Craigslist.org can be a great website to find a used bicycle, children’s clothing, and information on local events and classes. It is also known for the more seedy side – sexual predators and illicit services.
Unwanted Listings for Therapeutic Services
In 2008 Craigslist implemented a couple of features for erotic services listings after it received a lot of press and even legal pressure. These features include that the account listing the service has to provide a legitimate phone number and a credit card. While this significantly cut down on the listings under erotic services all of the illicit ads have now moved into therapeutic services, a section where massage therapists, acupuncturists and chiropractors advertise.
The majority of these ads are targeted as massages with sex, for money. This form of prostitution has endangered the safety of legitimate massage therapists and bodyworkers because clients think they can request a sexual service with their massage. Terms such as masseuse and masseur are used to disguise the fact that these sex workers have little to no training in the massage therapy profession. It can also be dangerous for potential clients who think they are visiting a legitimate practitioner, not a sex worker.
Craigslist is Sued by Sheriff
On March 5, 2009 a Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart, announced that his office is suing Craigslist on the grounds that the website is the “largest source” of prostitution according to news report from Chicago Breaking News.
But now that this is out in the open very little is being done for the fact that therapeutic services, an area that is intended for health and wellness advertisements, is being overrun by ads for prostitutes.
Using Professional Directories Instead of Craigslist to Find Therapeutic Services
There are better ways to look for a licensed and professional practitioner than going on Craiglist. Here are some directories that can be used to find a number of wellness service practitioners in a local area:
- ACAtoday.com – website of the American Chiropractic Association with an online directory of members nationwide.
- Acufinder.com – has a referral list for licensed Acupuncturists.
- AMTAmassage.com – the American Massage Therapy Association provides a membership directory to a professional massage therapist.
- AOBTA.org – website for the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia that provides referrals for bodywork practitioners in shiatsu, tui na, amma and more.
- ARCB.net – site for the American Reflexology Certification Board, has an online directory of board certified Reflexologists.
- MassageTherapy.com – sponsored by the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals association offers a searchable database of massage and bodywork professionals by zip code.
- NAHA.org – website of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and has a directory of aromatherapy practitioners.
- Naturopathic.org – the website of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians offers a referral directory.
How Craiglist can Improve their Efforts
Since the website is largely user-regulated it would make sense for Craigslist to implement a stricter policy for advertisers. More steps may be in the works but to date the only way to remove a sexually explicit listing from the therapeutic services section is to flag it, hope others will flag it too, or to send an email to abuse@craigslist.org. This is not an effective system since the entire section has ‘gone to the dogs’ and very little can be done to remove serial posters.
One possible solution might be that any poster flagged as “prohibited” or “illegal” would have an account review. Does that account post illicit services in the wrong category? Should that account be banned from posting in that category ever again?
The smartest thing for the time being is to simply find an alternative resource to look for therapeutic services from licensed and trained practitioners.
Amy Kreydin - Amy Kreydin, NBCRT, CCAP, BD is a Board Certified Reflexologist and Clinical Aromatherapist.
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