Craigslist officials seem open to changing their online sex ads section in Canada after dropping it altogether in the United States, says a human trafficking expert.
Ben Perrin, a law professor at the University of B.C., along with the RCMP and the Peel Regional Police force in Ontario have discussed the issue with Craigslist in an effort to prevent sexual exploitation of minors.
“We already know that Craigslist has been used as a portal for the sale of victims of human trafficking in Canada,” Perrin said.
“We’ve had at least six cases in the Greater Toronto Area where the Peel Regional Police have identified Craigslist as being primarily involved for the sale of these victims of sex trafficking.”
An Ontario man, convicted in Canada’s first human trafficking case last year, used the free site to sell a 15-year-old girl as a prostitute, Perrin said.
Critics have called Craigslist an online brothel after a Boston masseuse was killed earlier this year when she responded to an ad on the popular site.
