BY Garrett
November 11, 2008
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4 Comments

Craigslist is a great way to get rid of stuff you don’t need, and find apartments, furniture and even a S.O.

It’s also been an a place where sex workers can ply their trade, in the “erotic services” section.

To cruise the ER section of CL, which you can do on the DL if you want to be on the QT about it, is to wander through a sort of sexual Wonka factory. From simple jack shack operators to college students seeking someone “generous” to help with their bills to twink rentboys with myspace poses, it’s a weird wild world.

But those days of abandon may be coming to a close. Craigslist will be charging a fee via credit card to post an ERS ad. This comes as a “deal” with a number of State’s Attorney Generals, who have been complaining about the ads for some time.

The Attorney Generals will be able to use the credit card information as a “a roadmap to prostitutes and sex traffickers - so we can track them down and lock them up”

Of course, no one supports sex trafficking, sexual slavery or underage prostitution, but again consenting adults engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money is lumped in with acts and activities that are universally decried.

The usual thoughts come to mind. This will drive more low and middle-income sex workers to the streets, or bars where they can’t use screening. Also it puts the burden on the sex worker, if they want to advertise they have to take the risk. This will do nothing to stop prostitution, just push it into a darker corner. Law and order types rejoice while those in the know about sex work and the realities of the trade see it as just another grand-standing effort.

Here’s a take-away thought. If sex work were legal, safe and (gasp) unionized, how much harder would it be for pimps to exist? How much more time and money could cops and lawyers devote to those who exploit and enslave women (and men) for sexual labor?

[Photo by nuncardoso]