Posted on 01/15/2008 6:55:08 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o
I agree.
Didn’t say it should be outlawed, I just said it does lead some people to do ugly, unspeakable things that hurt not just them, but others as well. It has no redeeming social value (and no, self-gratification is not a social value, it is by it’s very nature a non-social value).
Colonel, USAFR
Having said that, I would also say that the 100,000 figure does not strike me offhand as being orders-of-magnitude unrealistic. We're talking truck stops, massage parlors, strip joints, and the street --- right?
There are over 150,000 truck stops in the USA (Source, truck stop numbers)
If only a small minority --- say 35% of them --- prove to be venues for underage prostitutes, but each one which has prostitutes has 2 on the premises who are underage, that's 100,000 right there.
Does that make a reasonable ballpark figure?--- speak up, truckers ---
And ---since we haven't even added in massage parlots, strip joints, bus stations, train stations, and the street--- does it in fact seem a conservative ballpark figure?
I’ll say this, there may be a bad apple or two, but I’ve developed a healthy respect for truckers over the years, including (and perhaps especially) during my time as a cop. Despite the fact that some cops see 18 wheelers as ATM machines for their departments (a real pet peeve of mine), the OTR drivers I’ve met have been almost universally courteous and professional.
I agree. And the solution proposed (making regular guys sign a non-porn watching agreement)seems off-base to the extreme.
Why not arrest those actually perpetrating the crime ?
(Yes, boys too. Runaway and throwaway boys have few ways to get a meal and a place to sleep at night without turning tricks. As I was told years ago by a male prostitute who gave me a ride when I was hitching --- and who very protectively berated me for hitching because it was too dangerous --- but that's a different story.)
I think that depends of what kind of "pornography" we're talking about.
If we are talking about explicit images of children, then it would be an obvious conclusion.
If we're talking about seeing the latest centerfold in a men's magazine, or reading the newest bodice-ripper from the library, then I'm not sure the obvious result will be the sexual exploitation of children.
“say 35% of them “
Have you seen any credible evidence that even 2% of truck stops have underage slave prostitutes? Or even underage prostitutes who do it on their own volition?
It is more likely that fewer than 35% of truck stops have any regular prostitutes. Most truck stops have pumps, convenience store and food of some kind.
“Buyer:OK,white is good”
A Ron Paul supporter?
Agree.
I am not buying this ‘crisis’ without substantiation.
Doesn’t pass the smell test.
I'd also wonder how "underage" is defined...under 18? 19? 21? The article was a little vague "Children as young as 12" adds to the picture the author is trying to paint, without adding any factual context. Gun grabbers cite stats like this all the time..."5,000 children killed each year by gun violence" but they only get to that number by including the 4,993 Eighteen and Nineteen year old gang bangers that are killed in drug-related shootings.
IMHO, there's a big difference between a 12 year old girl kidnapped out of her front yard, and a 17-1/2 year old runaway with a meth habit that sells him/herself to support it. The former is a horrible crime, the latter is an avoidable tragedy.
I agree with your posts.
I think what they may be doing with the number is including ANYONE, including ‘lost girls’ under the age of 18 (meaning 17 and 16 also) as part of that number, which is probably a guess or overestimate.
the idea that all of a sudden all the prostitutes you see are unable to escape their lives, in spite of being at truck stops and possibly around people to escape is laughable.
The vast majority of underage prostitutes may indeed have been vulnerable or somehow convinced but that’s because a hell of a lot of them have drug problems or didn’t have a means to generate income being underage and totally without any job skill and having left home.
I don’t think white girls walking around need to be worried about becoming sex slaves (not that it can’t ever happen) as much as avoiding using drugs, staying at home or finding a shelter if they’re abused and avoiding certain foreign countries without a companion.
This is a panic article. There are probably far more Chinese or Ukrainian GROWN WOMEN who are in the sex industry under a constant state of surveillance and coercion because they were brought over under false pretenses or didn’t know how long it would take to pay back the smugglers than there are American white girls.
Why risk multiple life sentences and possible ‘death-while-being-captured’ lol to enslave white American girls (don’t they know they chase HARD after wherever a white girl goes missing) when they can use the Eastern European and Asian women for the same thing?
My brother is a trucker, and while he has his faults (that’s why I call him Grumpy Bachelor Brother- GBB) he’s a totally decent man.
The truckstop aspect of this story bothers me.... Most that I’ve been to are very very very family friendly.
Hey! We maybe we can cut down on organized crime by having 1500 men who aren’t criminals sign an agreement not to watch gangster movies!
When my now 19 yr. old daughter was a few years younger and beginning to have more freedom, I warned her about talking to anyone approaching her in a friendly manner, even women. She was shocked when I told her that very often women are used as lures. Her naive attitude, understandably, was to only be leary of strange males. Parents--be sure to warn your young daughters today about the dangers of women or couples approaching them in a disarming manner. In fact, print this article and show it to your daughter. I plan to. I can feel the "eye roll" already.
Unfortunate phrasing there! But thanks much for the ping. Anne Morse rocks.
“, too, would like to see where they got those figures or how they arrived at them.
In a post above I estimate dthe percent of the population in that age group and came up with 100,000= one in 200.
That seems unreasonable, and yet the article says that 100K is the low end.
I think finding one in fifty of kids 10-15 involved in prostitution or sex slavery is too much.
But, I don’t have hard numbers, and it looks like the author does not either.
Good point. This "100,000" figure seems pretty extreme and I frankly have some difficulty believing that this sort of extreme slavery of girls is anywhere near that. I don't doubt that it happens, but I just don't believe that it's anywhere near commonplace.
The truckers I've met through my life have by and large been the most salt-of-the-earth, good people. They're often fathers themselves and when they see something that's not right, they intervene and do something about it.
Pimping little girls at truck stops? It'd be like trying to be a code-pink hippie at a biker rally. Short lived.
Maybe all this haggling is irrelevant, until we find out how the authors of this article came up with their estimate. They may be right, may be wrong, but they haven;t given us the means to evaluate the numbers.
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