(Reviewed by JD Jung)
#CommissionsEarned
“While a commercial sex transaction may seem consensual on the surface, the lopsided power dynamic, the history of trauma and abuse, and the lack of options often make the consent illusory. And sex without consent is rape. The exchange of money doesn’t change that.”
By 2012, human trafficking was the world’s second largest criminal business, next only to the manufacturing and sale of narcotics.
Prosecutor Maggy Krell discovered that the majority of sex-trafficking victims in the United States were not immigrants but were born in the United States. Disproportionate number of victims were (and still are) African American girls and minors. Though she started her legal career in San Joaquin County prosecuting street pimps and motels that facilitated sex trafficking, she would later take on one of the most powerful classified advertising websites, Backpage.com.
Though Backpage did advertise general goods for sale to make the site look legitimate, it made the bulk of its money from ads featuring children for sex. By 2014 Backpage operated in eight hundred cities around the world. A small transaction fee was charged for every ad, but these ads generated millions of dollars a month in profit for the company and that was just in California.
Krell takes us step-by-step in the investigation, prosecution, setbacks, and ultimate takedown of Backpage. Not only did the company have unlimited funds to hire the best attorneys, but it also afforded them the opportunity to present themselves in the best possible light to law enforcement. What was more complicated though were the issues of free speech and privacy as well as the culpability of websites in engaging in criminal behavior. These issues continue today.
Krell knows her readers and explains the legal nuances in engaging lay terms. She includes her interactions with victims and advocates as well as legal professionals.
Though this is a memoir, it reads more like a breathtaking crime story. The writing is sharp and memorable and Krell builds the tension, hooks us from the beginning and doesn’t let go.
More importantly Taking Down Backpage reminds us of a devastating crisis that society shouldn’t forget and what we must do about it now.
