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Amazon and Microsoft employees caught up in sex trafficking sting
The tech industry has a clear history of sexism and misogyny, but a recent Newsweek report highlights another problem. The publication got its hands on a slew of emails sent to brothels and pimps between 2014 and 2016 that document the industry's patronage of brothels and purchasing of services from trafficked sex workers. Among the emails, which were obtained through a public records request to the King County Prosecutor's Office, were 67 sent from Microsoft employee email accounts, 63 from Amazon accounts and dozens more from companies like Boeing, T-Mobile, Oracle and local Seattle tech firms.
Some of the emails were collected during a 2015 sting operation that targeted sex worker review boards and resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals, including high-level Amazon and Microsoft directors. Two opted for a trial, which is currently set to begin in March.
Seattle's sex industry has grown right alongside its tech industry and the city's authorities have said that some men spend up to $50,000 per year on sex workers. Brothels are even known to advertise how close they are to tech offices. Alex Trouteaud, director of policy and research at the anti-trafficking organization Demand Abolition, told Newsweek that the tech industry is a "culture that has readily embraced trafficking."
Newsweek: Tech Bros Bought Sex Trafficking Victims by Using Amazon and Microsoft Work Emails
Related: "Pimping" Charges Against Backpage Executives Dismissed
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:33AM (10 children)
It is a non harmful activity by consenting adults.
Like pot, just legalize it, tax it and regulate it.
That solves most of the problems associated with illegal prostitution like human trafficking, women getting robbed who cannot go to police, women who get beaten / being 'pimped', sickness without good healthcare..etc.
if you legalize it, the women pay taxes, have healthcare, are protected like police like any other legitimate business. It also empowers women (and men as well)..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @02:46AM (2 children)
A protected class of illegal immigrants, since otherwise they are looking at getting deported, in some cases back to countries or debts which will just see them shipped off to some other worse country than the US to 'pay back their debt'.
Having said that, prostitution definitely needs to get legalized in the US, we have enough STD dangers as it is right now, and having sex workers as a well regulated industry could do something to help alleviate that as it would offer an outlet for people who otherwise might make questionable decisions because they are sexually frustrated.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday December 27 2017, @06:51AM
But I'm not sure it needs to be legalized in a "free enterprise" mode. Yes, legalize it, but have lots of inspections to ensure that the participants are willing and healthy.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:43PM
We call that "legal immigrants".
(Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Wednesday December 27 2017, @03:29AM (6 children)
It is a non harmful activity by consenting adults.
Because the religious nuts in this country don't believe this, and think it's morally wrong and must therefore be banned.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @04:10AM (5 children)
It's illegal because people don't typically choose to go into prostitution. This whole happy hooker libertarian bullshit needs to die.
Seattle stopped prosecuting prostitutes years ago and focuses all attention on the Johns, pimps and others involved in the exploitation of prostitutes. Situations like this are specifically why prostitution isn't legal and shouldn't be legalized in the future. It's just too much of a problem to identify which prostitutes are choosing to do it and which ones are being coerced.
What's more, there's no good reason for the practice in the first place that wouldn't be solved by women not being such stuck up bitches. If women knew how to treat men with the level of respect they demand, there really wouldn't be the need for prostitutes. Instead, women use withholding sex as a weapon and whine about being raped even though they chose to participate in the process rather than just cases where they actually objected or resisted. Even just freezing would be reasonable to infer as non-consent, but when somebody is actively participating, that is consent.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @04:40AM (3 children)
People don't typically choose to collect trashcans, or clean sewers. Should we make those jobs illegal as well?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @07:34AM (2 children)
Yes, as soon as is practicable. Unfortunately, society can't do without people doing those jobs yet. Bring on the robots.
Until then, those jobs should be more highly paid, so that people might genuinely choose to do them. If someone has the "choice" between doing a specific job for someone else, or starving, then that is akin to slavery. It's not a choice if the only alternative is death.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 27 2017, @12:38PM
They do. In NYC Dept of Sanitation jobs are highly sought after because of the generous benefits and retirement package.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday December 28 2017, @01:51AM
If someone has the "choice" between doing a specific job for someone else, or starving, then that is akin to slavery. It's not a choice if the only alternative is death.
You can say the exact same thing about MANY jobs out there. Banning the job isn't the answer, the solution is to institute Universal Basic Income so people don't need to do shitty jobs just to stay alive, and then they'd only choose to do shitty jobs if they paid enough to make it worth their while. If this happened, prostitution would shrink a lot most likely, so that only women who really liked it would do it, plus women who just wanted the money; the prices would go up a lot, so it'd basically eliminate most street prostitution, and only the high priced call girl stuff would still be around, which honestly is fine.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:45PM
Just replace "happy" with "generously compensated". Straw man fixed. And if people didn't go into careers that people don't typically choose, then nobody would be working at all.