by Alison Bass | Nov 21, 2016 | human trafficking, law enforcement, pimps, prostitution, public health, sex trafficking, sex work, trafficking, Uncategorized, underage prostitution, websites
The arrest of the CEO of Backpage, a website for sex work ads, as he stepped off a plane in Houston October 6, made headlines. Carl Ferrer, 55, was arrested on a California warrant and charged with pimping by the California Attorney General’s office. Two other...
by Alison Bass | Jun 15, 2016 | human trafficking, law enforcement, prostitution, sex trafficking, sex work, trafficking, Uncategorized, underage prostitution
Last Friday, the police chief of Oakland, California, resigned amid a growing scandal involving a number of his police officers who had sex with an underage sex worker while their supervisors looked the other way, according to reporting by the East Bay Express. The...
by Alison Bass | Jun 6, 2016 | pimps, prostitution, public health, sex trafficking, sex work, trafficking, Uncategorized, underage prostitution
Jimmy Carter is the latest persona to jump on the End Demand bandwagon. In an op-ed piece for The Washington Post, he called for making the purchase of sex illegal. Unfortunately, the former President’s argument is based on erroneous information and a naïve moralistic...
by Alison Bass | May 9, 2016 | human trafficking, sex trafficking, sex work, trafficking, Uncategorized, underage prostitution
I have been invited to give a talk on sex work on May 16 at California State University in Los Angeles. My 4:30 pm talk, sponsored by CSU’s Cross-Cultural Centers, will focus on research I gathered for my book, Getting Screwed: Sex Workers and the Law, and why...
by Alison Bass | Jan 27, 2016 | human trafficking, law enforcement, prostitution, public health, sex trafficking, sex work, Uncategorized
In early January, law enforcement in the Seattle area shut down a popular website used by sex workers to advertise their services and by customers to review sex workers. Police also raided a number of luxury apartments in Bellevue where women were allegedly selling...
by Alison Bass | Oct 25, 2015 | human trafficking, media coverage, prostitution, public health, sex trafficking, sex work, Uncategorized, underage prostitution
When it comes to the coverage of sex work or trafficking, the mainstream media often seems to forget a basic journalistic principle — the need to get their facts straight. Here are two recent examples from supposedly top-notch purveyors of journalism. This week,...
