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Posts Tagged ‘Gingerbread House’

I think most of us are shocked to find out that people are actually buying…little girls.  They’re…paying for these girls who are then dressed up…to sell them.  –  Jerry Peyton

Secret Squirrel

Clueless cop claims extending the police state into private homes can “protect” your offspring from “sex trafficking”, when it actuality it creates the sort of oppressive environment teens rebel against or flee from:

[Florida] sheriff Susan Benton is launching a local effort to educate the public…deputies will be making personal visits to local pediatrician offices, hospital emergency rooms, shopping malls and other places frequented by youth, distributing posters and other materials…[about] the ways they may become victims of human trafficking…Some of the tips for parents…include…[knowing] your child’s screen names and passwords…[checking] Internet history and [controlling] sites your children have access to…[and forcing them to sign] a pledge…of their commitment to online safety…

Since when do teens “frequent” hospital ERs and pediatricians’ offices?

Follow Your Bliss

[The] co-founder of a [“sex trafficking” NGO]…is charged with child rape [and] has fled to Nepal…Dhan Pun…is the co-founder, with his wife, of Women’s Prevention and Protection Center Nepal Foundation…[he] is accused of routinely assaulting a teenage relative from 2010 to 2012 while he lived in Seattle…

Finding What Isn’t There

We don’t have any ‘sex trafficking’ cases, but we know they must be around because we have an interstate highway.  End demand!  Children!  Asians!  Backpage!  23 skidoo!”

Even though Batesville is mentioned in the Cincinnati Backpage Report…law enforcement officials say no recent arrests…have been made…The [“trafficking” NGO] director wanted area residents to realize sex trafficking “is a demand-driven situation…[which] only happens because there are customers…who want to pay for commercial sex, sometimes with children”…[a cop] predicted the crime could happen here in the future…“the I-74 corridor creates a lot of our problems”… gem show trafficking foolishness

Broken Record

This may be the most hilariously absurd iteration of the “gypsy whores” myth yet:

A local advocacy group will be using a dramatic display to protest sex trafficking at major Gem, Mineral, and Fossil showcase sites…Jerry Peyton…of Sold No More…said big events like the Gem and Mineral show attracted sex traffickers from around the country into Tucson…To raise awareneness, the group planned to set up a life sized doll box…[containing] a young girl, representing a victim of human trafficking…Beth Jacobs…who was held as a sex slave from age of 16 to 22 said…”pimps” typically took the girls to big events around the country like conventions, and the World series.  Jacobs said events like the Gem and Mineral show brought back some dark memories for her…

Obfuscation Via Dysphemisms

They admit to having no data at all and can’t be bothered to even define the crime, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to increase the penalties and condemn even more people to the barbaric “sex offender” registry:

…Oklahoma…lawmakers have introduced about a dozen bills that were drafted by the Bureau of Narcotics.  Among other things, they would…increase prison time for human trafficking and require those convicted…to register as sex offenders…Oklahoma’s problem with human trafficking stems partly from its location at the crossing of several major interstates, but…there is little or no data…because it’s not a crime easily tracked and is severely underreported because victims fear retaliation…

Letting cops write the laws; what could possibly go wrong?

Learning Curve

Here’s the meat of a story you may have heard just after the Super Bowl:

…A 10-month investigation that targeted sex trafficking at Super Bowl XLVIII resulted in the rescue of 25 child prostitutes and the arrest of roughly 45 “pimps”…in New Jersey, federal investigators said…investigators did not find any links between the traffickers and organized crime.  Most of the suspects were either members of trafficking rings who traveled to New Jersey…or offenders who normally operate in the area…

Look at it carefully:  this had nothing to do with the Super Bowl or “trafficking”.  It’s just a harvest of local small-time pimps the cops knew about since last April (“travelled to New Jersey” is meaningless in an area where four states are so close together one could drive through all of them in a couple of hours), but saved until game time to shore up a lucrative but crumbling myth.

Texas Tall Tales (TW3 #310)

A megalomaniac imagines that her new social media site will not only wipe out all others, but also create a universal surveillance state in which nobody can ever hide from Big Brother…and that this would be a good thing:

…on…social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Instagram and Twitter…girls are being lured with photos and videos describing a life of luxury and once tempted, threatened into prostitution by gang members…“pimps” or “panderers” use social media sites…to reach out to potential victims…hide behind a false persona…and no one may be the wiser until it is too late…As Flocks.com becomes integrated into school systems nationwide, hiding behind a false profile or impersonating someone else will be a thing of the past…

The Widening Gyre (TW3 #314) Amy Hamilton trafficking hoax

A poster appealing for help finding “missing” six-year-old girl Amy Hamilton has been shared thousands of times on social media – despite being a racist hoax by…the…group Britons against Left-Wing Extremism (BALE)…the Croydon Advertiser revealed that there was no Amy Hamilton, and that Daily Bale editor Steven Sodholmy believed he was “raising awareness… about the harsh reality of Asian grooming gangs”…

Original Sin (TW3 #321)

Laila Mickelwait…of…Exodus Cry…was the keynote speaker at this year’s Celebrating Life Unity Breakfast…sponsored by the Pro-Family pillar of Patriots United at D’Andrea Banquets in Crystal Lake [Illinois]…“To abolish (trafficking), we have to abolish prostitution and we have to abolish porn,” she said…

Gingerbread House (TW3 #332)

Gee, d’you think?

…One new [Florida] idea is a proposition mandating that rescued victims from sex trafficking be involuntarily admitted to the hospital…Some, however, believe…this…will do more harm than good.  Lawanda Ravoira…of the Weaver Policy Center…said…this…could “have serious unintended consequences”…

A Tale That Grew in the Telling (TW3 #336)

Because there aren’t enough real “child sex trafficking victims” to go around, the fetishists often have to make do with “hypothetical” ones:  “14-year-old Jenna was the first to speak…following a presentation of The Making of a Girl, an intimate…video journey of a hypothetical preteen girl as she faces a life of sexual exploitation.  Jenna spoke of a smooth-talking sex trafficker who would lure…children into a life on the street…”  Except that her own story gives the lie to that:  nobody “lured” her away from home, because she admits to running away by her own volition.  And here’s another one entitled “International Boulevard”, which breathlessly informs us that “girls as young as 8 years old and younger are being trafficked into the sex trade industry.  Here in the U.S., between 300,000 and 400,000 children are at risk every day.”  How long before we hear “300,000 8-year-olds a day are trafficked”?  Oh, and Oakland is “ground zero” for “child sex trafficking”; I’ll count that as a “King of the Hill” entry.

A Tale That Grew in the Telling (TW3 #339)

The Daily Fail is trying to close the gap from the now-typical “50 clients per day” to Sunitha Krishnan’s high-lunacy mark of 100:  “…Carmen…was forced into sex slavery at…14…the depraved pimp forced her to have sex with as many as 60 men in one day…

Innocence Never Had

pizza girl

The language would-be “rescuers” use to describe arrested sex workers is very instructive:

Efforts are underway to open [Louisiana’s] first rehabilitation home for underage, female sex trafficking victims…Beth Salcedo, the director of…the future “Free Indeed Home”…said…“We want to be able to…watch them transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly…From a piece of coal…to a diamond”…the Salcedos want to raise awareness of…the fact that children anywhere can be snatched into sex slavery…by meeting strangers…through the Internet.  “You can get a little girl now quicker than you can get a pizza”…

The “pizza” meme may end up being the funniest one of the entire hysteria.

King of the Hill (TW3 #347)

Though the media is still woefully credulous regarding most “sex trafficking” mythology, a few slightly-less-yellow journalists are beginning to question the more obviously-absurd claims:

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn recently…said…”25% of human trafficking victims are located in Texas”…a spokeswoman…told us…that the senator relied on an undated “fact sheet” from the…Concerned Women of America…attributing [the claim]…to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services…An…official [from “trafficking” NGO Children At Risk tried to justify the lie with bullshit, while another claimed that] states [other than Texas] are under-estimating trafficking victims…All told, this claim shakes out as incorrect and ridiculous. Pants on Fire!

It’s That Time Again (TW3 #348)

The detachment of these people from reality is truly astonishing:

…as Minnesota is making its own bid for a Super Bowl, Sen. Amy Klobuchar wants the NFL to consider…efforts to thwart the sex trafficking of minors that often accompany such major events…In a recent meeting with senior NFL officials, Klobuchar…was joined by Cindy McCain…who…thinks the NFL should make strong anti-trafficking laws a criterion for any city getting the Super Bowl…The acceptance of prostitution is somewhat ingrained in the United States, said Lauren Martin…[of] the University of Minnesota…“We have hundreds of years of cultural experience that this is a victimless crime between two consenting adults,” Martin said…

Yes, she’s claiming that the only major Western country which directly criminalizes the sale of sex, and probably has the most anti-whore pogroms of any country, has an “ingrained acceptance of prostitution.”

Under Every Bed (TW3 #350)

Nationalized media:  promoting the official narrative, one sensationalized tale at a time:

…the Bakken oil field…workforce is well-paid and…predominantly male.  Ask people who live there, and it doesn’t take long before you start hearing about a rise in prostitution…Scan the North Dakota section of…Backpage.com and you’ll find pages of postings from female escorts…Bryan Lockerby…of…the Montana Department of Justice…says…”Seventy percent of the women that have gotten into prostitution started at the age of 13 to 14, when they were recruited by pimps”…

Because the idea that women can choose to migrate for good money just like men can is abhorrent to weak, insecure men like Lockerby; the “pimp” narrative helps them pretend men are always in control of sex.

Traffic Jam (TW3 #403) Dominique Roe-Sepowitz

There’s some creepy stuff buried in this otherwise-typical “gypsy whores” idiocy:

…the…organized sex trade…can range from a handful of pimps working together to major cartels trafficking women across several states, according to Dominique Roe-Sepowitz…major gangs are known to be deeply involved…keeping the women moving is a common tactic to avoid law enforcement, said Roe-Sepowitz…Super Bowls are an especially lucrative stopping point…Praescient will be using a data analytics platform initially funded by the Central Intelligence Agency…[which] can collate large volumes of data…and identify relationships that a human analyst might miss…

Step 1:  Pretend sex workers are always controlled by “gangs”, “pimps”, etc.  Step 2:  Pretend that touring is “trafficking” and motivated by the desire to “avoid law enforcement” instead of straightforward economic motives.  Step 3:  Find an ethically-bankrupt academic to invent “research” to support it.  Step 4:  Use spook-designed surveillance to round up sex workers for looting and permanent consignment to the growing underclass.  Step 5:  Cash in.

O, Canada! (TW3 #405)

Organizations representing sex workers throughout the country are condemning a recent police operation targeting human trafficking, contending that it will drive the sex trade further underground and away from safety.  On Jan. 22 and Jan. 23…police…across Canada participated in Operation Northern Spotlight…Several sex worker organizations — Big Susie’s, Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), Sex Workers Action Group Kingston, Stepping Stone, Maggie’s:  The Toronto Sex Workers Action Group and Stella, l’amie de Maimie — released a joint statement on Jan. 29 denouncing “police activities that use deception and intimidation”…officers posed as clients to book appointments with indoor sex workers.  Several officers then showed up at the workers’ doors, demanding entry…Once inside, officers “bombard” the workers with personal questions and search the premises…

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I am writing this on my phone, for the living and the dead.  –  Jemima

Rough Trade Daniel-Nicolae Ilie

A man who raped a prostitute…has been jailed for [forty] months.  Daniel-Nicolae Ilie…paid £20 for sex…[but] when she refused his demands for further sexual acts, he attacked her…Judge Horton said…”A sex worker, like any other woman in this country, is entitled to her consent”…

The Red Umbrella

As usual, there were a number of articles for the December 17th observance, but for me four really stood out.  In the first, Siouxsie Q interviewed Dr. Annie Sprinkle, who first conceived of the idea; then UK politician James Shaddock published “As Liberals, We Must Stand Up for Sex Workers”; Jemima wrote a powerful poem called “For the Living and the Dead”; and the Global Network of Sex Work Projects released its new consensus statement, “On Sex Work, Human Rights and the Law”.

Ashley Madison

A [North Carolina] man blames the breakup of his marriage not only on the other guy, but also on the online infidelity service that he says made it happen…Robert Schindler…is suing her alleged partner…along with Ashley Madison…alienation of affection…laws have survived numerous efforts…to repeal them, and in recent years they have led to million-dollar judgments for wronged spouses…

Subtle Pimping

Another person who profited from whore stereotypes without consulting us or giving us any support in return:

Patricia Adler…[announced] that she would be leaving her tenured position teaching sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder…[after] officials told her that one of the highlights of [her] course…had to go.  That is an annual lecture on prostitution…to illustrate that status stratification occurs in various groups considered deviant by society.  She seeks volunteers from among…teaching assistants…to dress up as various kinds of prostitutes — she named as categories “slave whores, crack whores, bar whores, streetwalkers, brothel workers and escort services.”  They work with Adler on scripts in which they describe their lives as these types of prostitutes…

The Leading Players in the Field, Not

Mira Sorvino is VEWWY SEWIOUSWhen CNN wants a “human trafficking expert”, you can be sure they won’t call on anyone who’s actually studied migration or sex work or anything; no, it’s always a has-been actress trying to reinvent herself as a “human rights champion”, accompanied by (usually religious) rescue industry types.  You may also be sure nobody’s going to even acknowledge the existence of any local activists, because otherwise we’d be cheated of a white savior’s journey into the Heart of Darkness, complete with serious-faced selfie.

Peeping Toms

A federal judge…in Utah ruled portions of the state’s anti-polygamy law unconstitutional…polygamists in Utah can’t apply for multiple marriage licenses, but neither can they be prohibited from living together as…husband and wives…The case was brought to court by Kody Brown…whose family is featured in TLC’s Sister Wives

Setting Women’s Rights Back a Century

Cathy Young published an excellent article on “How the government encourages kangaroo courts for sex crimes on campus”; it covers not only material from the above-linked column, but also topics explored in “Lower Education”, “False Target” and several other essays.  Definitely worth reading in its entirety.

The Crumbling Dam

The Canadian Supreme Court will announce its final decision in Bedford vs. Canada today; some have speculated that the timing may indicate that it will not be to the government’s liking.  Here’s law professor Kyle Kirkup:

…In 1967, the Supreme Court upheld a decision placing a man in indefinite detention after he was convicted of sodomy and deemed to be an “incurable homosexual.”  In 1969, largely in response to the decision, the federal government…decriminalized sodomy…Forty-six years after the decision, it is safe to say that the…Court…was on the wrong side of history.  Last week, the Supreme Court of India was widely criticized for upholding a similar law criminalizing gay sex…history will not be kind to the decision…the Supreme Court of Canada…has the opportunity to focus its analysis on the harms caused by…criminalization…instead of sending messages about good sex and bad sex.  What side of history will the Court be on?…

UPDATE:  The court was on the right side of history.  Unfortunately Parliament may not want to be this time…

The Law of Averages

A whole convention full of trafficking loonies in the formerly somewhat-sane Rhode Island gathered to swap disinformation, including ridiculous nonsense about pimped streetwalkers working out of strip clubs.  The writer pretends to have done research by explaining that “the average age of a child forced into prostitution is 12,  according to the U.S. Department of Justice…other studies place the age range at 12-15 years old.”  Of course, no study says anything of the kind, and the official DoJ study on the subjectThe Ladies of Trade Town put the average underage sex worker’s debut at roughly the same age found by every other study – about 16.

Presents, Presents, Presents!

I’ve received a number of presents in the past two weeks.  Sasha Castel sent me Strapless, a lovely scarf, some perfume and an Australian chocolate bar; Sailor Barsoom sent The Ladies of Trade Town; Eddie JC1 sent The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 1 and The Lurker in the Lobby, and Krulac sent Family Christmas.  Thank you all so very much!

Gingerbread House

The Alameda County [California] Juvenile Hall is…creating a girl’s camp for victims of sexual exploitation…Esa Ehmen-Krause, the deputy chief probation officer…says the plan is to convert some vacant detention units into a safe harbor…[by retrofitting] the space to make it feel comfortable…But [advocate Venus] Rodriguez…[asks] if the goal is to teach girls about healthy relationships and how to live independently…“How does that work in a lock up facility?”…

Unclean Situation

More on Ireland’s inbred prohibitionist cabal:

The Turn Off The Red Light (TORL) political campaign…is led by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), who are funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.  ICI have received $5,903,868…so far.  13 other TORL organisations have…received a whopping $40,710,493…in total…the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) which have provided TORL with extensive pro bono legal advice…have had $10,419,298…Ireland’s human rights organisations have fallen silent on the issue of further criminalisation of sex work…It turns out they are all funded by Atlantic Philanthropies also…a total of $17,762,683 between them…In Harm's Way cover

Long Spoon

The long-awaited call for decriminalization by Human Rights Watch has arrived, in a report on rampant human rights abuses committed by Louisiana “authorities”:

Louisiana state laws and practices that prohibit access to sterile syringes and criminalize sex work contribute to an uncontrolled HIV epidemic and an extremely high AIDS death rate, Human Rights Watch said…New Orleans police regularly interfere with sex workers who carry condoms, putting them and their clients at risk of HIV…“In Harm’s Way:  State Response to Sex Workers, Drug Users, and HIV in New Orleans” documents government…abuses of at-risk populations in New Orleans.  It calls for changes in state and local laws and policies that stigmatize, discriminate against, and facilitate police abuse of sex workers and drug users, and interfere with health services…

Rough Trade (TW3 #337)

California officials voted…to overturn a discriminatory rule that prevented sex workers who are physically or sexually assaulted from receiving money from a special victim compensation fund intended to help the victims of violent crimes…sex workers will now be eligible for state assistance to pay for medical and related expenses they incur as a result of the assault.  Members of the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board said they were compelled to change the “repugnant” rule after hearing the testimony of sex workers who have been assaulted and left without recourse or support following the crime…

Sex Rays

It isn’t only children who are harmed by sex rays; infantilized women are too!

Lap dancing club plans for Doncaster…have been rejected following serious concerns about the possible effect on the sensitive work carried out at a neighbouring women’s centre…[“authorities”] said the venue would…alter the perception of vulnerable women, significantly harming the service the centre provides…

Here’s a previously unknown property of sex rays; they “alter perception”, presumably like LSD.

The Course of a Disease (TW3 #349)

Melissa Gira Grant on a pro-Swedish model New York Times editorial:

…The alternative the Times offers?  Sex workers should instead be treated as “victims,” which the editorial claims can be accomplished by increasing criminal penalties against their customers.  But there’s no evidence, in the editorial or elsewhere, to support that assertion …[and] leading global health and human rights organizations have …condemned that approach, as have sex workers themselves.  Passing stronger laws against buying sex and treating sex workers as victims does nothing to actually protect [their] health, safety, or rights…and only perpetuates a system in which sex workers are endangered by the police.  The proposed French law introduces new penalties for activities related to buying and selling sex, only one of which is the highly publicized “fines for johns.”  The law is quite broad, and targets many more people who are involved in the sex trade than customers…Sex Workers Unite

Dr. Melinda Chateauvert also comments on both the New York Times article and the French law in this interview introducing her new book, Sex Workers Unite.  Meanwhile, the pending law has emboldened anti-whore fanatics:  “Forty people rallied…on the road between Beziers and [Nissan-lez-Ensérune]…to drive prostitutes out of their sight…they chased prostitutes until dusk…[in order to] prevent them from working…

Dutch Threat (TW3 #349)

A company set up to run brothels in Utrecht has applied…to set up a pension fund…The company, named Freya, says footballers and prostitutes both do heavy work and so should be treated equally in terms of pensions.  Footballers can save up to €5,000 tax free a month to put into a pension fund for when they are no longer physically able to play.  Prostitutes should be given the same rights to do this, [said] board member and lawyer Wil Post…

Hard Numbers (TW3 #349)

All you need to know about this Australian example of yellow journalism is its overlong title:  “Girls kidnapped by drug gangs and sold as sex slaves to cash in on the 2014 FIFA World Cup”.  Here’s the truth, courtesy of Dr. Thaddeus Blanchette’s commentary on a nearly-identical Time article:

…Fortaleza, one of the host cities of the World Cup, currently has open twenty cases of underaged prostitution (six of which involve foreigners) and TWO THOUSAND cases of sexual exploitation of children that have nothing to do with prostitution or tourism…in ten years of work researching Rio de Janeiro’s brothels…I have not encountered a single child prostitute.  Frequent police raids on these establishments also generally come up a cropper.  There are a few cases, of course, but I can count them on the fingers of one hand, from over a ten year period.  Where, then, are these legions of child prostitutes?  If the police and I and my co-researcher, Dra. Ana Paula da Silva, can’t find more than a handful in all the hundreds of commercial sex venues in Rio de Janeiro…where are these kids?…apocalyptic claims that the invasion of legions of sports fans would lead to an increase in prostitution…have NEVER been substantiated:  in fact, they’ve been consistently debunked…

Whatever They Need To Say (TW3 #350)

Sex workers in London’s Soho had their doors kicked in by riot police…[who] brought along journalists to photograph cowering women who were desperately trying to cover their faces…Working flats have been closed, throwing women out on to the street…migrant workers…were taken away…for compulsory “counselling”…and…removal from the UK, despite protesting that they were not trafficked victims…Kay Thi Win, a sex worker in Burma, has said:  “We live in daily fear of being ‘rescued’…[by] police, who break into our workplaces and beat us, rape us and kidnap our children in order to save us”…

Number Puzzle (TW3 #350) the alert Mary Honeyball

Tim Worstall replies to European politician Mary Honeyball’s claims of “growing disillusionment in places where [prostitution] has been legalized”:  “No, there is not growing support for such a framework.  You’re lying…[prohibitionists] are…wildly lying…There simply isn’t any evidence that ‘sex slavery’ is anything other than an appalling and vile and very rare indeed crime…

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Today, the aim seems to be [a] Starbucks…city…a commodity instead of a living breathing place to live and work.  –  Jemima Hobby

sex141Safe Targets

…As Hong Kong law criminalizes [advertising and “living on avails”, sex workers] cannot run…individual websites and are exploited by those who are capable of running sexual service promotion sites overseasThere are three major porn sites in Hong Kong, with sex141 being the most active…it…allows sex workers to publish ads [and also] offers a forum…Yet sex141 wants to extract more from the sex workers in addition to their monthly ads fee.  [A sex worker called] Miss Ho…[explained] “Money-Drop Review”…a recently added feature…[which] encourages members to write bad reviews…[for which they need not] offer proof…“It costs $200 to delete a bad review.  If the smeared sex worker was not a paid member of sex141, she has to pay 1,300 HK dollars [about 180 US dollars] to become a member, and another 1,000 HK dollars [about 130 US dollars] for FeiLung [a ghostwriter recommended by the website] to write three good reviews in order to maintain a positive image and business”…

Something Rotten in Sweden

Meet the new and improved version of the Mann Act:

U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill to strengthen federal laws against child sex trafficking…Members of Congress say arresting and prosecuting pimps is not enough, that those who pay to have sex with children must also face federal penalties…The End Sex Trafficking Act of 2013 mandates that those who seek sex with children will be prosecuted under federal law, which comes into play when there is trafficking activity across more than one state…

If the final language really is this vague – “those who seek sex with children will be prosecuted under federal law” – this Act will essentially overturn all state age of consent laws because federal law defines anyone below 18 as a “child”.

Between the Ears

Dear Family Research Council:  More sex ≠ better sex; “feeling loved” during intercourse ≠ better sex; buying sexy underwear ≠ better sex; not knowing what good sex is ≠ better sex…see the pattern yet?

Devout, married Catholics have the best sex of any demographic group, the Family Research Council said…pointing to…statistics from the University of Chicago’s last National Health and Social Life Survey, conducted in 1992, which found the most enjoyable and most frequent sex occurring among married people, those who attended church weekly – any church, whether Catholic or not – and people who had the least sexual partners…[FRC fellow Patrick] Fagan said it was clear “those who are monogamous have the best sex they ever could – because its [sic] the only sex they’ll ever know”…68 percent of Catholics professed to have sex at least once a week versus 56 percent of non-Catholics; 30 percent of Catholics had bought erotic underwear versus 20 percent non-Catholics; and 80 percent of devout Catholic women approved of having sex for pleasure alone…the Family Research Council…also cautioned…of the possible negative effects of enjoying sex outside of marriage, or of watching porn…

Those “negative effects of porn” include sharp decreases in the rate of rape, divorce, abortion, sex crimes against children, teen pregnancy and domestic violence.Chinese judge scandal

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Two top Shanghai judges and another court official caught on a videotape apparently taking prostitutes to hotel rooms after dining with a contractor have been stripped of Communist Party membership and will likely lose their jobs…[an official] statement did not clarify whether the contractor paid for prostitutes, but party rules forbid both involvement in prostitution and accepting bribes…Whistleblowers in China run the risk of retribution from powerful officials…[but] the man who leaked the hotel videos…has appeared to face no repercussions from his actions so far…

Meanwhile, in another police state where whistleblowers run the risk of retribution from powerful officials:  “A high-ranking priest with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is facing a prostitution charge…the Rev. Arthur Coyle…was arrested just after 5 p.m. Sunday after he was allegedly found with a prostitute behind a Lowell cemetery…

The Pro-Rape Coalition

My former co-guest blogger Drew Johnson was recently fired from the Chattanooga Free Press for doing the job they hired him to do, namely stating his opinions.  The week before, they had declined to print his editorial telling the truth about porn:

A miracle product exists that is responsible for dramatically reducing the number of rapes and sexual assaults in America.  This invention has even contributed to lower divorce and teen pregnancy rates.  Even though this invention has proven so beneficial, millions of Americans want to…eliminate it…because the thing…producing a safer, more family-friendly society, is…low or no-cost, high quality online pornography…

Parable

Jemima imagines what it would be like if all workers were prohibited from interacting with each other in the name of “protecting them from exploitation” as sex workers are in many legalization regimes:

…When the law on non-contact of workers came out it had been much harder to not accidentally look at others on the commute to the office.  Now there were a whole range of blinkers…was everyone really safer this way?  The argument had been: if no one could interact and if the cameras could zoom in on anyone who broke the law, then assaults and rapes would be almost impossible.  All interaction with other people could be done safely over skype or by phone, and thus women were protected…Opium

Presents, Presents, Presents!

This week I received a large bottle of my very favorite perfume, Opium, courtesy of Nevada Cody; thank you so much not just for the present, but also for tracking it down when it got lost en route!

Scientific Detachment

The sexual climax gives the whole brain a good workout…Professor Barry Komisaruk said.  The sensation can…block pain and…depression, anxiety and addiction could also benefit if scientists can harness the…mechanism in the brain that produces orgasm and put it to other uses…The 72-year-old US researcher has been studying female sexual pleasure since the 1960s, beginning his experiments on rats before moving on to women in 1982…Prof Komisaruk has reached his conclusions after studying female volunteers…[who] lie in a…magnetic resonance imaging machine and achieve orgasm despite the clinical surroundings…

Broken Record

Did the fake ad actually state “I am 13”, or did they simply use pictures of mature-looking girls who were (supposedly) that age when photographed?

Seven men have been arrested as part of an undercover sex sting during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally…[using fake] ads for 12 and 13-year-old girls on Craigslist and Backpage.com…“When there are these large kind of gatherings…it makes it ripe for trafficking, prostitution, exploitation to take place,” [said] Susan Omanson…[of] Be Free Ministries…

Gingerbread House

A child sex trafficking victim…was raped just days after being sent to a newly opened Miami “safe house”…[which] quietly closed after the April assault and child advocates say they are now rethinking their plans to house trafficking victims together in an unsecure group home setting…

“Unsecure” means the inmates aren’t locked in cages.  So “rethinking” that means…well, here, let’s allow the “authorities” to spell it out for you:

…the [FBI] boasted that “Operation Cross Country” had successfully rescued 105…children…but the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children…says that some of those rescued children may now end up behind bars.  “If there is nowhere to hold them, and nowhere safe for them to go, law enforcement has no alternative,” says Staca Shehan…”If they aren’t placed in a juvenile detention facility, the child could run back to the prostitution scenario.”  To avoid this, police charge the children with prostitution…

Little Boxes (TW3 #44)

Catarina MiglioriniCatarina Migliorini, who auctioned off her virginity for $780,000, now claims that she was “tricked and exploited”, that she’s still a virgin, and that the Japanese millionaire who won the auction “didn’t look like” a Japanese millionaire.  This “HuffPost Live” segment is short on actual content, but does have one interesting feature: the male host shooting down his female co-host’s suggestion that selling one’s virginity is something “unfortunate” that “people are resorting to”.

Obfuscation via Dysphemisms (TW3 #319)

Presumably, the cops wanted her to snitch on the girl instead:

…Alaina Paige Lamecker…allegedly introduced [a Tulsa cop] to a 14-year-old girl…and worked out an agreement for the two to engage in a sex act in exchange for $120…She was booked…[for] human trafficking and soliciting prostitution within a 1,000 feet of a church…

Sleeping With the Enemy

Though Russia’s not officially Marxist any more, three generations of anti-whore propaganda are not quickly overcome:

Human rights activists in St. Petersburg have decided to take Russia’s Justice Ministry to court, after its officials refused to register a non-profit partnership of sex workers…Prostitution is illegal [and punishable by imprisonment for up to eight years]…and according to rough estimates of the…Health Ministry, up to one million people are involved…Serebryanaya Roza (Silver Rose)…[says] the numbers…are much bigger – about three million…Irina Maslova…head…[of] this movement…feels that on the basis of the human right to privacy, protected by the Constitution, prostitution can be removed from the list of criminal trades, and people can become masters of their own bodies…the experts often agree with the Serebryanaya Roza…criminal psychiatrist Mikhail Vinogradov…explains…[that] the sex industry is a normal characteristic of any society…

Rubbing Elbows

Joyce Arthur writes about her impressions of the Desiree conference and the fight to overturn Canada’s anti-prostitution laws:

…A diverse cross-section of the sex work industry was…represented…[as well as] academics, lawyers, writers, health-care workers, and activists…Many Americans I spoke to…were quite envious of Canada’s situation, especially in regards to our recent Supreme Court challenge…another difference is that Canada’s sex worker movement enjoys the public support of social service and health agencies…[which] are critical for gaining broader public support and reducing stigma…

And Tizzy Wall’s recap said such very nice things:

No matter how many clients I have charmed the pants off of…there is nothing as nerve-wracking as walking into a room of fellow adult entertainers…finding myself face-to-face with brilliant activists, entertainers, and writers like Miss Major, Kristen DiAngeloStacey SwimmeMaggie McNeill, and Emi Koyama was almost too intimidating to consider.  On occasion, my tongue swelled and a stammer developed as I faced these heroes in real life.  Turns out, though, that all of these people are so approachable and kind that it is hard to feel intimidated for very long…

Election Day (TW3 #330)Kristin Davis again

As regular readers know, I have no love or trust for Kristin Davis; however, I have far less of both for the FBI, and the timing of this stinks on ice:

Kristin Davis, a candidate for New York City comptroller…has been arrested on charges of selling prescription painkillers…according to federal officials, Davis allegedly sold hundreds of pills, including oxycodone, for Ecstasy and cash.  Adderall and Xanax were also involved in the transactions, prosecutors said.  Davis, 38, was charged with four counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance.  Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison…

The Mote and the Beam (TW3 #331)

Florida officials support a campaign to give them more power; what a surprise!  “Adding just two words to one of the nation’s first online laws might step up the war against prostitutes, pimps and child sex traffickers…police and prosecutors in nearly every state…are calling on Congress to amend the Communications Decency Act of 1996 so state laws can be used to bring charges against websites such as Backpage…”  Ken White explains why this would be a spectacularly bad idea:

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act…is crucial to freedom of expression on the internet.  It gives broad immunity (with the exception of copyright and federal criminal law) to blogs, forums, news services, and other web sites for…content left by visitors.  Thanks to Section 230, I can’t be sued for what you say in the comments to this post…several Attorneys General want to weaken Section 230 to create an exception for any federal or state statute.  Their justification, not surprisingly, is Think of the Children! — specifically, the children who are victims of sex trafficking…What could possibly go wrong?…

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The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.  –  Eric Hoffer

Celebrities

I’m very glad I never had this kind of celebrity as a client:

…[a] woman [called] Tiffany told TMZ she had “no issues” with [accused Aurora spree killer James] Holmes…”He was really nice…He felt bad that I wasn’t getting more customers while in Colorado, so he called a few days later and we met up again”

Hooker Humor

I could just as well have filed this one as “The More the Better”:

…Miranda Kane is…telling her tales of life as an escort…“My past career was comedy – I am just new to standing up and telling people about it,” she said.  The 31-year-old certainly has enough material to draw from for Coin Operated Girl…“I was really big – about 25 stone – and I was never without a date,” she explains.  But it would never go further than just one night.  “For men, it is like riding a moped.  You really want to ride one but you would be embarrassed if your friends saw you”…when the recession hit – which led to the market being flooded with women offering similar services – combined with a loss of weight, she decided it was time for a career change…it is not just the chance to hear a modern take on the world’s oldest career which should bring people through the doors, but the chance to save a bit of money…“It’s £145 cheaper an hour than my normal rate,” she smiles.  Coin Operated Girl at the Camden People’s Theatre from Monday, August 6, until Wednesday, August 8, at 9pm…

O, Canada!

Though increasing numbers of Canadians support decriminalization, many Canadian politicians are just as disgusting and dishonest as their American brethren:

The war against human traffickers that prey on our youth is now out in the open.  Those profiting from the recruitment of…women and girls into the sex trade…[are] targeting Canadian high school students since they can no longer import young women from abroad to sexually exploit…Many of these victims are terrified to talk about the reality of their experiences, and are effectively muzzled by coaching, manipulation and abuse…All around the globe…women and girls are forced into…the sex industry through coercion, threats, deception, or fraud…The average age of entry into prostitution in Canada is between 12 and 14 years of age.  It’s impossible to believe that these young girls and boys are making a rational choice to sell their bodies to 20-40 men a night…Canadians must send a strong message to the pimps…that our children will not be bought or sold.

It’s good to see the claims of these fanatics growing ever more extreme, bizarre and impossible; when the hysteria is over their fall will be that much harder.

HIV-Positive Man Cured in Berlin

Two men…[with] HIV and cancer have been seemingly cleared of the virus…more than two years after receiving bone marrow transplants, HIV can’t be detected anywhere in their bodies.  These two new cases are reminiscent of the so-called “Berlin patient,” the only person known to have been cured of [HIV] infection…Both men…endured…treatment for lymphoma, both had stem cell treatments and both had stayed on their HIV drugs throughout… The donor cells, it appears, killed off and replaced the infected cells.  And the HIV drugs protected the donor cells while they did it…

For Those Who Think Legalization is a Good Idea

When will people learn that governments’ use of laws always exceeds the stated purpose of those laws?

Four sex workers from [New Delhi]…have challenged a government eviction order…”There is thus no legislative guidance on the implementation of [the anti-brothel law, so]…absolute discretion is vested on the police administration…[which] has resulted in arbitrariness in action and abuse of power and authority”…the women claimed that they had been staying in the area for decades and not involved in business of running any brothel…”The act never intended to penalise prostitution per se, except in public places…but aimed at curbing…organised prostitution,” the petition said…

Counterfeit Comfort

People are condemned to the “sex offender” registry for many trivial offenses or things that shouldn’t even be crimes, but this is Kafkaesque even by those standards:

In May 2007, my husband and I were asked to assist an acquaintance in putting down a 14-year-old dog…the [owner’s] teenaged daughter…protested the plan vehemently…the day before the planned euthanasia, [police said] the girl had accused him of touching her…since [then] we’ve been fighting a legal system that, without notice, has curtailed our ability to travel, to obtain life insurance, even to petition for redress…police needed no corroboration for the charge; the accusation alone was sufficient, and jail time…was expected…a private investigator…proved the accuser wrong.  But…with a minor, it’s all inadmissible…the county [said it] would accept a no-contest plea, but that my husband would still be a registered sex offender for at least 10 years and possibly for the rest of his life.  If he didn’t take it, a court date would be set in five to six months, and some jail time would be expected.  We were given five minutes to decide.  My husband pleaded no contest…

Since then, the Devoys have had to endure constantly-escalating registration requirements and finally started an organization called Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia.

Surplus Women

This happened three years ago, but was called to my attention by Krulac last week; just imagine the uproar if he had said “woman” instead of “hooker”.  But you know, NHI and all.

See No Evil

The sick American mind at work again, seeing sex where it isn’t and imagining that pictures are magically dangerous to their subjects:

…Lauren Ferrari posted a photo on Facebook of her 5-year-old pretending to nurse her 2-year-old.  Within 24 hours, Facebook took the picture down…Stefanie Thomas of the Seattle Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children…[opined] that Ferrari’s decision to post the photo was “poor parenting” because it’s impossible to control where that photo might end up…it wasn’t the first time the site has deleted photos of young girls pretending to breastfeed…Last summer…[alarmists] were outraged [about a nursing doll they claimed]…sexualizes children…Tessa Blake…  [argues] it is natural for girls to mimic their moms.  “My daughter has been lifting up her shirt and ‘nursing’ her babies for years.  Are you suggesting this is shameful?  What if she feeds her doll with a bottle?  Is she not being a kid then, or is it just the breast that’s the problem?” Blake asked…


Presents, Presents, Presents!

A big “thank you” to regular reader Pat Murphy, who sent me a copy of Ronald Weitzer’s new book Legalizing Prostitution.  I still don’t know the screen name or contact info of the reader who sent me Prince of Darkness, so whoever it was please let me know!

The Course of a Disease

Though few politicians support it, “sex trafficking” fetishists have succeeded in exposing Denmark to the Swedish rot.  Sex worker advocates there are reasonably confident that it hasn’t a chance, so what makes this article notable is the reporter’s attitude:

…despite a report from Norway showing that making it illegal to buy sex in that country…has not resulted in a decrease the number of sex workers…[and has made them] the victims of more violence…[a] parliamentary group…remains focused on criminalising the sex for hire business…”Making it illegal to be a john is a baseless ideological process,” [said] Christian Groes-Green, an assistant professor at Roskilde University…”If they are having problems dealing with real political issues, bringing back the sex debate is just good politics”…

Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs

Sri Lanka police will conduct surprise raids on hotels and guest houses in the country to detect whether underage children are used for prostitution and other sexual acts…”  Because, hey, who cares about property rights and tourists’ privacy?  It’s for the children!

Prudish Pedants

In the UK as in the US, some porn is arbitrarily deemed illegal due to a vague and wavering line; in Britain it’s “extreme pornography”, defined as “grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character” or if it portrays “an act which results, or is likely to result, in serious injury to a person’s anus, breasts or genitals”:

…the Crown Prosecution Service…[argues] that images of fisting should be classified as “extreme pornography” with the risk to the defendant of three years in custody [and] inclusion on the sex offenders’ register…for [an] image…of [a legal] activity…the Prosecution must prove that the act of fisting is “likely to result in serious injury to a person’s anus”…Before being arrested and charged with these offences, Simon [Walsh] was a successful professional and politician…who, amongst other things, prosecuted police officers accused of disciplinary offences.  After being charged, Simon lost both professional and political positions, despite the fact that no pornography was found on any of his work…[or] home computers…the police had to “interrogate” Simon’s personal email account (server) in order to discover a few images they deemed questionable.  This…contaminated the only source of evidence; making it impossible to identify whether images attached to emails had in fact been opened and viewed…

Note the emphasized line, especially in light of the fact that the images were in an incoming email and may not have been opened.  In other words, it’s highly likely that the police simply sent the images to him, then pretended to “find” the “evidence” as they do with planted drugs.

Whorearchy

Only other peoples’ kind of sex work is bad!  Ours isn’t even sexual!

The owner of a Saskatoon exotic dancing business [argues that]…the new…licensing bylaw for adult services…is discriminatory.  “We provide entertainment, not sexual favours,” said Bella Kaje, owner of KJ’s Party Favors…”I don’t like what they’re categorizing us with…and…these obscene amounts (for a licence) is more…discrimination” …An adult service agency licence…will cost $500 [plus] $200 for each renewal…[then] $250, plus $100 for each renewal, for [each] performer…[or employee, including] drivers and receptionists…

Meanwhile, across the pond:  “Council officials say they will check up on a new ‘tantric temple’ centre which offers clients massages from women in G-strings…owners are insisting that no sexual services will be carried out…”  Because erotic massages from naked people aren’t sexual services.

Gingerbread House

Birds of a feather, and all that:  “Jerry Sandusky’s ‘The Second Mile’ wants to divert…$2 million dollars in assets…to the Arrow Child and Family Ministry…[in order to prevent] victims from seeking to liquidate his organization’s assets as civil cases are pursued against him…

Metaupdates

Wise Investment in TW3 (#23)

Yet another gun to the internet’s head is turned aside:

…Section 230 says that websites aren’t liable for third party content…[and has therefore] become the foundation for the entire user-generated content industry…Despite [the] enormous social benefits…state legislators [frequently] consider enacting laws that conflict with Section 230…the Washington state legislature enacted one such law in an overzealous effort to shut down online child prostitution…[but] in Backpage and Internet Archive v. McKenna…a federal judge rejected the Washington legislature’s efforts, turning the case into a major victory for…user-generated content…

This Week in 2011

The erosion of “innocent until proven guilty”, a short biography of the Athenian hetaera Aspasia, and a Canadian town buys a strip club; also, answers to questions about “doggie style”, what happens when a client finishes quickly and whether a whore and client can ever be friends.  “August Updates (Part One)” contains items about a book of vulva pictures, cops harassing strippers and streetwalkers, and the beginning of decriminalization in India; “Part Two” discusses invented “sex trafficking” victims, rising STI rates in older amateurs and South Korean whores fighting for their rights.

This Week in 2010

Genesis of a Harlot” is the three-part story of how I slowly grew toward sex work and “The Only Working Girl in New Orleans” the three-part story of what happened after Hurricane Katrina; “Phryne” was a famous Athenian hetaera, and “Whores and Wives” discusses the varied reactions wives have to discovering their husbands have employed hookers.

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…the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar.  –  Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

It’s been a while since I dissected a news article line by line, but then it’s been a while since I’ve found one which cries out for it so loudly.  Though distorted and inverted language (such as work referred to as “being purchased”, the majority called a minority, self-determination called “demeaning” and infantilization of women excused as “feminism”) is the norm in mainstream American discourse about sex work, this story yet stands out for its nightmarish use of euphemisms to disguise incarceration, abuse and reprogramming:

On the outskirts of the city, a two-story lodge with a wraparound porch is largely hidden on a 110-acre site in the woods.  Horses graze in front of the building, and a volleyball court and educational center stand behind.  Down winding paths, are a ropes course, pool and lake.  But the name of the recently opened facility, Freedom Place, cannot be found, and its address is undisclosed:  It is the state’s first privately run safe house that provides long-term housing for American girls who are victims of sex trafficking.  The shelter represents a new solution for state legislators and county officials as they try to figure out how best to support such victims…

What a lovely picture!  Almost like a summer camp, except for the locked doors; as you will see, its name is straight out of Orwell.  But the gingerbread isn’t really there to attract victims, but rather to please the state officials who want a dumping ground for nonconforming girls that doesn’t look like a jail.

…In Texas, the effort to end sex trafficking of minors has shifted since the Texas Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that domestic minors younger than 14 involved in prostitution should be considered victims rather than criminals.  Recent legislation changed the label for kids charged with prostitution from “delinquent” to “child in need of supervision” and allowed for these records to be sealed…but Texas has no “safe harbor” laws that establish a systematic response for placing minors into necessary rehabilitation services without criminalization.  As such, Texas counties have different methods in place for collaboration between local nonprofits, police enforcement and court systems to transition girls into treatment.  Child Protective Services is usually involved only if the child is being directly trafficked by a family member.

The word “trafficked” is beginning to lose all meaning, and as I’ve pointed out before this is particularly true in Texas; officials and media in the Lone Star State appear to use the term randomly, without logic or consistency.  Here it seems to mean “forced into prostitution”, but elsewhere it refers to transportation across state lines.  Note also the lawhead delusion that re-labeling a “delinquent” as a “child in need…”  and criminalization as “rehabilitation” changes the actual fact of incarceration.

Girls can often be distrustful or so manipulated by their trafficker that they leave if not placed in secure facilities.  Many of the young victims who are not charged with prostitution must be charged with related offenses such as drug possession or truancy to ensure that they are not released back onto the street…“Most girls are so, for lack of a better word, enslaved by their pimps and traffickers, including their minds, that as soon as you put them into a facility that is not secure or if you send them home that is just inviting them to go straight back to their pimp,” said Patricia Davis, a human rights professor at Southern Methodist University…

Reread that closely and let it sink in:  the normal human desire not to be locked up (even in a jail named “Freedom Place”) is used as evidence of “trafficking”, and if a girl says she has no pimp (which is true of 90% of underage whores), this is viewed as proof of “brainwashing”.  Furthermore, even if the state cannot prove a girl was hooking it simply files whatever charges it can just to keep her locked up indefinitely.  Best of all, the one reciting this propaganda is supposedly an “expert” in human rights.

…Elizabeth Crooks, who runs a mentoring organization called Embassy of Hope…said she can relate personally to the victims’ struggles because she was a victim of sexual exploitation as a teenager.  Crooks said she escaped the cycle with help from a church group, but did not recognize that what she had gone through was illegal sexual abuse until she was 45…

She “escaped” from something she didn’t recognize as “victimization” until she was “helped” to redefine it as such over a quarter of a century later.  Sound familiar?

…Freedom Place gives victims a safe haven.  “We can’t decriminalize and not have places for these kids to go,” said state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte…the co-chairwoman of the Joint Interim Committee to Study Human Trafficking.

Van de Putte clearly has a very warped understanding of the word “decriminalization” if she thinks it means locking girls up and reprogramming them until they “recognize” that they were “exploited” even if they weren’t.

Seven girls currently reside at Freedom Place, where most will likely stay between nine and 18 months.  The first four residents were referred by the Harris County Girls Court, which focuses on sex trafficking cases.  Girls can also be referred by family members or refer themselves…

“Referred” in this context seems to mean “committed”.  Since the place is fairly new, one wonders how that estimate of length of commitment was derived, and if it might not be extended if they decide they need to keep the beds full.

…The nonprofit organization Arrow Child and Family Ministries oversees Freedom Place, but participation in religious activities is optional…

Exactly as optional as admitting to being “trafficked”, probably.  In other words, you can bet girls will stay until “rehabilitated”, and those who don’t say what they’re supposed to say and do what they’re supposed to do are obviously still “enslaved”.

…A low staff-to-child ratio is maintained, and the girls are checked on at least every 15 minutes.  But the facility — with carpeted floors and pastel walls — feels like a home…

A “home” without privacy or liberty where they’re checked on every 15 minutes.  I’m sure Hansel’s cage near the oven was very warm and cozy, too.

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