Seventeen Attorneys General Demand That Craigslist Remove Its Hooker Ads

Saying that the site is enabling prostitution and child trafficking, a coalition of 17 state Attorneys General are demanding that Craigslist remove its adult services section.

"Only Craigslist has the power to stop these ads before they are even published," Kansas attorney general Steve Six said in a statement. "Sadly, they are completely unwilling to do so." The joint letter acknowledged Craigslist faces the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section. "No amount of money, however, can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist," the letter said. Craigslist supports states' efforts to stop illegal exploitation, spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best said in a statement that did not indicate whether the website plans to get rid of its adult services section. "We hope to work closely with them, as we are with experts at nonprofits and in law enforcement, to prevent misuse of our site in facilitation of trafficking," she said. Some encounters set up through Craigslist have ended in violence and even death, authorities have said.

The adult services section of Craigslist is one of the few areas of the site which charges for postings.