Read Nicholas Kristof in Sunday's New York Times. It turns out Goldman Sachs was an investor in Village Voice Media, owners of Backpage.com, perhaps the leading human trafficking Web site in the United States. They specialize in providing a forum for pimps and johns to exploit women and girls, some as young as 13 or 14.
Back in January, I blogged about the problem of coercive, exploitive prostitution in Seattle. We documented that 67 individuals acting as pimps had victimized more than 78 girls and women in King County in a 42-month period; the vast majority of the victims were juveniles. Here's a chart that shows each of the cases and their final disposition.
Well over half of the juvenile victims were exploited through commercial advertising on Backpage.com or other Internet sites. Shame on Village Voice Media and their investors for supporting and encouraging sexual exploitation of our children.
Jim Larkin serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Village Voice Media, Inc. You can write Mr. Larkin here.