Online classified ads give sex workers safe avenue to work: criminologist

[Guest Ou**or**n]

Read the uncensored article on: Ottawa Citizen Website

 

OTTAWA ? Dropping classified ads for erotic services from .......... would put sex workers at greater risk, says a University of Ottawa criminologist.

 

Christine Bruckert, whose research focuses on the sex trade, said .........., a popular website that runs free online classified ads, is ?one of the tools sex workers can use to work safely.?

 

And they take full advantage, she said Thursday. ?I don?t think I?m outing anyone by saying yes, sex workers use ...........?

 

But if Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has his way, that may soon change. Nicholson said this week he?d sent a letter to Jim Buckmaster, ..........?s CEO, asking him to remove ads for erotic services.

 

After pressure from state and federal attorneys general, the Internet giant shut down its U.S. adult-services section in September, replacing it with a black bar that says ?censored.?

 

Nicholson wants .......... to do the same with its Canadian websites, arguing the company takes no precautions to ensure its site isn?t promoting human trafficking or child exploitation.

 

Bruckert, a former stripper turned university professor, said the .......... ads allow sex workers, particularly those with low incomes, to work ?in relative safety.

 

?We know that working indoors ? is safer than working on the street,? she said. ?By taking away this particular resource, you?re further limiting the sex workers? options, and a byproduct of that is potentially more violence.?

 

But Ottawa Police Chief Vern White said sex workers who advertise on .......... are in a different category than those who work the streets, most of whom are sick, mentally ill or addicted.

 

Removing .......... as an outlet would not drive sex workers who now use it to the streets, White predicted.

 

Instead, they?d find other outlets for their ads. ?The only difference is one they pay for, one they don?t.?

 

White said use of .......... by sex workers isn?t a major issue in Ottawa. ?We haven?t had a lot of complaints, if any complaints, in relation specifically to .......... in the city.?

 

However, he added, ?it certainly is an issue in Canada, and I do agree that something needs to be done about it.?

 

Bruckert said those pushing .......... to drop the ads assert that they?re concerned about human trafficking and child exploitation. But she called that a smokescreen.

 

?Basically they?re using this as another way of attacking the industry, and more specifically, the workers,? she said. ?And when you attack the workers, you make things more dangerous.?

 

The campaign against .......... is a ?moralistic outcry,? Bruckert said, likely sparked by an Ontario Superior Court ruling in September striking down the Criminal Code?s ban on brothels, soliciting and pimping.

 

?We have to really mobilize against this kind of censorship and this kind of targeting of anything that sex workers use.?

[fortunateone 156618]

This is so true. Like it or not, the site is a tool used by sex workers, and its removal is a direct attack on us and our attempts to do business, in the best way we choose for ourselves. Removing an entire venue, simply because a couple of under 18 years might, at some point, be able to use it is another attempt to control us, make policies that affect thousands in some misguided attempt to help 3 or 4. Also, the gov't official knows full well they can't pass legislation against sex work advertising; such attempts have already been attempted. They are trying to circumvent Canadian laws by having CL do it voluntarily.

 

For the censorship issue alone, everyone working in or utilizing this industry, regardless of their views on the quality of CL and its users, should be very very vocal against this. Allowing this to happen, without a fight, gives these people the idea that they can go ahead and make actual laws that will ultimately affect every advertising venue and more.

 

 

?We have to really mobilize against this kind of censorship and this kind of targeting of anything that sex workers use.?

[Guest Ou**or**n]

I agree that despite all the negative aspects of CL it does give women a means to advertise at no cost. For many the alternative will not be using a paid advertising service but rather working the streets. It is obvious that is more dangerous. This has to be viewed and argued from the standpoint of women's right to safety and harm reduction.

[Amanda Bella 421]

Advertising in this or that site it is not necessarily dangerous.

It is how a lady conduct herself and her business while at work that can endanger helserf like:

 

Working while drunk

Working while high, in both situations anyone will lose their boundaries.

 

Answering and giving appointments to guys who phone from

private numbers and public phones.

 

Not asking references to other sex workers about the gent

she is about to receive.

 

Not been attentive to clues on the phone.

In short people who are good, are kind and moral most of the time.

If i pay attention to what is been said and if the guy

is evasive or cooperative listener, thart should also be an indicative

of if i can give an appointment or not.

 

 

I am refering to independents, not under age ladies working

for potential abusers.

[Suzirider 737]

Just a thought.

 

What happens when you post in therapeutic, or skill'd trade ?