Backpage out of the Shadows
Human trafficking is a problem that we cannot and must not ignore. The U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Investigations recently reported on the serious problem of online sex trafficking with a focus on Backpage.com, the leading online marketplace for commercial sex. This worldwide website is valued at more than a half-billion dollars. These earnings should not be surprising given that human trafficking is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, second only to the trafficking of illegal drugs. Once a dealer sells their drugs, more must be manufactured before additional profit can be made. A person can be trafficked over and over with little downtime, making it an attractive investment for unscrupulous people. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 73% of all child trafficking reports received from the public note connections to Backpage.com. Backpage never denied that the site has been used for criminal activity, in...