I don't believe that any of the registered ladies on this board are victims of sex trafficking (or at least, I really hope not).. but I think shutting down Backpage wouldn't be such a bad idea. Of course, it won't stop sex trafficking.. but at least that's one method of promoting it out the door.
And when it comes to Tokyo, it's not gonna cause much damage to our businesses/hobby. Most of us providers attract little to no genuine clients on there.. hobbyists keep receiving the whole bait-and-switch process.. and paying for auto-renew ads isn't even worth it because they just get buried under a shitload of fraudulent ads..
I think The Erotic Review could be next. According to an anti-TER Twitter account, there's so much sex trafficking going on, especially in the Las Vegas area.. a lot of guys write fake reviews (positive or negative) just for a VIP membership.. and some providers are facing legal problems because of how explicit the reviews are on TER.
Actually, I disagree with your point about "one method of promoting it out the door" --> The shutting down of Backpage will
not help to dismantle trafficking. Trafficking has always been an underground system, but the emergence of such classifieds sites have just made this underground illegal activities more visible to the public. Because of Backpage, with advertisements out on full display, it would actually make it easier for law enforcement to track down who exactly is posting ads like this. If Backpage is shut down, then the traffickers will just go back to whatever methods they were doing before - and it will go undetected by law enforcement. Backpage actually supports web vigilance from its' users, often encouraging people to report suspicious ads that facilitate trafficking of any sort.
Going back to actual sex work, where people go into it
willingly, Backpage is an avenue that allows independent workers to
take control of their marketing, their advertising, and allows them to directly screen potential clients themselves, all of which is not that difficult with a moderate level of effort put in. Before people even started using Backpage, workers could only rely on agents, who would charge them a hefty commission fee. This unbalances the power balance between worker and agent. Not all agents are decent people, obviously, they can and will make use of this leverage they have over you to get whatever they want from you. This is why agents charge commission fees, set certain work conditions, and workers will just have to accept that commission fee or find someone else to be their agent. Not saying that agents should stop demanding that workers pay them for admin work, but Backpage helps to shift that power balance where the worker can very easily be autonomous and run their biz themselves, without being at the mercy of anyone else. They are completely free to set their own working terms, rates, etc.... Even if Backpage isn't a big thing in Japan, it may not be the case in other countries.. The shutting down of Backpage affects workers all over the world.
Additionally, the shutting down of Backpage is going to set a very dangerous (legal) precedent for other businesses that gain from sex work. So many other industries gain from sex work, F&B(restaurants, alcohol), hospitality(hotel/travel), transport(taxis), etc.... Does this mean they should be shut down as well?
Don't forget that this lawsuit against Backpage comes at a very uncanny time, where the person pressing for charges against Backpage, state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris,
just so happens to be running for the U.S. Senate.
Re bait and switch on Backpage, I think it's on the client to be more vigilant and responsible for their consumer decisions. I believe as long as escorts just keep doing their thing, the real discerning(should I use the phrase "possessing common sense" or is that too blunt?) clients will be able to tell who's genuinely put in effort into their marketing and overall biz appearance. I don't believe it's an issue for us girls who've clearly put in our heart and soul into our business (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
There is an ongoing debate on TER, but the general consensus amongst independents is that reviews are good for business, but not when reviews serve to boost the client's ego more than anything else. In the USA, where selling sex is completely illegal, graphic reviews where the punter talks about how amazing his cock is for the escort do nothing for business, and even endanger the worker involved.
