Former Underage Prostitute Sold on Backpage.com: 'Like Going Back to Slave Times'

The classified advertising website Backpage.com makes approximately $22 million a year from escort ads, and a portion of those ads are selling victims of human trafficking. Nicholas Kristof gave a voice to one of those victims in an op-ed for the New York Times, where he once again made the case for the website’s closure.

As a minor, ‘Alissa’ was trafficked by pimps on Backpage.com. Alissa was her street name; she told Kristof she didn’t want to use her real name for fear Village Voice Media, the owner of Backpage.com,

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