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CNN: Spitzer Under Criminal Investigation | 139 comments (139 topical)

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meeting a prostitute in another state (5.00 / 3) (#2)
by Josey on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:02:46 PM EST
is considered human trafficking?
it is human trafficking (5.00 / 2) (#23)
by Salt on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:19:38 PM EST
it is human trafficking and he should resign unless he didn't do it and he didn't say he had not and NY dose not deserve this betrayal they have been through enough.  If he resigns who takes his place or is there and election do we know.

[ Parent ]
human trafficking by whom (5.00 / 2) (#40)
by Kathy on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:36:08 PM EST
the madam who sent her out or the person who had sex with the call girl?

I suppose you could make an argument that he traveled across state lines to commit a crime.

[ Parent ]

Apparently. . . (none / 0) (#58)
by LarryInNYC on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:49:40 PM EST
he requested that one particular women be sent from New York to DC to service his requirements.

[ Parent ]
Hmmm.... (none / 0) (#44)
by Oje on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:41:12 PM EST
The human trafficking angle is what strikes me. In the previous thread, someone suggested that 16% of men have purchased the services of prostitutes in their lifetimes.

I wonder, though, if there are class differences in the propensity to or repeat. Whenever a star, politician, or wealthy man is caught in an affair or prostitution ring, it often seems like a personal weakness. However, among the children of wealthy families, to what extent is human trafficking just a part of the culture they inherit? First, it seems like many young men would be in a position to just buy their way out of adolescence. Second, if they develop a taste for prostitution, they require a social network to provide underground information about the "safe houses."

[ Parent ]

it is a class issue (none / 0) (#48)
by Kathy on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:43:20 PM EST
inasmuch as wealthy men can pay for the privilege of raping women in a clean hotel room while men with less money are confined to their cars or alleyways.

[ Parent ]
Easy Kathy.... (5.00 / 3) (#56)
by kdog on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:48:32 PM EST
do you mean to imply that any sex for money arrangement is rape?

That's ridiculous, and a diservice to rape victims, imo.

[ Parent ]

But, (none / 0) (#49)
by Oje on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:44:56 PM EST
Just in the venue? or in the propensity and frequency also?

[ Parent ]
Rape? (none / 0) (#64)
by squeaky on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:52:45 PM EST
How is consensual, or contractual sex rape. I am sure that there are exceptions, but as a rule?

Is it also rape in your mind when a man is the sex worker and a woman the john?

[ Parent ]

Or same sex prostitution? (none / 0) (#70)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:54:16 PM EST


[ Parent ]
yep. I worked with 14 year old boys (none / 0) (#109)
by Kathy on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:34:14 PM EST
runaways-and had the same opinion.  Same for older men.

I define rape as being forced to have sex with someone you do not want to have sex with.  You can make all the noises about how they get paid for it, so that makes it okay, or that they make a lot of money, so that's okay, or that they are not beaten, or forced to give half and halfs in the backseat of a car, so that's okay.

Me-having worked with these women (and men)-I can't.

But I don't think legalizing or not is the issue.  Prostitution is legal in Amsterdam but oftentimes it's hard to find workers.  Society creates the supply and demand.

This is very off-topic, so I'll stop before Jeralyn or BTD pop me on the nose, but it seems to be that some people have very lofty ideas about what exactly happens during these transactions.  I could tell you some real horror stories that would turn your stomach-and not just isolated cases, but constant, daily barrages of inhumane and inhuman treatment.  Pretty Woman it ain't.

[ Parent ]

Thank you for adding to this conversation (none / 0) (#115)
by Molly Bloom on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:39:47 PM EST
There is a basis for your position that was not previously clear, that gives a different perspective.

"Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right"
[ Parent ]

Clearly exploitation (none / 0) (#116)
by honora on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:39:55 PM EST
Thanks Kathy-- You are right about this.

[ Parent ]
All I can say is.... (none / 0) (#121)
by kdog on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:42:25 PM EST
of the millions of acts of prostitution that go down everyday, the horror stories are exactly that, not the norm.

I hold no lofty ideas of how sad and stomach turning prostitution can be...the 20 dollar trick for a fix, the human trafficking, the kidnapping and rape.  A lot of humanity is sad and stomach turning.  It's all in how we deal with it...the archaic criminalization and ostracization method is an old tired failure from my view.

[ Parent ]

I think your definition of rape is over broad, (none / 0) (#123)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:44:31 PM EST
you, of course, do not. So be it.

[ Parent ]
Rape may be over broad, but exploitation is not. (5.00 / 1) (#125)
by Molly Bloom on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:46:19 PM EST

"Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right"
[ Parent ]

Not exactly. It depends on the circumstances. (5.00 / 1) (#63)
by scribe on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 03:52:12 PM EST
Human trafficking falls under what used to be commonly known as the Mann Act, which was enacted about 100 years ago in a fit of puritanism and in reaction to a black boxing champion marrying a white woman and travelling around the country flaunting it.

Basically, the Mann Act criminalizes transporting a woman in interstate commerce for an illegal (or immoral) purpose.  It's very broadly written.  As I understand it, all it takes to create criminal exposure is facilitating a woman crossing a state line to get sex (no money need change hands).

Human trafficking, running an interstate prostitution business, etc., all can be seen as subsets of that.  Most or all of those federal statutes also have a tendency to incorporate state laws (as to what is or is not prohibited) to some extent.  In other words, it's a real thicket.

I'll accept any corrections, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.

[ Parent ]

all that money!! for only 2 hours??? (5.00 / 1) (#78)
by Josey on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:05:22 PM EST
Of course, I'm not familiar with the fees associated with this type of work.
BUT, if food and gas prices continue rising....

[ Parent ]
There are screen caps of the former (5.00 / 1) (#90)
by scribe on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:13:00 PM EST
website (now taken down) floating around - Smoking Gun has one, I saw.  From what one can see, the women were seriously attractive.

But, as with everything, the value of anything is what someone is willing to pay for it.

[ Parent ]

My recollection also... (5.00 / 1) (#92)
by Oje on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:15:44 PM EST
And, just google "traffic in women" for a variety of past and present discussions about prostitution and human trafficking, including ole' Emma Goldman's 1911 tract (warning: Anarchist site).

[ Parent ]
Leave (none / 0) (#135)
by Athena on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:55:07 PM EST
He should resign.  He can be replaced.

[ Parent ]

CNN: Spitzer Under Criminal Investigation | 139 comments (139 topical)

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