Craiglist's BLOG? Craziness

***Note: this is R rated. Kids, please don't read this. Adults - well, you know the issue we are discussing here, right?

For a while I thought - oh Craigslist is avoiding the controversy, they just want to look the other way, it's about the money. Well, now I am just extremely disappointed by blantant lies. It would take a mere 2 minutes to see that their reviewers certainly are not following their own policy. It must not be enforced. (PS I do not suggest hanging out in Craigslist personals. I heard the suggestion that we should go there and "flag" ads that were illegal. After everything I read in just a small amount of time I would NOT suggest it! eeek)

This is Craigslist's response to the NYTimes Article I posted here earlier. I wrote a comment on this blog but it appears to STILL be awaiting moderator approval. Interesting.

From Craigslist CEO

We’re receiving inquiries about the gross inaccuracies and absence of fact checking I cited in Monday’s New York Time article by Brad Stone. There are quite a few, but I’ll start walking through them. Let’s start with this one:

The ads, many of which blatantly advertise prostitution, are expected to bring $36 million this year, according to a new projection of Craigslist’s income.

Each ad submitted to “adult services” on CL is manually screened by one or more human reviewers. Ads that “blatantly advertise prostitution” are summarily rejected. The phrase “many of which blatantly advertise prostitution” is so patently false (and damaging) that another phrase comes to mind - “actionably defamatory”. In fact, the NY Times article probably violated multiple tenets of the Society of Professional Journalist’s Code of Ethics. More on that later.

Although you won’t find them in CL “adult services,” there are plenty of places where such ads *can* be found in great abundance.

For example, most if not all adult service ads featured by The Village Voice’s backpage.com (which carries more adult ads than CL in most US cities) would be rejected by our manual reviewers — and in fact, quite a few of them, if submitted to CL, would be reported by our reviewers toNCMEC’s cybertipline.

Here’s an ad with photos (NSFW) of bare genitalia (CL reviewers reject ads with nude pictures), describing specific sex acts offered (CL reviewers reject ads with sexual language or code words):

******Ev3Ry !!! M@N’s!///!!% W3tt ***Dre@M __ CuM%TruE*** - 24

Watch closely as i bounce my fat luscious, juicy apple bottom booty up & down ure big ****!!! 80Roses** Quk $e$$ion 100Roses** Half Hr 140Roses** Full Hr200 Roses.

This ad offers “greek” in exchange for 100 “kisses” in the ad title (CL reviewers reject such ads):

♥ ♥ SexY EXxXOTiC BuSTii B@RB!E (( g/r/3/3/k)) ♥ ♥ 100 kisses - 21

The following ad, if submitted to CL’s review team, would have been reported to NCMEC’s cybertipline:

** I JuST TuRNeD 18 YeSTeRDaYY** FiNaLLY LeGal - 18

my parents are at work and im all alone jus waiting for someone to c** inside and invade my young, barely legal, juicy, suculant love nest.

I’m now hearing that AG Blumenthal was quite taken aback this morning when a CNN reporter had the audacity to ask him why he was spending all of his time on craigslist when Village Voice carries more adult ads of a far more graphic nature — but does not manually screen them or take any of the other steps CL does to combat trafficking. Senatorial candidate AG Blumenthal hemmed and hawed (as he’s done for the past year) but really does not have a good answer for this question.

My response to Craigslist

Really?

I was on your site for less than 30 minutes and found ads offering sex for payment, saw MULTIPLE (at least 15) ads with pictures of genitals, as well as MANY that suggested VERY explicit sex acts.

I would strongly encourage you to take a stand if you are really against prostitution and sexual slavery (girls as young as 11 being offered on your site! - source: an Open Letter by Rachel Lloyd of GEMSGirls who says she talked to you about this 18 months ago!).

Instead of defending yourself with points that are obviously not true (as I found in less than 30 minutes) why don’t you come up with a solution. You could eliminate this dept and charge a small fee for others? Or raise your fees elsewhere.

Either way, if it were your daughter being sold online, I bet you wouldn’t care what it would cost you to stop it. I just wish you’d feel the same way when it’s someone else’s daughter.

Sincerely,
Brandi
PS I’m wondering if you’ll publish this. I have heard that others have had their comments deleted.

Emailing Random Churches?

As you know, Craigslist receives 1/3 of their profits from sex-ads. We have started a boycott of using Craigslist. The truth is, this won't hurt them financially - for most of us. I wasn't giving them money anyways, so why boycott. My friend said it best, "Would you stay in a hotel that got 1/3 of its profits from prostitution in the lobby? Then why use Craigslist?"

Here's an even better idea - check out the job listings (a PAID area of Craigslist) and email the companies asking them to pull their listing and email Craigslist as to why. I'm starting with the local churches and figured I'd post my email here. You are welcome to copy and paste it or use any portion you'd like.

I saw your multiple job listings on Craigslist. I also work for a non-profit orphan care organization here in Colorado Springs.

You may not have heard the latest news on Craigslist. I wanted to email you to make you aware. It's startling enough that you may want to pull all of your listings off of Craigslist.

Craigslist is the leading resource for child and sex traffickers in the US. In fact, they are being investigated by 39 states right now. 1/3 of their income is reported to come from sex-ads. Analysts say that they will make over 36 million dollars for sex ads this year.

Job listings are another portion. We believe that if enough businesses pulled their ads and chose to stand up for the girls (many as young as 11) being sold on craigslist that they may finally stand up for real change in their personals section.

Please see the links on Tom Davis' blog (a local Colorado leader) to do your own research. I especially encourage you to read the "Open Letter to Craigslist" that is linked. It's a story of an 11 year old girl, Bethany, who was sold for years on craigslist. It is for her and all of the other girls like her that I am sincerely asking you to consider pulling your ads and telling Craigslist why you are doing so.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and consider stepping up as fellow believers to "rescue those who are heading to slaughter" (Proverbs 24:11)

Thanks!

Brandi

"Craigslist supports human trafficking by doing nothing - will you

An Open Letter

I read this today and it's worth sharing. PLEASE read and pass on. The first thing that has to happen is AWARENESS. People seriously DO NOT KNOW. Will you help change that?

Read, pray, get angry (yes, I said it....I think Jesus is angry over these injustices!), and DO something!

This letter is written by Rachel Lloyd, who runs an organization in NYC that works with girls who have been rescued.

An Open Letter to Jim Buckmaster

by Rachel LloydMay 03, 2010 06:04 AM (PT)Topics: Child Prostitution, Pimping

• Share27
• 724 Views

Rachel Lloyd is part of Change.org's Changemakernetwork, comprised of leading voices for social change.

Dear Jim,

We met about 18 months ago via video-conference and at that time I shared with you a story of an 11 year old girl that I was working with. I'm not sure if you remember her, but I'd like to share this story with you again.

"Bethany" had been in foster care since she was 2 years old and had bounced from foster home to foster home, until at 11 she was introduced to a friend of her 14 year old sister. This friend was a 32 year old man who lured her in with promises of a stable home and love, everything she'd been craving her whole short life. He took Bethany from New York down to a hotel in DC, bought her some ‘sexy' clothes, and took pictures of her and then posted those pictures on your site, Craigslist. Bethany didn't really think there was anything unusual about this, after all her 14 and 16 year old sisters were both being sold on Craigslist too.

For nine months, almost till she turned 12 years old, Bethany's pictures were posted on Craigslist. Sometimes she was "NEW IN TOWN" when her pimp/trafficker would bring her to cities up and down the East Coast, posting her pictures in different regions. Sometimes she was "HOT N SEXXY FOR U" with her price listed as 150 roses. Night after night, adult men clicked on her ads, dialed a number and ordered her as easily as they would've ordered a pizza. Night after night, adult men came to the hotel room she was being kept in and had sex with her, or rather raped her, as at 11 years old she was too young to consent. Night after night, her pimp collected the money that he made from her and if it wasn't enough he beat or whipped her, badly enough that she has permanent scars.

No-one who saw Bethany's pictures ever clicked on the link on your site and reported "suspected exploitation of minors and/or human trafficking to the appropriate authorities". No law enforcement ever found the ads that her trafficker posted in the midst of the hundreds and hundreds of other ads of girls for sale.

Bethany, and her two sisters, were sold on your site, just like hundreds of other girls I've worked with have been. Just like thousands of other girls and young women across America are sold every night. It's hard to imagine that as a businessman with a sense of social responsibility that this wouldn't sicken and horrify you. The thought that you could profit even one dollar, let alone millions of dollars, in any way from the sale of children has to deeply sadden and make you outraged to the point where you would want to ensure that this can't happen - at least not on your site. I would've hoped that would be your automatic response anyway.

Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. Your responses to the criticism though raise some interesting points. Yes, while there may be a few people who are concerned about "casual sex" on your site, the vast majority of people who are signing petitions and raising their voices about this issue are doing so on behalf of girls like Bethany who don't have a voice. Yes, while there are of course other sites, magazines and Yellow Page ads where girls and women can be bought, very few of them have the brand-name recognition that Craigslist does, and besides, the "other people are doing it too" argument seems to be one that our mothers taught us when we were in kindergarten didn't hold much water. (Kudos, by the way, to New York Magazine for dropping all their sex for sale ads last year). And yes, while Craigslist has been cooperative with law enforcement on this issue, the sheer volume of postings of girls for sale on each night, in each city makes truly targeting traffickers and pimps a Sisphyean task.

This campaign isn't about a "cynical misuse of a cause as important as human trafficking as a pretense for imposing one's own flavor of religious morality". In fact, for those of us on the ground who work with girls like Bethany every day, it's saddening to have our work and our advocacy efforts framed as such. While we recognize that Craigslist taking a stand on this issue won't end commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking in our country, it will send a powerful message to the adult male buyers that Craigslist will have no part in, nor take any profit from, the sale of 11 (or 14, or 16) year old girls.

Photo credit: El Mariachi 94

Rachel Lloyd is the founder of Girls Educational & Mentoring Services.

Sucker for Little Girls

It's true - I'm a sucker for little girls. I love how they dress up as princesses and spin around. I love how they want lipstick and nailpolish. I love their sweet innocence. And not just my own daughter. Gracie is certainly my sweet princess - but over the years, I've acquired some other princesses too :-)

Here are just a few of "my girls". Ok, some of them belong to friends of mine...I'll admit that :-)

I adore these girls. ADORE them. If they needed me for ANY reason, I'd be there. Even if for a lot of them, it would mean jumping on a place to get there.


Unfortunately there are some really bad men in the world who are suckers for little girls too. I have been learning more and more about the global sex trade. It is simply breaking my heart


Girls across the world as young as my little Gracie are being abducted and used as sex slaves. I can't fathom it. I can't stop crying. I want to stop researching. I don't want to think of 7 year old girls offered up as virgins to whoever will pay the price. But, I can't look away any longer.

A little girl is being prepared for sexual exploitation every 2 minutes.

2 little girls are sold every minute into slavery.

Girls just like these precious ones. Look into my sweet girls faces. What would you do if I told you these little girls were being forced to "service" a man up to 40 times a day. Yes, these girls are raped up to 40 times a day.

We can't look away. Please, look into my daughter's eyes. Better yet, go look into the eyes of YOUR daughter. For her sake, for the sake of little girls just like her, don't look away.

For a long time I did nothing with this issue. I knew it was out there, but I didn't know what I could do so I didn't take steps to learn more.

Now, I know WE can make a difference. We can literally save a girl from a life of forced prostitution. Are you in?

1- You can help support a girl who's been rescued and is in need of healing. My "WarriorGirls" and I are going together to do this. It's $400 a month. I know, hefty. But worth it to see a precious one healed from these horrific wounds. With 16 people going in together, it's only $25 / month. Or better put...just a tad more than the cost of ChickFilA for my family. (you can learn more by clicking on the "Support Moldova" badge above.

2. Learn more. Check out www.love146.org and click LEARN. It was amazingly eye opening for me. To make it even more personal, read Tom's blog. He is on his way back from Moldova and Russia right now. He has amazing stories to share, stories of hope. One girl who was minutes away from being trafficked and had already been horrifically locked up and forced to work in a strip club ended up RUNNING to HopeChest's Ministry Center to receive help! Now, she's free and being discipled and loved!

3. Shop for Mother's Day! Yes, something as simple as your Mother's Day gift can save the life of a girl!!!! HopeChest is partnering is my friend's new amazing site called AdoptionFathers to offer gorgeous necklaces. We are calling it "Break the Chains". The necklaces are $78 and made by the amazing JunkPosse (handmade in Colorado). If that's more than you'd normally spend, maybe you can go together with your siblings? Click HERE to buy one! Read THIS man's story about his Mother's Day purchases.

Isaiah 58:6 says that true fasting is THIS "To loose the chains of injustice...to set the oppressed free". What are you doing currently that sets the oppressed free? That's the question I've been asking myself and I came up empty. I want to change that. I want my legacy to be that of an abolitionist - to set the oppressed free!