I really hope that the dude they have in custody is the actual Craig's List Killer. It sure seems like that's the most likely scenario, what with his prints and DNA all over the crime scenes in Boston and Rhode Island. I feel strange about this, but a large part of me definitelt does want to see him go to prison for the rest of his life.
apparently he may have tried to kill himself. Boo fucking hoo. I do feel uneasy about my own "lock him up and throw away the key" mentality, as he seems to have unaddressed mental health issues and prison isn't gonna do shit to help that. I get really angry thinking about how much violence could be prevented if we had mechanisms for dealing with people--violent, crazy misogynists, say--other than waiting for them to kill someone. But that's a post for later.
For now I want to direct your attention to the penultimate paragraph of the article I linked above:
There are more calls for Craigslist to take down its "erotic services" category, or police the site more. "It is clear that Craigslist is the new frontier," Mark Lagon, executive director of the anti-trafficking group the Polaris Project told the Associated Press. "Ultimately, the 'erotic services' section must be shut down," Lagon said, explaining that a study last year found Craigslist was the site used most frequently by johns seeking prostitutes. Last month in Illinois, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart sued the site, claiming that it has actively created, "the largest source of prostitution in America."
How ass backwards is that? Let's Protect Women* by driving their work into deeper secrecy, that makes a lot of sense. Independent hookers actually have been doing business since before Craig's List came around, gonna go out on a limb and guess they'll continue on with or without an "erotic services" category. It'll be a pain in the ass for some, but no deal breaker for most.
The take away here--and this should be obvious to anyone, regardless of how they personally feel about prostitution--is that sex workers in general, those who do out call work in particular, are especially vulnerable to certain kinds of violence. These kinds of men think they can get away with murder, if the victim is a sex worker. Because of the marginalized nature of their labor, they are in practice afforded less protection under the law. THAT is what you need to look at if you want to prevent psychos from killing prostitutes.
Then there's the blaming the victim subtexts--as if this dude wouldn't have killed anyone if there were no prostitutes. As if he couldn't have entrapped a non-sex worker through any number of means, perhaps even Craig's List-related! As if misogynist violence happens to sex workers (and maybe some other deviants), not women who avoid "dangerous" behavior.
*Of course all sex workers are women, didn't you know?
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3 comments:
Yes to everything that you said. If we want the violence against sex workers to stop we need to affirm that they are every bit as valuable to society as everyone else. When Stephine Becks killer got one day in prison for her murder how does this show that there are consequences at that these women matter in any way? If we treat them like disposable bodies then men will believe that they have the right to do anything they want without consequences.
The woman who was killed in Boston was actually killed at her incall, not at an outcall. She rented a hotel room to work out of, she did not go to his room or apartment. But escorts (or erotic masseuses, in this case) doing incall or outcall, while they are at risk of violence, are not in the group most at risk. The most at risk are people working on the street.
Thanks for the clarification.
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