I'm a bit confused about the Monica Peterson story...or perhaps just confused about her, and maybe her colleagues' use of the term 'human trafficking'...In an interview with Chris Sowa, Monica and Rex Hamaker down play government statistics on human sex trafficking and focus more on sex workers rights (audio interview link further down in post).

To some degree we can see what they are getting at when one wants to separate out statistics on voluntary prostitution from coerced sexual slavery. Or cases where, if one prostitute talks to another prostitute about finding a customer it could constitute a case of Human Trafficking.

I get that, but we've been, or at least I've been, under the impression that Monica was looking to address Sexual Trafficking in the same spirit that we are, and now I don't think that's the case. Perhaps underage sex workers wouldn't strike her as being the wrong thing to do if it was safe and voluntary (underage isn't an issue in countries with no age of consent restrictions).

I don't know, it's just that her interview with Chris Stowe sounded like her greatest peeve was people like Siddharth Kara overstating the occurrence and severity of human sexual trafficking and that her mission was to inform people how providing a save and legal venue for sex workers would naturally take care of what little problem really did exist.

So, given this, her NGO idea was not along the lines of what we thought in regards to sex trafficking and maybe, perhaps, her NGO idea ended up to have nothing to do with sex slavery at all, focusing instead on worker rights, fair wages etc. She was a SJW, and if there is one thing we know about the current SJW circles is that they promote sexualizing kids from early on, and in some circles, normalizing/legalizing sex with teens (((kids)))..."consensually" of course! /s

How did I get here? First there's this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/12/06/another-false-pizzagate-tale-the-death-of-a-sex-worker-activist-in-haiti/?utm_term=.ed2d00b7d085 (which is refuted on some points by this article: http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2016/12/washington-post-misinforms-readers-about-monica-petersen-pizzagate/18705/ )

"D’Estree said Petersen had gone to Haiti a number of times, but she was not there to research human trafficking and was not investigating the Clinton Foundation. He said she had been a “brilliant” research fellow, working the past two years to produce a still unpublished article that critiqued a controversial book on the business of sex trafficking by Siddharth Kara."

From Wikipedia: "Siddharth Kara is an author, activist and expert on modern day slavery and human trafficking. He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and Director of the Program on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and also a Visiting Scientist on Forced Labor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is best known for his award-winning book, Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2009) and his most recent book, Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia (2012)."

to continue from the first article: "Indeed, Petersen was active in promoting sex-worker rights. Her last interview before her death was for a two-hour podcast, which aired in September, hosted by Chris Sowa titled “Fighting the Trafficking Narrative from Alaska to Rhode Island.”

Before going on a 2015 trip to Haiti, Petersen asked for help locating pro-sex worker organizations. “I am a social anthropologist who wants do solid research on HT, rescuing people is not in my agenda (this is a stupid & imperialist concept),” she posted on a Facebook message board.

“She was a sweetie, an amazing, wonderful girl,” said Elle, an activist in Colorado. “She really did care about sex-worker rights,” eager to do battle against anti-trafficking advocates such as Swanee Hunt, who want to end the sex trade entirely.

http://sexwithstrangersshow.com/ Episode 26: Fighting the Trafficking Narrative from Alaska to Rhode Island Mainstream discussions of the sex industry have mostly revolved around human trafficking. In this episode we explore why that narrative is misleading and harmful. The interviews featured here were recorded in Nebraska, Rhode Island, Alaska, California, and Illinois. Guests include Terra Burns (Community United for Safety and Protection), Maxine Doogan (the Erotic Service Providers Legal, Educational and Research Project), Bella Robinson (COYOTE RI), Monica Peterson and Rex Hamaker (University of Denver's Human Trafficking Center), Hannah Marshall (Brown University), and Erin Black (The Sexual A-Team). Articles discussed in this episode include The Banks' War on Porn Stars by Richard Abowitz and Marlow Stern, The Case for Decriminalizing Prostitution by German Lopez, Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler's Why You Should be Wary About Statistics on 'Modern Slavery' and 'Trafficking' and The Biggest Pinocchios of 2015, Should Prostitution be a Crime? by Emily Bazelon. Also check out Bazelon's follow-up concerning Amnesty International's Policy on State Obligations to Respect, Protect and Fulfil the Human Rights of Sex Workers. Go here to help fund legal efforts to fully decriminalize sex work in the United States and here to listen to Keyana's full testimonial. Three quick corrections: Maxine (not Terra) interviewed Keyana; Sextraffickingalaska.com is maintained by Community United for Safety and Protection (not just Terra); Last (and in fact least), Chris began gathering audio for this episode in October of 2015 (not September of 2015). We regret these errors. Duration: 2 hours, 1 minute