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Sting operations across the United States are targeting prostitution on Craigslist.org—the hugely popular website that enables users to search and post advertisements for housing, jobs, for-sale items, and an array of other services. So-called “erotic” services have become especially common on the site.

A New Frontier

Law enforcement officials see Craigslist as the new frontier of prostitution, with one official calling it a “high-tech 42nd Street, where much of the solicitation takes place now.”

In raids from New Jersey to Hawaii, vice squads have arrested hundreds of prostitutes and their would-be customers. The majority of arrests are on misdemeanor charges and result in only minor fines, although repeat offenders face more serious consequences.

Worthwhile Cause or Waste of Time?

Prostitutes of New York member, Tracy Quan, said the stings constituted entrapment and called them “an enormous waste of time resources by authoritarian busybodies.”

Police, however, say their efforts are worthwhile, arguing that prostitution is often linked to more serious criminal offenses involving weapons, drugs, exploitation, and abuse.

Changing the World’s Oldest Profession

Despite differing opinions, most can agree that technology—particularly the Internet—has forever changed the world’s oldest profession.

“The Internet has allowed people to make contact in a way not possible before. Ten years ago this was not happening at all,” said Ronald Weitzer, a researcher on prostitution and professor of sociology at George Washington University.

(Source: New York Times online)

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