Perhaps you’ve heard about Operation Cross Country, a three-day, nationwide FBI operation that was supposedly targeting child prostitution trafficking. I didn’t realize it had happened right here in Chicago. “Of those arrested in the Chicago area, 5 were charged with running prostitution operations, 34 were charged with prostitution, and 5 were customers, according to the release. No minors were found.” (Emphasis mine)
In all the cities targeted, only 47 children have been rescued, whereas 518 adult sex workers have been arrested and are being charged with felonies, when the crime is actually a state-level misdemeanor. As the Chicago branch of the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) notes:
To target child prostitution and trafficking is one thing. To scapegoat sex workers and crackdown on prostitution in the name of preventing trafficking is a horse of a different color. It’s a waste of money and it’s a waste of tax-payer resources. And if you really care about ‘rescuing’ sex workers, why the f*ck are you giving them felony records?
There is a pretty steep disconnect between what Operation Cross Country set out to do (stop the exploitation of children) and what they actually did (persecute adult sex workers). And the fact that over 100 police officers in Chicago and the surrounding area were involved in this effort is an indicator of where our real priorities lay. Why aren’t we addressing the violence responsible for the deaths of 21 Chicago Public School students who have been killed this year alone? Or the unabashed corruptness of our local and state government? Or, oh, remember the alarming economic crisis thing?
For more info: visit SWOP's blog at http://redlightchicago.wordpress.com/
Comments
Yeah, it's kind of like the DUI task force. who is going to argue with getting drunk drivers off the streets but they also write tickets for your taillight being out or you don't have your insurance card with you. also all you have to have consummed is one beer in the last hour to be "impaired". so it's good money for city hall and great p.r.for the c.o.p.s.(control overt public situations)
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