Craig Newmark bowed to political pressure and closed down his site's Adult Services section. (Image by Sierra Communications.)

I know I’m a guy and not permitted by law to read Jezebel, but that site has the smartest and most honest take I’ve come across on the recent furor regarding Craigslist’s Adult Services section. The thought of people selling sex on Craigslist is as icky to me as it is anyone else. I think just buying a couch from the site would make me vomit. But here’s the question: Since it’s going to happen anyway, did law-enforcement officials who pressured the site into closing the section actually help or hurt the sex workers? Trying to maximize their safety and well-being should be the goal instead of empty moralizing, shouldn’t it? Jezebel wisely asked someone involved in the trade to write about the matter in “A Sex Worker On Life After Craigslist.” An excerpt:

“Really, the women most affected by the shuttering of Adult Services are all the ‘non-pros’ — college students and young women freelancing in the sex trade for extra money. ‘It was the safest, easiest way for an independent woman to earn a little extra cash doing something she already enjoyed — without the risks or rigmarole that can go along with being a ‘pro,’ explained Vita, a 30-something, Ivy-leaguer who used CL between, and sometimes during, the low-paying ‘real jobs’ her MFA afforded her.

Despite the fact that the Attorneys General claim the site was a source of ‘misery’ for ‘women and children victimized by these ads,’ I couldn’t find anyone who actually used CL’s Adult Services and agreed. The greatest threat to sex workers is when they don’t have the ability to screen or have a say in the clients they see. This is particularly true for those who work for agencies whose bottom line is money. As independents, while the money can be very important, when it comes to instincts, you put your safety first.”