Earlier in the year I wrote this post about shutting down Craigslist’s adult ads which were responsible for online prostitution and child trafficking. At that time, there were many heated debates regarding the right approach for bringing attention to this, including boycotting the site. Some people felt that boycotting was the wrong approach because it was the “Christian status quo.” Instead we should “thank them for donating money to anti-trafficking organizations,” (which was a PR trick and the organization sent the money back), etc. 

At any rate, I’m happy to say that boycotts, lawsuits, and public outrage has paid off and Craigslist has been forced to shut down the adult services ads in the United States as stated by  this CNN report.

“This step is very much in the right direction,” said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who spearheaded a letter from 17 attorneys general who recently banded together to urge Craigslist to discontinue its adult services section.The embattled website has been under fire for allegations that it promotes prostitution.“These prostitution ads enable human trafficking and assaults on women,” said Blumenthal. “They are flagrant and rampant. Craigslist has lacked the wherewithal or will to effectively screen them out.”

“The increasingly sharp public criticism of Craigslist’s Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution — including ads trafficking children — are rampant on it,” the attorneys general had said in an Aug. 24 letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and Founder Craig Newmark.

Unfortunately, these ads are still up in foreign countries, which continues to make it easy for sex traffickers to exploit women and children. If Craigslist is serious about this issue they will shut them down too.

Thanks for your work in being a voice, writing to your senators and congressmen/women, and boycotting. It has paid off.