Comments on: Another Dubious Sex Trafficking Study

By: She’s Not There « Tiny Cat Pants

She’s Not There « Tiny Cat Pants — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:13:17 +0000

[...] like, take this story I learned about over at Radley Balko‘s today. The TBI says Coffee County here in Tennessee is one of four major hubs of [...]

By: mikee

mikee — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:43:05 +0000

I was once caught sex trafficking. My girlfriend and I were steaming up the windows of a 1976 Chevy Impala in the parking lot when a police officer came by, rapped on the window with his baton, and told us to move along.

So maybe it wasn’t sex trafficking. More like sex parking. Perhaps this incident is typical of what the respondents to the survey were thinking about when queried about sex trafficking.

By: Leon Wolfeson

Leon Wolfeson — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:43:47 +0000

@2 – I object. There’s nothing wrong with PDF files!

By: Steamed McQueen

Steamed McQueen — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:39:52 +0000

More lies from the government and those trying to get funding from them.

Really, I don’t want to be this cynical, but how can anyone NOT be when day after day after day we are continually lied to and manipulated?

Government statement = bullshit.

If the government said that tomorrow the sun was going to come up in the eastern sky I would be skeptical.

They brought it on themselves.

By: B

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:59:05 +0000

The Stranger had an excellent column on this last week:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/control-tower/Content?oid=9028548

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:48:03 +0000

Maybe someday women will be able to determine for themselves when and under what circumstances they’re permitted to have sex. I finding utterly beyond comprehension that women still allow themselves to be treated as weak mindless idiots incapable of running their own lives or controlling their own bodies.

Of course, I guess that fits right in with the idea that individuals must beg the state’s permission before they are permitted to use life saving or pain killing drugs. It’s not just women who are perfectly satisfied to be treated like weak mindless idiots (for that matter, if you tolerate being treated like a weak mindless idiot, maybe that means you ARE a weak mindless idiot).

Trafficking, my ass. Anyone who thinks these studies are meant to expose actual real life human labor and sex slavery needs to trade in some of their gullibility for skepticism.

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:30:52 +0000

The report states human sex trafficking is often confused with prostitution.

LMAO! To most anti-trafficking activists, prostitution IS forced human sex trafficking, because “no women would voluntarily sell her body if she didn’t have to”.

I have come to believe that the primary target their efforts is the prohibition of all forms of prostitution and it’s merely couched in the language of “human trafficking” in order to inflate the statistics, attract support, and make it seem as if it is some kind of humanitarian rescue effort. Moral crusades are always dressed up to look like something they aren’t.

By: SuperCheetah

SuperCheetah — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:56:53 +0000

Does anyone remember the Super Bowl sex trafficking BS?

The Office of the Attorney General of Texas shared in a press release dated February 17, 2011 and “announced the preliminary results of a joint local, state and federal law enforcement effort to crack down on human trafficking during the 2011 Super Bowl.” and that they

“conducted undercover operations through Super Bowl Sunday that resulted in a total of 133 arrests.”

Did you see the weasel? Here it is again: “…through Super Bowl Sunday…” As it turns out those arrests were made across the entire state – since Jan 1, 2007!!!

They’ve got a mug shot of a guy they busted but if you look up his arrest report you’ll see it has nothing to do with the Super Bowl and even if you disagree that’s only one. We were supposed to expect thousands. 133 over four years across the state is hardly an issue.

Not to mention what we think trafficking is versus their definition is quite different.

By: Rick H.

Rick H. — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:33:08 +0000

The catch-all term “trafficking” has become as malleable, vague and useful to authoritarians as “terrorism.” If these people actually cared about stopping modern-day slavery, they would call it slavery. But that’s not on their menu.

By: Yizmo Gizmo

Yizmo Gizmo — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:30:34 +0000

“A recent report (PDF) by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation claimed that the state is a major hub for sex trafficking. ”

I think that’s an important requirement for embarking on a misguided, expensive, moral crusade. Said location can’t be a minor hub or a major non-hub.
But, hell, if it’s in PDF format, and created by a bureaucracy, it’s gotta be true.

By: freebob

freebob — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:30:11 +0000

This reminds me of a quote from Steven Pinker: “There are dynamics in the opinion and advocacy markets, no one ever attracted donors by saying thing just seem to be getting and better.”
http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.html
Of course this is a government study, so it’s slightly different. But I’m sure it will be used to lobby for bigger budgets, more overtime hours, and the like.