Fiercely abolitionist, she has translated, researched and written on the issue of prostitution for a number of years, and has contributed to the Fondation Scelles Global Report. She has a special interest in misogynistic practices that are not always recognised as such and the indulgent discourses that often accompany them, as with veiling.
FS: You say the digital revolution has had an impact on the way prostitution is advertised. Can you tell me more and give some examples? YA: The final pages of local newspapers used to teem with prostitution ads, but the digital revolution swept through and online classified ads have now taken over.
The principle remains the pretty much the same though — what has changed is the scale of the sexual exploitation. I doubt that Metro would ever have dreamt of figures like that. This is another distinction between paper and digital advertising: the backstage orchestration of prostitution and a terrifying manipulation. The Backpage executives knew full well that their website enabled the sexual abuse of children.
They knew how to identify ads for the prostitution of children. But rather than doing anything to protect those children, they arranged for any incriminating words and images in the ads to be changed or deleted, so they themselves would not be caught. I recommend taking a look at the investigation carried out by the American Department of Justice.
The mocking, devil-may-care tone used in the email exchanges demonstrates that the men in the department could not care less about the violence being done to children right under their noses.
