Craiglist goes to Congress.
Craigslist executives reiterated today they have no intention of restoring their “adult services” section, and they renewed their vow to continue aiding initiatives to stop child prostitution and human trafficking. The very public reassurance comes in the wake of last week’s testimony before a House Judiciary sub-committee during which William Clinton Powell, Craigslist director of law enforcement relations, insisted the world’s largest classified advertiser had shut down the section for good.
Pressed to assure committee members that loss of $30 million(usd) in adult advertising revenue would not inspire the mega-list to reconsider, Powell chose to defend the online marketplace’s record, telling the committee Craigslist aggressively has worked to stop child exploitation, featuring law enforcement and reporting hotlines in its banners. Powell reiterated the company’s standard defence, saying the site has encouraged users to report suspected trafficking, has manually reviewed every adult service ad prior to listing, and has participated in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipline.
On Thursday morning, CNN investigative reporter Amber Lyon visited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, showing their listings of girls found in the Craigslist sex postings. Last year, the Center located more than fifty teen-agers via adult services ads; their average age—14. The Center estimates that more than 100,000 ten-aged girls are trapped in illegal sex work, and they average thirteen years of age. Linda Smith, leader of Shared Hope International, rescuers of women and girls trapped in sex trafficking, told Congressional investigators, “I have not [rescued] a girl who was not marketed online, and most of them were marketed on Craigslist.”
Child Advocate Brooke Sommerfield observes, “Craigslist officials were wise to point out that their shutdown simply drives the business elsewhere. They wash their hands of the whole mess, but the mess does not disappear. Look again at the statistics—at least 100,000 missing teen-aged girls, average age thirteen. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that its goal is ‘to destroy the business model,’ and I like that idea. But, seriously, when will we find courage to go to the heart of the matter: where are these girls’ families?
