Craigslist Removes Adult Services Section

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After much political pressure, Craigslist has removed its adult services section under the guise that this will somehow help in the fight against sex trafficking. It won’t. Just like most tactics politicians and law enforcement use to fight sex trafficking this is just another useless one. There will always be other sites and other avenues. In fact, there are many other sites used by the sex work industry (I’m not at all implying that trafficking and sex work are the same thing here, but they are often closely tied together).

We need real solutions to help men, women, and children who are victims of human trafficking of every kind, but that includes focusing more on human rights and less on the seemingly easy solutions offered by politicians up for re-election. These human rights include focusing on the rights of children, women, and the impoverished in all countries as well as sex worker rights.

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About Garnet Joyce

Garnet Joyce

Queer sex educator starting a new adventure with her wife and two cats.

  • Kate McCombs

    I recently took a class on sex work as part of my MPH program, and one of the most interesting things we discussed was about how sex workers themselves are often the most successful in reducing sex trafficking. Within a legal sex work framework, sex workers can be empowered to report on illegal sex work activity that is exploitative and harmful. While I’m sure this does not eliminate all sex trafficking, it certainly seems more effective than taking down craigslist ads.

  • http://twitter.com/foxyfolklorist Jeana Jorgensen

    Excellent post, Garnet… I’m trying to think of any official discussions of sex trafficking that have included language about the sex workers’ rights, and, well, I can’t think of many. This seems to me to be an indication that, as you point out, the issue is often handled in a fashion that spins pretty rhetoric rather than considering the actual human rights at stake.

  • Stiphy31

    Great post….as a staunch supporter of market economies I can’t help but think that what we need is laws that empower sex workers to get the most economically out of a chosen profession rather than laws that create an underground economy where the only protection they have comes from a criminal world filled with injustice.

    Legalize sex work, regulate it, tax it and put 100% of those taxes towards provideig help to those who have problems as a result of their situation and choices. Is this too hard for the rest of America to understand?

    Sean

  • Lalasha

    I totally agree that the consenting adult on craigslist list that are sex works need to be left out of the sex trafficking debate. it just isn’t the same. Sex workers need laws protecting them and it also needs to be legalized.