HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

Ashton Kutcher Helped Promote a Bogus Sex Trafficking Claim. Will We Ever Shake It?

Views:972
@ReasonVids

A statistic about underage sex trafficking was circulated for years by politicians and journalists. Turns out that claim was bogus.

------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

------------------

One hundred thousand to 300,000 underage people are sex trafficked every year in the United States.

The anti-child sex-trafficking movement has cited that statistic repeatedly. It was used to build a case against Backpage.com, the online classified site that's now the focus of a criminal trial. In 2011, Ashton Kutcher recited the claim several times, including on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight in 2011.

The number sounded fishy to Backpage.com's former co-owner Michael Lacey. Reporters at The Village Voice, which Lacey also co-owned, traced it back to a 2001 University of Pennsylvania study by Richard J. Estes and Neil Weiner. That paper estimated that there were 100,000 to 300,000 children deemed at risk for sexual exploitation in the US, Canada, and Mexico—not just the United States.

The Voice also found out that the study's methodology was flawed because its figures were based on guesses at who might end up a victim of sex trafficking, instead of actual cases. Furthermore, the data was more than 12 years out of date by the time Kutcher and others were citing it. The Voice published its findings in a cover story called, "Real Men Get Their Facts Straight."

The Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire told researchers and journalists in 2008 not to cite the study and its lead author, Estes, told the Washington Post that "clearly, a new, more current study is needed for research."

The 100,000 to 300,000 number still appears in online stories and newspaper op-eds and it's often attributed to outdated government publications.

The video above is an excerpt from Reason's documentary "The War on Backpage.com Is a War on Sex Workers." Watch the complete film.

Darkest Child A by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100783
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Photo of Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher; Credit: SIPA USA/SIPA/Newscom

Photos of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore at Clinton Global Initiative; Credit: Sharkpixs/ZUMApress/Newscom

Photo of Mike Pompeo; Credit: Camilo Freedman/ZUMA Press/Newscom

Photo of FBI; Credit: Album/Prisma/Newscom

Photo of FBI; Credit: World History Archive/Newscom

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
backpage
,
ashton kutcher
,
demi moore
    Thumbnail for Donald Trump Has the Power to Release Nonviolent Marijuana Offenders from Prison. Will He Act?11:19
    Donald Trump Has the Power to Release Nonviolent Marijuana Offenders from Prison. Will He Act?
    ReasonVids
    917 views
    Thumbnail for Ultra Instinct Goku - Survival Session (Part 2) - M.U.G.E.N.8:39
    Ultra Instinct Goku - Survival Session (Part 2) - M.U.G.E.N.
    memology101
    1295 views
    Thumbnail for Do the Cops Know Your Info? A Conversation with the ACLU of Illinois's Adam Schwartz4:55
    Do the Cops Know Your Info? A Conversation with the ACLU of Illinois's Adam Schwartz
    ReasonVids
    870 views
    Thumbnail for LAPD Had "No Idea" Who They Were Shooting At In Dorner Pursuit, Says Victims' Attorney5:49
    LAPD Had "No Idea" Who They Were Shooting At In Dorner Pursuit, Says Victims' Attorney
    ReasonVids
    917 views
    Thumbnail for We Could Be Vaccinating Twice as Fast. The Government Won't Allow It.7:07
    We Could Be Vaccinating Twice as Fast. The Government Won't Allow It.
    ReasonVids
    1011 views
    Thumbnail for "Of course jews don't really participate in athletics, that's what we use to divert the energy of the gentiles whilst we take over the systems of power"0:36
    "Of course jews don't really participate in athletics, that's what we use to divert the energy of the gentiles whilst we take over the systems of power"
    bestofvoatxyz
    856 views
    Thumbnail for Clown scooter0:35
    Clown scooter
    bestofvoatxyz
    1676 views
    Thumbnail for Remy: Jim Carrey's Cold Dead Hand - A Rebuttal1:56
    Remy: Jim Carrey's Cold Dead Hand - A Rebuttal
    ReasonVids
    895 views
    Thumbnail for Exclusive: Barack Obama Talks Harry Reid, Economy, Legacy with Reason TV1:21
    Exclusive: Barack Obama Talks Harry Reid, Economy, Legacy with Reason TV
    ReasonVids
    812 views
    Thumbnail for Ranking Economic Freedom with The Heritage Foundation's James Roberts6:37
    Ranking Economic Freedom with The Heritage Foundation's James Roberts
    ReasonVids
    835 views
    Thumbnail for Thom Thom Wright0:31
    Thom Thom Wright
    cankerstank
    268 views
    Thumbnail for False Facts About Steak Everyone Actually Believes | Mashed7:21
    False Facts About Steak Everyone Actually Believes | Mashed
    invidious
    306 views
    Thumbnail for Abe Simpson - Union Buster0:55
    Abe Simpson - Union Buster
    clips
    1091 views
    Thumbnail for Time and gravity, the kings of thot patrol. RIP bobs 😫😭0:18
    Time and gravity, the kings of thot patrol. RIP bobs 😫😭
    bestofupgoat
    253 views
    Thumbnail for You can almost see the lughtbulb flicker...0:45
    You can almost see the lughtbulb flicker...
    voatgoat
    604 views
    Thumbnail for Honda Accord -- How to bleed the brake fluid | Genius Asian4:46
    Honda Accord -- How to bleed the brake fluid | Genius Asian
    cars.topic
    591 views
    Thumbnail for IRS Protectionism:  New Licensing Scheme Challenged in Major Federal Lawsuit3:59
    IRS Protectionism: New Licensing Scheme Challenged in Major Federal Lawsuit
    IJvids
    910 views
    Thumbnail for Philip Payton Jr.: The Crusading Capitalist Who Outwitted New York's Racist Landlords5:20
    Philip Payton Jr.: The Crusading Capitalist Who Outwitted New York's Racist Landlords
    ReasonVids
    1023 views
    Thumbnail for Freedom Friend Founder Talks Pop Culture and Women at FreedomFest 20115:14
    Freedom Friend Founder Talks Pop Culture and Women at FreedomFest 2011
    ReasonVids
    939 views
    Thumbnail for Jon Haidt on The Coddling of the American Mind and How We Should Address It25:48
    Jon Haidt on The Coddling of the American Mind and How We Should Address It
    ReasonVids
    906 views
    Thumbnail for Iceland embraced the Minnesota Vikings and even gave them their famous skol chant from their soccer team0:59
    Iceland embraced the Minnesota Vikings and even gave them their famous skol chant from their soccer team
    bestofvoatxyz
    764 views
    Thumbnail for nigger Brings His Entire Family Including Several Hungry Children To Walmart Grabs Food, Sits On Floor And Has A Picnic In The Middle Of The Isle1:07
    nigger Brings His Entire Family Including Several Hungry Children To Walmart Grabs Food, Sits On Floor And Has A Picnic In The Middle Of The Isle
    AOUisgay
    437 views
    Thumbnail for Why More People Identify as Libertarian: Q&A with Freedomworks' David Kirby6:18
    Why More People Identify as Libertarian: Q&A with Freedomworks' David Kirby
    ReasonVids
    911 views
    Thumbnail for 3 Reasons Health Care Reform Won't Cut The Deficit By One Thin Dime.2:20
    3 Reasons Health Care Reform Won't Cut The Deficit By One Thin Dime.
    ReasonVids
    908 views
    Thumbnail for Marijuana Is Legal in Colorado...Now What?2:33
    Marijuana Is Legal in Colorado...Now What?
    ReasonVids
    754 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
backpage
,
ashton kutcher
,
demi moore
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle