The online classified advertising site, Craigslist , is facing accusations that it has become a hub for underage prostitution after two young women placed an advertisement in the Washington Post saying they were repeatedly sold through the site to men who "paid to rape" them.
The allegations came as a federal judge threw out an attempt by Craigslist β named after its owner, Craig Newmark β to stop a criminal investigation over its "adult services" section which is alleged to carry thousands of prostitution ads daily. In an open letter to Newmark placed in the Washington Post, the two women appealed for him to shut Craigslist's adult services section.
One of the women, who identified herself as MC, said she was forced into prostitution at the age of 11 by a man who trafficked "many girls my age". The second woman, identified as AK, said that last year she met a man twice her age who pretended to be her boyfriend. This became my life," the ad said.
AK said she knew of more than 20 girls who were trafficked on the site: "Like me, they were taken from city to city, each time sold on a different Craigslist site.
The ad was partly paid for by Fair Fund, a group working with young women who have been sold for sex. It described Craigslist as "the Wal-Mart of online sex trafficking". Fair Fund said it had checked the women's accounts and could vouch for them.
