NEW YORK — Recent crackdowns targeting the sex-for-hire industry have reduced the number of commercial ads on the internet and helped fight online trafficking. Laura LeMoon, a sex worker and trafficking survivor who co-founded the Safe Night Access Project in Seattle to help protect street sex workers, said she has seen far more women on Seattle’s strolls. She used to primarily serve middle-aged sex workers, she said, but now they often appear 25 or younger. Along with the rise in street prostitution has come a resurgence in pimping, which had faded in the internet age, according to sex workers and advocates. Still, even activists who acknowledge a trend of more street prostitution believe the trafficking act is better than unchecked online exploitation.

Source: National Post September 24, 2018 04:30 UTC