Backpage

I follow human trafficking on Twitter. I know, you didn't know I was so hip. Well, somehow I figured out how to sign up for something useful. One of the big topics in the past couple of months is about a petition to get a website called backpage to take down their escort services and body rub advertisements. Backpage is like Craigslist it seems. So you can go on and find local services or items to buy. Several ladies have been killed recently after a guy has found them on Backpage and then met up with them. So I decided today to have a look at what all the fuss is about. I just chose Portland, OR as a city and looked at the escorts section. I was shocked and saddened at what I found. There must be an age requirement on it, because the youngest girls were 18 years old. So what I saw as I looked at a few postings were R-rated pictures of girls selling their services. But what I saw under that is human trafficking. What is the story of this girl? Is she being forced to look that way? To sell herself? Is she a run-away? Or is she a missing girl? She is for sure someone's daughter. Tears filled my eyes as I thought about that. Someone out there is missing their daughter and here she is on this website, being exploited. Someone else is taking the picture of the girl as she poses. Who is that person?

I read an article that a brother of a missing girl found her photo on Backpage. He was deliberately looking for her. So the police were able to track her and it did turn out to be a trafficking case. So as I see it, the only good thing that can come from this is that some girls may be rescued.