Great column, with some much-needed perspective, especially in this publication. I hope it helps more people come to their senses a bit. Thanks.

Great column, MM. In particular, I love the closing paragraph. With so much sensationalism, it's good to see someone take the time to tear apart numbers like these, as well as pointing to the reasons both the researchers and VVM might have for inflating.

Well said. Fear-mongering seems to be the favorite pastime of many leaders in our country. It's up to us, the citizenry, to not let them get away with it, and I laud you for doing just that.

Well done.

"The fundamentalist-feminist complex" is truly a frightening concept.

Thank you for putting the truth out there. It's scary to see such sensationalism based on completely false information.

I'm always weary of any statistics in the media, but it's still shocking to see such blatant lies uncovered. I can understand rounded-up numbers or surveys that aren't fully representative, but this case is obviously someone profiting off of people's goodwill.

Makes you wonder what else is a complete lie.

And if they shut down Backpage, then what? The government and media pressure shutting down anything else they disapprove of with the use of blatant and indefensible lies?

VV currently works with law enforcement to report and remove possible ads that involve minors. The prostitution industry also works hard to police itself because every case of a 16 or 17 year old involved in prostitution (who can legally have sex with adults but become both criminals and victims simultaneously if they receive anything of value) is used as an excuse for violent raids and arrest. Internet advertising has done more to clean up the sex work industry than the last 100 years of prosecution.

In this economic climate, we have to focus on tactics that actually work! It wasn't that long ago that the City of Seattle executed a violent raid (rifles out, SWAT gear on, women tossed to the ground and handcuffed on the floor). One of the women (who enjoyed her job because of the flexibility and excellent pay that she used to take care of her young child instead of relying on public assistance) had an asthma attack and police spent minutes ignoring her and then debating whether they should allow her into her purse to get her inhaler. They had spent months paying officers to go in and get handjobs to bust an establishment that had been operating peacefully in the neighborhood for 8 YEARS. Did prostitution stop in Seattle because of the hundreds of paid personnel involved? Of course not. They are still in the exact same location but now they go to work in fear instead of the comfort and security everyone enjoyed peacefully previously. All the women there were US citizens over 18 who had decided that sex work was their best option. Many had advanced degrees or were students, some were high school dropouts, most were single mothers and all of them were making more than $100/hour working a flexible part time job.

Let's waste money raiding a McDonald's. Ridiculous labor law violations and tons of single mothers who have to take food home from work to supplement the unliveable wage they receive. I got my first job at one at 15. No one called that trafficking.

@10 I agree! This article was well written and spurred me on to do scads more reading and research. Nice job, MM.

Nicely written MM. As the saying goes "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics"

People get turned off when they discover they've been lied to, and this issue is too important to lie about, even if your aim is noble.

That last paragraph made me want to give you a big old kiss, MM. (Or, you know, whatever you'd prefer as a sign of affection...;)

"An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will." Thomas Jefferson

Misrepresentation of the facts or worse, representing conjecture as fact is disingenuous and lowers the discussion to the level of politics. Thanks for speaking out to shine a light on misguided efforts.

I thought Kutcher had a brain in his head...now this. Sigh.

MM-thank you for this article.

The more the citizenry focuses on non-problem problems touted by "experts" like actors, athletes, etc the less the people running things have to explain their lame-ass choices.

Is child-exploitation a problem? Absolutely. But child prostitution is a raindrop in an unquiet sea compared to forced-child labor (where were *your* clothes made and by whom?), de-funding primary education, and kicking hungry kids off food subsidy programs because our elected officials can't balance their checkbooks.

Wonderful points made. I have to concur that inflated facts harm any validity of the proponent of the claims. As someone who briefly survived as a sex worker in my mid 20's I didn't run into many under 18 in Seattle 5 at most. All five were 17 and doing it independently and of their own volition. The idea of there being enough to populate 3 Everetts or the entire Olympic Peninsula is just ludicrous.

Great column, Matisse! Thank you so much for calling attention to the bullshit statistics and even more bullshit motivations of stupid movie stars.

Well said. These numbers are just like the old ritual Satanic abuse nonsense that ruined so many lives.

Moralists are always worse than the causes they fight for.

OH I KNOW how we could put a dent in child prostitution..howsabout actually prosecuting child sex abusers and effectively keep them away from other children?

Excellent column, except for those three little words: "fundamentalist-feminist complex." Feminists hold widely varied and even opposing positions on a great many issues, including the sex industry; the only core tenet of feminism is that one's gender should not limit one's rights or opportunities. I am sick and fucking tired of seeing "feminist" used as a casual synonym for "fringe-dwelling lunatic" and/or "sex-hating prude."

I can appreciate the sentiment, but I do think a celebrity bringing attention to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a good thing. When I was working at the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) agency in Harlem, NYC in 2007, we had a very difficult time even convincing voters to pass laws protecting rather than punishing underage prostitutes. GEMS was probably helping hundreds of CSEC victims in NYC alone. Other reports from Atlanta during a major sporting event estimated more than a thousand girls trafficked for sex. Based on what I know about the life, I would expect all of these numbers to be extremely conservative. Of course, even ball parking the number at 5000 or so is still many fewer than Kutcher is quoting. So obviously a misuse of figures. But I think we are talking about at least a few thousand kids. Given the racial and socioeconomic issues and the average age of entry into prostitution (it is 13, btw), I can forgive an exaggeration of numbers if it means we are TALKING about CSEC as we are here. Bravo, Kutcher, even if your numbers are off.

I appreciate the perspective that this article presents and the reality check it provides regarding the statistics being exploited in the public rhetoric. However, I have a hard time accepting it at face value. Mistress Matisse stands to face serious professional disadvantages if the sex industry were persecuted more seriously in the name of protecting children. The safe and consensual sex industry has a terrible overlap with the human and child trafficking industry and I would be more inclined to accept MM's perspective if she didn't avoid that part of the discussion. Ashton Kutcher may be using hyperbolic figures in his awareness campaign and thus risking our precious tax dollars, but what does MM propose instead? Protecting vulnerable children from being sexually exploited for profit is an important goal--what kind of awareness campaign or re-writing of legislation would be more effective than what Kutcher is doing? That's the article I want to read.

@27 How about a truthful ad campaign? Sure, no one wants to see child molesters buying kids but lying about it doesn't help that. Money is tight and there's a lot of people, kids too, who need it other places too. Get your story straight and make a case from there but face facts, the government is not a bottomless well of money.

@25 - while I agree with people lazily conflating feminism with prudishness, I think you missed the fact that Matisse was qualifying the TYPE of feminist she was referring to.

While I think labelling it a "fundamentalist-feminist COMPLEX" might be a bit exaggerated, there certainly are those feminists who are lampooned as "Women Against Everything". And who unfortunately seem to wield a lot of power when their ideas line up with the religious fundamentalists.

I certainly don't think Matisse was trying to label all feminists as "fundamentalists" - quite the converse. But, yes, I see how it could be ambiguous in the context - maybe slightly more clarification that the label is supposed to a distinguishing one rather than a general one (describing all feminists) wouldn't hurt.