Is Craigslist the "Napster" of the Sex Industry?
It has come to my attention that despite the best efforts by Craigslist to monitor it's Erotic Services page, it is still used as a vehicle for illegal transactions of sex between underage prostitutes and victims of human trafficking. I find it interesting that while the music industry continues to prosecute everyday consumers for downloading illegal music files, the illegal transaction of human beings runs rampant online.
But before I call Craigslist the "Napster" of the sex industry, I'll walk you through what the site is doing and what it isn't doing when it comes to monitoring the services sold on it's site.
Here are the rules that Craigslist abides by for the erotic services section:
Here is the reason "why" Craiglists has these services on it's site according to it's FAQ page:
Q: Why does craigslist have an "erotic services" category?
A: It was established at the request of craigslist users, who were tired of seeing ads for escort services, sensual massage, adult web cams, phone sex, erotic dancing, adult websites, nude housecleaning, etc mixed into the regular personals and services categories.
Q: Are "erotic services" ads unique to craigslist, or are they common to most classified services?
A: Newspaper classifieds, alternative weeklies, and the telephone yellow pages have featured escort and sensual massage ads similar to those on craigslist for several decades, with 2 significant differences:
- craigslist donates 100% of net revenue from "erotic services" ads to charity, while newspapers and yellow pages make a profitable business out of them.
- craigslist enables its users to flag inappropriate ads for removal, whereas inappropriate print ads cannot be removed.
At first glance, it appears that Craigslist is doing the right thing. In November 2008, the site agreed to require anyone posting ads to the "erotic services" section to submit a working phone number and credit card to the online classified publication after a series of negotiations between Craigslist and 40 state attorneys general. This appears, however, to be a reaction to bad press that the site received when its "dirty little secret" was uncovered about facilitating prostitution.
But what about the remaining 10 states? Are these going to become the wild wild west of the prostitution ring? Are these states going to be a place where vigilant justice rules and women are treated as objects to be traded, sold and beaten when they try to seek a way out?
Clearly, I still have a lot of questions for Craigslist regarding the erotic services section because despite the best efforts, it still serves as an environment for illegal transactions to occur. And while I have seen a huge effort to track down every single person who illegally downloaded music online, I have yet to see this aggressive approach taken with human trafficking and prostitution. Craigslist needs to admit that despite it's best efforts it is still fostering an environment where violence and victimization of women is perpetuated, if not endorsed, when it doesn't effectively patrol it's community.
As Craigslist continues to work with law enforcement to track and arrest pimps and patrons, hopefully it will find new ways to solve the problems at hand, but I do worry that even the best intentions will perpetuate the trend of going after the prostitutes and not the industry itself. While the pimps and prostitutes will find ways around any restrictions on Craigslist and other online mediums used to solicit prostitution such as Myspace, Facebook and Backpage.com, we need to continue to penalize not only those who are posting, but also those who are buying.
Jen Nedeau
Jen Nedeau is a media relations professional and a writer based in New York City.
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