl 2011: According to the media hype There was supposed to be hundreds of thousands of under age child sex slaves kidnapped and forced to have sex with super bowl fans. At the Dallas Super Bowl 2011. WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF THEM???????????? It was all a big lie told by various anti-prostitution groups, Traffick911 and the Dallas Women’s Foundation, which are anti-prostitution groups that tell lies in order to get grant money from the government and charities to pay their high salaries. As proved in the link below: Top FBI agent in Dallas (Robert Casey Jr.) sees no evidence of expected spike in child sex trafficking: “Among those preparations was an initiative to prevent an expected rise in sex trafficking and child prostitution surrounding the Super Bowl. But Robert Casey Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, said he saw no evidence that the increase would happen, nor that it did. “In my opinion, the Super Bowl does not create a spike in those crimes,” he said. “The discussion gets very vague and general. People mixed up child prostitution with the term human trafficking, which are different things, and then there is just plain old prostitution.” http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/super-bowl/local/20110302-top-fbi-agent-in-dallas-praises-super-bowl-security-effort-sees-no-evidence-of-expected-spike-in-child-sex-trafficking.ece This myth of thousands or millions of underage sex slaves tries to make every sports fan a sex criminal. No matter what the sport is, or in what country it is in. Brian McCarthy isn't happy. He's a spokesman for the NFL. Every year he's forced to hear why his customers are adulterers and child molesters. Brian McCarthy says the sport/super bowl sex slave story is a urban legend, with no truth at all. == World Cup 2006 == Politicians, religious and aid groups, still repeat the media story that 40,000 prostitutes were trafficked into Germany for the 2006 world cup – long after leaked police documents revealed there was no truth at all in the tale. A baseless claim of 25,000 trafficking victims is still being quoted, recently, for example, by the Salvation Army in written evidence to the home affairs select committee, in which they added: "Other studies done by media have suggested much higher numbers.” Which has been proven by the German police to be completely false. Yet people still talk about these false numbers as if it were fact. ==World Cup 2010 == Again using the made up number of 40,000 prostitutes trafficked: The behavior of fans in South Africa has run contrary to what was predicted prior to the start of the tournament after David Bayever told World Cup organizers in March it was feared that up to 40,000 extra prostitutes could converge in the host nation to meet the expected demand. Bayever, deputy chairperson of South Africa's Central Drug Authority (CDA) that advises on drug abuse but also works with prostitutes, warned: "Forty-thousand new prostitutes. As if we do not have enough people of our own, we have to import them to ensure our visitors are entertained." But the tournament in 2010, if anything, has seen the modern-day soccer fan attracted to art galleries and museums over brothels. A trend that has seen a drop in revenue across the board for the prostitution industry, which is illegal in South Africa. "Zobwa," the chairperson of Sisonke -- an action group representing around 70 street prostitutes in Johannesburg -- said business had been down over the last month. "The World Cup has been devastating. We thought it was going to be a cash cow but it's chased a lot of the business away. It's been the worst month in my company's history," the owner and founder of one of Johannesburg's most exclusive escort companies told CNN. The Vancouver Olympics 2010: Again anti-prostitution groups lied and used the same figure of 40,000 or more sex slaves for the Vancouver Olympics. Again they were proved wrong. There were no sex slaves at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. In recent years, every time there has been a major international sporting event, a group of government officials, campaigning feminists, pliant journalists and NGOs have claimed that the movement of thousands of men to strange foreign countries where there will be lots of alcohol and horniness will result in the enslavement of women for the purposes of sexual pleasure. Obviously. And every time they have simply doubled the made-up scare figures from the last international sporting event, to make it look like this problem of sport/sex/slavery gets worse year on year. Yet each year it is proved false. This myth tries to make every sports fan a sex criminal. No matter what the sport is, or in what country it is in. These anti-prostitution groups need to in invent a victim that does not exist in order to get press attention. I do not like the idea of people getting the wrong information and believing lies, no matter what the topic is. The Sex trafficking, slavery issue is one of the biggest lies being told today. It is amazing to me how people will believe such lies so easily. The media is to blame for this. I wonder why they feel such a need to report wrong stats, numbers and information about this topic without doing proper research. While this may happen in very rare limited situations, the media will say that millions of people are sex slaves without doing any real research on the topic. Only taking the word of special interest anti-prostitution groups which need to generate money in the form of huge government grants from taxpayers, and charities. These "non profit" group's employees make huge salaries, therefore they need to lobby the government, and inflate and invent victims in order to get more money into their organizations. If you look into how many real kidnapped forced against their will sex slaves there are, and not just take the anti-prostitution groups word for it. You will be very surprised. Where are all the forced sex slaves? I would like to meet the millions of sex slaves and see for myself if they were in fact kidnapped, and forced against their will. These anti-prostitution groups lobby the government in a big way, getting Politicians to truly believe their lies. This is an attempt to over inflate an issue in order to get more government money to these organizations. As a tax payer, voter, and resident I don’t want the government to mislead me. I would like to see a news organization do a full report on the lies, myths and exaggerated numbers being told about sex trafficking slaves. The articles about the super bowl sex slaves, has been proved wrong many times, but news organizations still report about it, as if it were fact. Sex Trafficking in Sports Events links: http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-01-27/news/the-super-bowl-prostitute-myth-100-000-hookers-won-t-be-showing-up-in-dallas/ http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-03-03/news/super-bowl-prostitution-100-000-hookers-didn-t-show-but-america-s-latest-political-scam-did/ http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-03-03/news/sex-traffick911-press-release/ The Sex Trafficking/Slavery idea is used to outlaw all adult consensual prostitution, and label all men as sex offenders and wipe out all consensual prostitution. This hurts any real victims because it labels all sex workers as victims. Everything I heard about this problem was Americans complaining about it, but I never heard from the so-called victims themselves complaining about it. Why is that? Many of the self appointed experts complaining about this have never even met or seen a real forced against their will victim. There is a lot of controversy over the numbers of adult woman who are forced sex slaves. The real factual answer is that no one knows. There is hard evidence that the sex slavery/sex trafficking issue continues to report false information and is greatly exaggerated by politicians, the media, and aid groups, feminist and religious organizations that receive funds from the government, The estimate of adult women who become new sex slaves ranges anywhere from 40 million a year to 5,000 per year all of which appear to be much too high. They have no evidence to back up these numbers, and no one questions them about it. Their sources have no sources, and are made up numbers. In fact if some of these numbers are to believed which have either not changed or have been increased each year for the past twenty years, all woman on earth would currently be sex slaves. Yet, very few real forced against their will sex slaves have been found. Here is some more information about this: http://sextraffickingtruths.blogspot.com/ http://bebopper76.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/sex-trafficking-lies-myths/ Sex trafficking is illegal and the penalties are very severe. It is very difficult to force someone to be a sex slave, they would have to have 24 hour guards posted and be watched 365 days a year, 24 hours per day. Have the threat of violence if they refused, and have no one notice and complain to the authorities or police. They would need to hide from the general public yet still manage to see customers from the general public and not have the customers turn the traffickers in to the police. They would need to provide them with medical care, food, shelter, and have all their basic needs met. They would need to have the sex slaves put on a fake front that they enjoyed what they were doing, act flirtatious and do their job well. They would have to deal with the authorities looking for the missing women, and hide any money they may make, since it comes from illegal activity. They must do all of this while constantly trying to prevent the sex slaves from escaping and reporting them to the police. They would need to prevent the general public from reporting them into the police.

This is extremely difficult to do, which makes this activity rare. These criminals would be breaking dozens of major laws not just one. Kidnapping itself is a serious crime. There are many laws against sex trafficking, sex slavery, kidnapping, sex abuse, rape, sexual harassment etc. If someone is behind it, they will be breaking many serious laws, be in big trouble, and will go to jail for many long years. And do you actually think that there is a long line of people who want to have a career as a sex slave kidnapping pimp? While there are some women who may be true victims. And it is possible for this to happen in rare situations. This is a small rare group of people and that the numbers and scale of this crime is exaggerated. The very nature of someone pulling off a kidnapping and forced sex for profit appears to be very difficult. Since it would be difficult this makes this crime rare. Not impossible, but extremely rare. And do you really think that millions of people are lining up to make a career out of being a illegal violent sex slave kidnapping pimp?

A key point is that on the sidelines the adult prostitutes themselves are not being listened to. They oppose laws against prostitution. But no one wants to listen to the prostitutes themselves. Only to the self appointed experts that make up numbers and stories many of which have never met a real forced sex slave or if they did it was only a few. The media and government never ask the prostitutes themselves what would help them in terms of laws.

Many women in the sex business are independent workers. They don’t have a pimp.
They work for themselves, advertise themselves, and keep all the money for themselves. No one forces them, because there isn’t anyone to force them. They go out and find their own customers, set their own prices, and arrange everything by themselves. Sometimes they may employ others to help them, but these are not pimps. If for example, she hires an Internet web design company to make a website for her, does that make the web design company a pimp? If she pays a phone company for a phone to do business, does this make the phone company a pimp? If she puts an ad in the paper, does this make the editor a pimp? If she puts the money she makes into a bank account does this make the bank a pimp?

A lot of anti prostitution groups would say yes. Everyone and everybody is a pimp.
These groups make up lies, and false statistics that no one bothers to check. A big reason they do this is because it provides high paying jobs for them. They get big donations, and grants from the government, charity, churches, etc. to have these groups, and pay these high salaries of the anti prostitution workers.

Sex Trafficking in Sports Events:

Super Bowl 2011:

According to the media hype There was supposed to be hundreds of thousands of under age child sex slaves kidnapped and forced to have sex with super bowl fans. At the Dallas Super Bowl 2011. WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF THEM????????????

It was all a big lie told by various anti-prostitution groups, Traffick911 and the Dallas Women’s Foundation, which are anti-prostitution groups that tell lies in order to get grant money from the government and charities to pay their high salaries. As proved in the link below:

Top FBI agent in Dallas (Robert Casey Jr.) sees no evidence of expected spike in child sex trafficking:

“Among those preparations was an initiative to prevent an expected rise in sex trafficking and child prostitution surrounding the Super Bowl. But Robert Casey Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, said he saw no evidence that the increase would happen, nor that it did.
“In my opinion, the Super Bowl does not create a spike in those crimes,” he said. “The discussion gets very vague and general. People mixed up child prostitution with the term human trafficking, which are different things, and then there is just plain old prostitution.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/super-bowl/local/20110302-top-fbi-agent-in-dallas-praises-super-bowl-security-effort-sees-no-evidence-of-expected-spike-in-child-sex-trafficking.ece

This myth of thousands or millions of underage sex slaves tries to make every sports fan a sex criminal. No matter what the sport is, or in what country it is in.

Brian McCarthy isn’t happy. He’s a spokesman for the NFL. Every year he’s forced to hear why his customers are adulterers and child molesters. Brian McCarthy says the sport/super bowl sex slave story is a urban legend, with no truth at all.

== World Cup 2006 ==
Politicians, religious and aid groups, still repeat the media story that 40,000 prostitutes were trafficked into Germany for the 2006 world cup – long after leaked police documents revealed there was no truth at all in the tale. A baseless claim of 25,000 trafficking victims is still being quoted, recently, for example, by the Salvation Army in written evidence to the home affairs select committee, in which they added: “Other studies done by media have suggested much higher numbers.” Which has been proven by the German police to be completely false. Yet people still talk about these false numbers as if it were fact.
==World Cup 2010 ==
Again using the made up number of 40,000 prostitutes trafficked:
The behavior of fans in South Africa has run contrary to what was predicted prior to the start of the tournament after David Bayever told World Cup organizers in March it was feared that up to 40,000 extra prostitutes could converge in the host nation to meet the expected demand. Bayever, deputy chairperson of South Africa’s Central Drug Authority (CDA) that advises on drug abuse but also works with prostitutes, warned: “Forty-thousand new prostitutes. As if we do not have enough people of our own, we have to import them to ensure our visitors are entertained.”

But the tournament in 2010, if anything, has seen the modern-day soccer fan attracted to art galleries and museums over brothels. A trend that has seen a drop in revenue across the board for the prostitution industry, which is illegal in South Africa. “Zobwa,” the chairperson of Sisonke — an action group representing around 70 street prostitutes in Johannesburg — said business had been down over the last month. “The World Cup has been devastating. We thought it was going to be a cash cow but it’s chased a lot of the business away. It’s been the worst month in my company’s history,” the owner and founder of one of Johannesburg’s most exclusive escort companies told CNN.

The Vancouver Olympics 2010:
Again anti-prostitution groups lied and used the same figure of 40,000 or more sex slaves for the Vancouver Olympics. Again they were proved wrong. There were no sex slaves at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

In recent years, every time there has been a major international sporting event, a group of government officials, campaigning feminists, pliant journalists and NGOs have claimed that the movement of thousands of men to strange foreign countries where there will be lots of alcohol and horniness will result in the enslavement of women for the purposes of sexual pleasure. Obviously. And every time they have simply doubled the made-up scare figures from the last international sporting event, to make it look like this problem of sport/sex/slavery gets worse year on year. Yet each year it is proved false.

This myth tries to make every sports fan a sex criminal. No matter what the sport is, or in what country it is in. These anti-prostitution groups need to in invent a victim that does not exist in order to get press attention.

I do not like the idea of people getting the wrong information and believing lies, no matter what the topic is. The Sex trafficking, slavery issue is one of the biggest lies being told today. It is amazing to me how people will believe such lies so easily. The media is to blame for this. I wonder why they feel such a need to report wrong stats, numbers and information about this topic without doing proper research.

While this may happen in very rare limited situations, the media will say that millions of people are sex slaves without doing any real research on the topic. Only taking the word of special interest anti-prostitution groups which need to generate money in the form of huge government grants from taxpayers, and charities. These “non profit” group’s employees make huge salaries, therefore they need to lobby the government, and inflate and invent victims in order to get more money into their organizations. If you look into how many real kidnapped forced against their will sex slaves there are, and not just take the anti-prostitution groups word for it. You will be very surprised.

Where are all the forced sex slaves? I would like to meet the millions of sex slaves and see for myself if they were in fact kidnapped, and forced against their will.

These anti-prostitution groups lobby the government in a big way, getting Politicians to truly believe their lies.

This is an attempt to over inflate an issue in order to get more government money to these organizations. As a tax payer, voter, and resident I don’t want the government to mislead me.

I would like to see a news organization do a full report on the lies, myths and exaggerated numbers being told about sex trafficking slaves. The articles about the super bowl sex slaves, has been proved wrong many times, but news organizations still report about it, as if it were fact.

Sex Trafficking in Sports Events links:
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-01-27/news/the-super-bowl-prostitute-myth-100-000-hookers-won-t-be-showing-up-in-dallas/
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-03-03/news/super-bowl-prostitution-100-000-hookers-didn-t-show-but-america-s-latest-political-scam-did/
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-03-03/news/sex-traffick911-press-release/

The Sex Trafficking/Slavery idea is used to outlaw all adult consensual prostitution, and label all men as sex offenders and wipe out all consensual prostitution.

This hurts any real victims because it labels all sex workers as victims. Everything I heard about this problem was Americans complaining about it, but I never heard from the so-called victims themselves complaining about it. Why is that? Many of the self appointed experts complaining about this have never even met or seen a real forced against their will victim.
There is a lot of controversy over the numbers of adult woman who are forced sex slaves. The real factual answer is that no one knows. There is hard evidence that the sex slavery/sex trafficking issue continues to report false information and is greatly exaggerated by politicians, the media, and aid groups, feminist and religious organizations that receive funds from the government, The estimate of adult women who become new sex slaves ranges anywhere from 40 million a year to 5,000 per year all of which appear to be much too high. They have no evidence to back up these numbers, and no one questions them about it. Their sources have no sources, and are made up numbers. In fact if some of these numbers are to believed which have either not changed or have been increased each year for the past twenty years, all woman on earth would currently be sex slaves. Yet, very few real forced against their will sex slaves have been found.

Here is some more information about this:

http://sextraffickingtruths.blogspot.com/

http://bebopper76.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/sex-trafficking-lies-myths/

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By: The Mounties and the “bullying busybodies.” : Contrarian http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-196116 The Mounties and the “bullying busybodies.” : Contrarian Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:26:32 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-196116 [...] of sex slaves, note that the company started charging for adult service ads in 2008 at the behest of law enforcement officials. The idea was that fees would thin the section, while requiring a [...] […] of sex slaves, note that the company started charging for adult service ads in 2008 at the behest of law enforcement officials. The idea was that fees would thin the section, while requiring a […]

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By: Rick Shetron http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-195435 Rick Shetron Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:59:46 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-195435 One of the reasons for the adult section to to advertise real adult jobs. One of my roommates worked as a stripper or topless/bikini bartender. The easiest way to find jobs was the adult section of craigslist. There are other legitimate jobs that are posted to the adult section. someone wants a topless or nude house cleaner, I don't see anything wrong with that as long as that is all they want. Of course I feel the easiest and best way to deal with prostitution is to legalize it. Same for Marijuana. Take the money out of the drug cartels pockets and tax the product like any other and put the money in the politicians pocket. Maybe they will take their hands a little bit out of our pockets ;) One of the reasons for the adult section to to advertise real adult jobs. One of my roommates worked as a stripper or topless/bikini bartender. The easiest way to find jobs was the adult section of craigslist. There are other legitimate jobs that are posted to the adult section. someone wants a topless or nude house cleaner, I don’t see anything wrong with that as long as that is all they want.

Of course I feel the easiest and best way to deal with prostitution is to legalize it. Same for Marijuana. Take the money out of the drug cartels pockets and tax the product like any other and put the money in the politicians pocket. Maybe they will take their hands a little bit out of our pockets ;)

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By: christy http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-182229 christy Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:10:01 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-182229 I don't understand why Craigslist is being targeted by these right-wing Christian NUT-JOBS who are trying to project that all adult services are HUMAN TRAFFICKING when 99.9% are men and women over 18 who are working INDEPENDENTLY - and voluntarily - without pimps. Craigslist actually FREED thousands of men and women from pimps when they started Adult Services - because previously - adult service providers had to work for pimps a.k.a. "Escort Agencies" to get their business calls - and give half their earnings to the escort agencies as "finders fees". When Adult Services came about on Craigslist - suddenly - thousands of people could get business easier on their own - WITHOUT having to give half their earnings to pimping Escort agencies. It was TOTALLY liberating for tens of thousands of adult entertainers and companions - who are providing legitimate and needed LEGAL services. For years, Escort Services advertised in the Yellow Pages under "escorts" and in any major city if you Google "Escorts" - the website EROS.COM comes up first - not Craigslist and EROS has been around for eons as a major player for escort ads. The Adult Services section on Craigslist is NOTHING compared to EROS.COM - which has nudity and an actual "GFE" category and is NOTHING compared to Backpage - which will let people post ANYTHING and is totally unmonitored. Fact: If you go to ANY urban housing project in the country - there are countless impoverished fathers and brothers who will pimp out their daughters or sisters for some dough - in a New York minute. THEY are the criminals - NOT Craigslist. Those criminals who post the scams, rob people responding to ads, carjack auto sellers posting on the internet, rape women who think they are responding to a legitimate job interview etc...(all other crimes perpetrated by criminals from internet ads) - are the ones COMMITING the CRIMES! Gangs like MS-13 and other thugs also kidnap young girls and pander them on the street - more than advertise on Craigslist - because Craigslist can lead police to TRUE CRIMINALS. Only REALLY stupid criminals would be dumb enough to pull these crimes on Craigslist because the majority of Craigslist users who are willing to spend their hard-earned money for a sexual fantasy service are going to have their fantasy - QUICKLY SHATTERED and either call police or want their money back - if they walk into a room where a crying child is complaining about her pimp, claiming she doesn't want to be there, and appears to be under-age. Most adult services CLIENTS seek out Adult Services for a positive experience with a willing man or woman 18 or older - and would most likely call police or want their money back if they think they are being an accessory to a felony. I know almost every lady who works on the D.C. craigslist and 99.9% are Independent, normal entertainers and companions who pay taxes and provide services and VOLUNTARILY there - not being pimped out by criminals. Many are single mothers who are providing for their families - and would not be able to make it - if it were not for Craigslist. Craigslist - PLEASE STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS - you have a Prima Facie case against these right-wing Christian NUTCASES who are targeting you ALONE and not EROS.COM or Backpage or Escorts.com or Cityvibe,com or Sugardaddies.com or Millionairebabies.com, the YELLOW PAGES escort listings, and the list goes on and on. Sue them for targeting you and persecuting you in the press. Do it for the freedom of all Americans. Thank you. I don’t understand why Craigslist is being targeted by these right-wing Christian NUT-JOBS who are trying to project that all adult services are HUMAN TRAFFICKING when 99.9% are men and women over 18 who are working INDEPENDENTLY - and voluntarily - without pimps.

Craigslist actually FREED thousands of men and women from pimps when they started Adult Services - because previously - adult service providers had to work for pimps a.k.a. “Escort Agencies” to get their business calls - and give half their earnings to the escort agencies as “finders fees”. When Adult Services came about on Craigslist - suddenly - thousands of people could get business easier on their own - WITHOUT having to give half their earnings to pimping Escort agencies. It was TOTALLY liberating for tens of thousands of adult entertainers and companions - who are providing legitimate and needed LEGAL services.

For years, Escort Services advertised in the Yellow Pages under “escorts” and in any major city if you Google “Escorts” - the website EROS.COM comes up first - not Craigslist and EROS has been around for eons as a major player for escort ads. The Adult Services section on Craigslist is NOTHING compared to EROS.COM - which has nudity and an actual “GFE” category and is NOTHING compared to Backpage - which will let people post ANYTHING and is totally unmonitored.

Fact: If you go to ANY urban housing project in the country - there are countless impoverished fathers and brothers who will pimp out their daughters or sisters for some dough - in a New York minute. THEY are the criminals - NOT Craigslist. Those criminals who post the scams, rob people responding to ads, carjack auto sellers posting on the internet, rape women who think they are responding to a legitimate job interview etc…(all other crimes perpetrated by criminals from internet ads) - are the ones COMMITING the CRIMES! Gangs like MS-13 and other thugs also kidnap young girls and pander them on the street - more than advertise on Craigslist - because Craigslist can lead police to TRUE CRIMINALS.

Only REALLY stupid criminals would be dumb enough to pull these crimes on Craigslist because the majority of Craigslist users who are willing to spend their hard-earned money for a sexual fantasy service are going to have their fantasy - QUICKLY SHATTERED and either call police or want their money back - if they walk into a room where a crying child is complaining about her pimp, claiming she doesn’t want to be there, and appears to be under-age.

Most adult services CLIENTS seek out Adult Services for a positive experience with a willing man or woman 18 or older - and would most likely call police or want their money back if they think they are being an accessory to a felony.

I know almost every lady who works on the D.C. craigslist and 99.9% are Independent, normal entertainers and companions who pay taxes and provide services and VOLUNTARILY there - not being pimped out by criminals. Many are single mothers who are providing for their families - and would not be able to make it - if it were not for Craigslist.

Craigslist - PLEASE STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS - you have a Prima Facie case against these right-wing Christian NUTCASES who are targeting you ALONE and not EROS.COM or Backpage or Escorts.com or Cityvibe,com or Sugardaddies.com or Millionairebabies.com, the YELLOW PAGES escort listings, and the list goes on and on.

Sue them for targeting you and persecuting you in the press. Do it for the freedom of all Americans. Thank you.

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By: Ian http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-181001 Ian Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:08:10 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-181001 I just saw CNN's piece on craigslist and underage prostitution. I thought it poor reporting and posted this comment on their site: August 4th, 2010 1:46 pm ET Your comment is awaiting moderation. CNN should hang its head in shame publishing this cheap tabloid piece masquerading as investigative journalism. Where’s the hard evidence of abuse and trafficking? The lady from ‘Fair Fund’ – what are her credentials? CNN has no problem dealing with hearsay. Where are the underage prostitution rings that the cops have busted? Maybe you don’t report them BECAUSE THEY ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN! And CNN’s treatment of Craig – it was pure doorstep badgering of a self-confessed ‘nerd’ – was unconscionable. I loathe America’s puritanical shallow soccer mum culture and how CNN plays to it. Of course, CNN could rise to the challenge of a serious debate backed up by substantial research. But that’s probably too much to expect. In Europe, prostitution is generally legal but controlled. Sex workers there are protected by the police, not persecuted by them. Ireland is interesting. The authorities there hounded online sex advertising which simply moved offshore to the UK. So what would be the point in hounding Craigslist to ban adult advertising because the same thing would happen here… At the end of the day, 99.999999% of sex workers offer a valuable service that they choose to provide. They deserve our respect and safeguards. They certainly deserve more than this shallow, cheap and opportunistic journalism from CNN. And why can I speak with any authority? Why do I KNOW that CNN’s reporting is so off kilter? My wife is a sex worker who has worked in the UK, Eire, Spain and Scandinavia (amongst other places) for fifteen years. So take it from me. This tabloid piece is pure garbage… The true story is far more interesting. I just saw CNN’s piece on craigslist and underage prostitution. I thought it poor reporting and posted this comment on their site:

August 4th, 2010 1:46 pm ET
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
CNN should hang its head in shame publishing this cheap tabloid piece masquerading as investigative journalism. Where’s the hard evidence of abuse and trafficking? The lady from ‘Fair Fund’ – what are her credentials? CNN has no problem dealing with hearsay. Where are the underage prostitution rings that the cops have busted? Maybe you don’t report them BECAUSE THEY ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN! And CNN’s treatment of Craig – it was pure doorstep badgering of a self-confessed ‘nerd’ – was unconscionable. I loathe America’s puritanical shallow soccer mum culture and how CNN plays to it. Of course, CNN could rise to the challenge of a serious debate backed up by substantial research. But that’s probably too much to expect. In Europe, prostitution is generally legal but controlled. Sex workers there are protected by the police, not persecuted by them. Ireland is interesting. The authorities there hounded online sex advertising which simply moved offshore to the UK. So what would be the point in hounding Craigslist to ban adult advertising because the same thing would happen here… At the end of the day, 99.999999% of sex workers offer a valuable service that they choose to provide. They deserve our respect and safeguards. They certainly deserve more than this shallow, cheap and opportunistic journalism from CNN. And why can I speak with any authority? Why do I KNOW that CNN’s reporting is so off kilter? My wife is a sex worker who has worked in the UK, Eire, Spain and Scandinavia (amongst other places) for fifteen years. So take it from me. This tabloid piece is pure garbage… The true story is far more interesting.

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By: randy, from baytown ,texas http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-180910 randy, from baytown ,texas Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:13:12 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-180910 hy robin,, take a look at backpage.com, its worse then craigs list. hy robin,, take a look at backpage.com, its worse then craigs list.

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By: Man on the Hill http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-180904 Man on the Hill Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:37:58 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-180904 LOL. Just another example of an in-mature society unable to face the realities of their nature. But I like your thought process Paul D., a bit cynical but it rings true to some extent. Weather Forecast; ‘Today will be a sunny day, above the clouds’. LOL. Just another example of an in-mature society unable to face the realities of their nature. But I like your thought process Paul D., a bit cynical but it rings true to some extent.

Weather Forecast; ‘Today will be a sunny day, above the clouds’.

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By: paul dobson http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-175768 paul dobson Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:49:19 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-175768 I can't understand why reasonable folks continue to belabor this silly point. Prostitution is an ancient ill that has resisted any form of control for quite a while,, you just can't win this arguement. There are several factors that are obvious, to wit; prostitution has been with us and won't be denied, controled or defeated by legislation. Beating a dead horse will not give it life. Pontificating, taking the 'high moral ground' and coming up with a tired strategy to end it will not help. Decriminilizing it NATIONALLY takes the crime out of it, allows us to put in place a small measure of disease prevention, halting the rate of HIV infections (condoms), possibly requiring all sex workers to attend classes on STD prevention, drug screening, taxes paid into FICA, SS, etc,, mandating money be paid into a goverment controlled retirement plan. It's not CL's fault that many hardliners won't do the right thing, the whole topic is politicol suicide. CA ad NY (and it pains me to say this because I AM a conservative) has finally taken a big step by loosening the pot laws. The same type of controls can now be put into place,, hell, give it out FREE to anyone who can get a MD to claim the patient is addicted. Then require counseling and treatment,, well we are beyond 1984, we babyboomers are beyond where we thought we'd be at this phase of our life. Don't fall for the politicol posturing of local district atty's or AG's, or the politicol slime that would legislate genocide if it would secure them a re-election, repeal and re-vamp the soft moral guidelines and strict moral laws that make it illegal for people to do things to their own bodies. The victimless crime is just that, victimless. Don't go to the story that "It has perepheral crime,, folks do drugs, and they need $$ to support their habit and resort to a life of crime, prostitution, theft, robbery etc." Deal with the REAL problem, if an inmate can complete a rehab schedule with TOUGH benchmarks set them free with a conditional work/release program. Let them pay taxes, learn how to be a success story. If we could open the prisons for non-vilolent drug offenders think of how many prisons we could close! I'll end my rant with this: "Most drug offenders who are busted are users. Teach them a better way of life. A large percentage of the rest of the drug offenders are dealers. If they can control a business and make scads of money, sheeesh,, let them out and put them in the work force and become Forbes 500 companies C.E.O.'s, we are missing a BIG solution. GO TERM LIMITS! DON'T RE-ELECT ANYBODY. One term and out, get it right and return to the work force. I can’t understand why reasonable folks continue to belabor this silly point. Prostitution is an ancient ill that has resisted any form of control for quite a while,, you just can’t win this arguement. There are several factors that are obvious, to wit; prostitution has been with us and won’t be denied, controled or defeated by legislation. Beating a dead horse will not give it life. Pontificating, taking the ‘high moral ground’ and coming up with a tired strategy to end it will not help. Decriminilizing it NATIONALLY takes the crime out of it, allows us to put in place a small measure of disease prevention, halting the rate of HIV infections (condoms), possibly requiring all sex workers to attend classes on STD prevention, drug screening, taxes paid into FICA, SS, etc,, mandating money be paid into a goverment controlled retirement plan. It’s not CL’s fault that many hardliners won’t do the right thing, the whole topic is politicol suicide. CA ad NY (and it pains me to say this because I AM a conservative) has finally taken a big step by loosening the pot laws. The same type of controls can now be put into place,, hell, give it out FREE to anyone who can get a MD to claim the patient is addicted. Then require counseling and treatment,, well we are beyond 1984, we babyboomers are beyond where we thought we’d be at this phase of our life. Don’t fall for the politicol posturing of local district atty’s or AG’s, or the politicol slime that would legislate genocide if it would secure them a re-election, repeal and re-vamp the soft moral guidelines and strict moral laws that make it illegal for people to do things to their own bodies. The victimless crime is just that, victimless. Don’t go to the story that “It has perepheral crime,, folks do drugs, and they need $$ to support their habit and resort to a life of crime, prostitution, theft, robbery etc.” Deal with the REAL problem, if an inmate can complete a rehab schedule with TOUGH benchmarks set them free with a conditional work/release program. Let them pay taxes, learn how to be a success story. If we could open the prisons for non-vilolent drug offenders think of how many prisons we could close! I’ll end my rant with this: “Most drug offenders who are busted are users. Teach them a better way of life. A large percentage of the rest of the drug offenders are dealers. If they can control a business and make scads of money, sheeesh,, let them out and put them in the work force and become Forbes 500 companies C.E.O.’s, we are missing a BIG solution. GO TERM LIMITS! DON’T RE-ELECT ANYBODY. One term and out, get it right and return to the work force.

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By: Zoe http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-172196 Zoe Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:54:26 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-172196 Why are we vilifying craigslist? If young girls walk the stroll in a major city shall we condemn the city for offering a piece of sidewalk space where the girls stroll? No, we sure would not. Solving the problem of exploitation, sexual and otherwise, involves a paradigm shift. Taking away the site where a perp finds their prey won't take away the perps! Go on Amy! Move to educate and love men and boys! Teach respect of ALL people! Generations (read: centuries) of "isms" and "Otherness" coupled with our current culture provide the context for exploitation, not craigslist. Why are we vilifying craigslist? If young girls walk the stroll in a major city shall we condemn the city for offering a piece of sidewalk space where the girls stroll? No, we sure would not. Solving the problem of exploitation, sexual and otherwise, involves a paradigm shift. Taking away the site where a perp finds their prey won’t take away the perps!
Go on Amy! Move to educate and love men and boys! Teach respect of ALL people! Generations (read: centuries) of “isms” and “Otherness” coupled with our current culture provide the context for exploitation, not craigslist.

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By: Empress Celena http://blog.craigslist.org/2010/05/an-open-invitation-to-rachel-lloyd/#comment-170066 Empress Celena Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:11:56 +0000 http://blog.craigslist.org/?p=150#comment-170066 LOL Loving using that name. Craig's list is awesome and I could careless what CNN or any other media comes out with to try to slander it. More free press for you! My one and only issue is the way things are flagged. Sometimes when a person has a pet that they are trying to find a home for "somebody" ( I have a good idea who) is flagging all of the posts so that people are then forced into sending their pet to the Humane Society or something like it like Petfinder. Anyone knows that the Humane Society is not very Humane and puts down thousands of animals each other as "unadoptable". I just wish that when someone is flagged it doesn't immediately delete the post. Show that it has been flagged but allow it to stay as long as it is not something bad as you have posted about here. Thank you for your valuable website! Hugs & Sloppy Kisses to you! LOL Loving using that name.
Craig’s list is awesome and I could careless what CNN or any other media comes out with to try to slander it. More free press for you! My one and only issue is the way things are flagged. Sometimes when a person has a pet that they are trying to find a home for “somebody” ( I have a good idea who) is flagging all of the posts so that people are then forced into sending their pet to the Humane Society or something like it like Petfinder. Anyone knows that the Humane Society is not very Humane and puts down thousands of animals each other as “unadoptable”. I just wish that when someone is flagged it doesn’t immediately delete the post. Show that it has been flagged but allow it to stay as long as it is not something bad as you have posted about here. Thank you for your valuable website! Hugs & Sloppy Kisses to you!

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