Craigslist hooker busts

[Incubus]

I've been seeing this on the news lately. Is this an actual problem, or just news sensationalism? MSNBC has been doing 'your daughter may be a sex slave' type shows, and the film 'Taken' has seemed to be building some kind of hysteria about young women being prostituted against their will.

Are we looking at the new counterpart to the war on drugs?

[Sage Rat]

This article seems to answer your question almost exactly:

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/947617.html

Bonus info:

Nearly all (~78%) prostitutes begin working as a prostitute while a minor. The average age of entry into prostitution is ~13 years old. Most child prostitutes are runaways or thrownaways (~60%). ~62% were physically abused by a parent, ~61% were molested before becoming a prostitute, with the average age of molestation being 10 years old. 25-35% self-identify as LGBT (compared with something more around ~5% in the general population), which could be evidence that such children are more likely to be thrown away or feel unwelcome at home. Most (?) child prostitutes are drug users. 90% turn to prostitution because there is no other work for minors. Approximately 75% have a pimp.

http://www.123helpme.com/assets/10956.html
http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/CSE...Sum_020220.pdf (PDF)

[chaoticbear]

I'm interested in this topic - I do nude massages at home and advertise on Craigslist sometimes... although what I offer is technically legal, it still draws criticism and I get my ads flagged every so often.

Although with this kind of crap left to flourish (in our Craigslist, just in the last 12 hours or so):

Looking Today for $exy Young Twink

Looking to make some extra cash late tonite. (this one with a pic of his sphincter...)

[Sage Rat]

Isn't nudity the standard for massages? Or do you mean that you--the masseuse--are naked as well?

[Mr. Moto]

Originally Posted by Sage Rat

Isn't nudity the standard for massages? Or do you mean that you--the masseuse--are naked as well?

Masseur.

[ShibbOleth]

Originally Posted by Sage Rat

Bonus info:

Nearly all (~78%) prostitutes begin working as a prostitute while a minor. The average age of entry into prostitution is ~13 years old. Most child prostitutes are runaways or thrownaways (~60%). ~62% were physically abused by a parent, ~61% were molested before becoming a prostitute, with the average age of molestation being 10 years old. 25-35% self-identify as LGBT (compared with something more around ~5% in the general population), which could be evidence that such children are more likely to be thrown away or feel unwelcome at home. Most (?) child prostitutes are drug users. 90% turn to prostitution because there is no other work for minors. Approximately 75% have a pimp.

http://www.123helpme.com/assets/10956.html
http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/CSE...Sum_020220.pdf (PDF)

Your first source cites that "In a recent study based on an analysis of 200 women street prostitutes..."

I'd suggest that it may not be accurate to expand that one study out to those numbers, given the qualifier of "women street prostitutes". Note also that I was unable to find a cite within your cite. The source seems to be someone's essay about prostitution.

I have not had time to review the second cite, which seems a better source.

[Sage Rat]

Actually neither of them seems like a very good source, but it takes an inordinately long period of time to find good data on prostitution on the web, so I got lazy. The basic ideas are probably accurate even if the percentages aren't.

The first paper seems to be a pre-written term paper for students, but contains no bibliography. It might be perfectly well researched, but there's no real way to know.

Originally Posted by Mr. Moto

Masseur.

Interesting. I hadn't known that the occupation of massaging had sex-differentiated titles.

[Rigamarole]

Are you talking only about forced prostitution or prostitution busts in general? It's not a secret that there are lots and lots of prostitutes and houses of prostitution operating more or less openly in the U.S. Enforcement is extremely selective and mainly happens only when there is community / political pressure as well as adequate resources to do so.

When it comes to "forced" prostitution, well that's something I've never seen myself in my "research" so I'll leave that question to others.

[Mr. Slant]

ISTR at least one law enforcement type quoted as saying that permitting operation of a house of ill repute in their area cut down on instances of forcible rape. That may be why Rigamarole is seeing what he's seeing.

[Harriet the Spry]

This report provides a fairly extensive amount of information. It was prepared by academic researchers for a government agency. It contains an extensive bibliography, although it does include a lot of journalistic rather than peer-reviewed references.

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/sex_traff_us.pdf

Here's what they have to say about age: "The majority of international (80%, N=12) and U.S. women (83%, N=22) were drawn into the sex industry, or were victims of other sexually exploitative relationships, before the age of 25.
Twenty percent (N=3) of the international women, and 29 percent (N=7) of the U.S. women were abused in prostitution while they were children (under age 18). Social service providers, advocates and researchers indicated that they knew of girls as young as12-14 who were used in the sex industry."

Of the 112 people they interviewed for the study, 40 worked in the sex industry.

The focus of the study was trafficking, not Craigslist. However, their sample did not only include women whose circumstances met the definition of trafficking.

[Markxxx]

Remember they moved "sweeps" month from February to March this year because of the Digital TV transition (which was moved till June)

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

Enforcement is extremely selective and mainly happens only when there is community / political pressure as well as adequate resources to do so.

In many large city police forces, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. But also it depends on the neighborhood, and the size of LE. If Barbara Streisand holds a big party in the Malibu Hills (technically L.A. Sheriff), with a high volume band or DJ, one complaint can force them to come out and ask them to turn it down--but no one is going to complain, because it's Barbara, after all.

Where I live, the cops are patrolling all over, so if I'm having a party that for someone is too loud, and someone calls, there's always a patrol car a few minutes away.

Go to hell, Barbara Streisand.

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

When it comes to "forced" prostitution, well that's something I've never seen myself in my "research" so I'll leave that question to others.

Well, my only "research" is what I read in the news. It seems to be happening a lot in southern CA; girls who are trafficked into the country illegally get shut up in some place and then are forced into prostitution to pay of the fees of the traffickers.