How Congress' attempt to rescue sex workers threatens their safety instead

[TexasTowelie]

I. The Defense of the Damsels

The day the gallantly named “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” (SESTA) came before the U.S. Senate, a four-hour procession of lawmakers ascended the rostrum to congratulate each other on a rare act of bipartisanship.

The bill in question was never really up for debate. It was sold as way to rein back a modern surge in the sexual enslavement of women and girls, making use of the internet to enable prostitution punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

As fuel for the cause, the law’s chief authors projected a photograph of Desiree Robinson, a pretty, bespectacled 16-year-old runaway from Chicago who turned up beaten and stabbed to death in a garage after being sold on Backpage.com.

Cracking down on the parasites who made millions from the exploitation of children was a singular moral imperative, its proponents declared. Just one senator, Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), begged to differ.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/how-congress-attempt-to-rescue-sex-workers-threatens-their-safety-instead/482720031

[dalton99a]

1. The DoJ sent a last-minute letter saying FOSTA-SESTA is probably unconstitutional

and will make finding and prosecuting sex traffickers more difficult:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/02/how-sex-trafficking-just-opened-the-censorship-floodgates/
How 'sex trafficking' just opened the censorship floodgates
Throwing sex workers under the bus is actually the oldest profession.
Violet Blue, @violetblue
03.02.18 in Security