Part Wev in an ongoing series…
Shaker Addler forwards this story via CNN—whose inconsistency re: the use of the word makes them a particularly frustrating culprit, because sometimes they get it spot-on—which is headlined: "Feds: Girl, 12, trained to work as dominatrix," followed by the usual euphemisms like:
The indictment says Barkau began training the girl in 2000, when she was 12, and forced her to engage in sex acts with him and with other men.Addler notes there's "a better word for this. But the headline: '12 year old girl repeatedly raped for profit' sounds so much less appealing, I guess." Indeed.
Personally, my "favorite" part is this:
Todd B. Barkau, 35, of New York state, and the 44-year-old mother were charged in the seven-count indictment. They once lived together in Blue Springs, Missouri, where the sex business was said to have been run.The sex business. Like a family who makes and markets delicious home-made frozen dairy treats might be said to run an ice cream business.
I almost can't think of a more inappropriate way of describing renting out one's minor daughter to rapists for profit than "the sex business."
A purveyor of high-quality dildos runs a sex business. The owner of the Chippendales All-Male Revue runs a sex business. A madam overseeing adult, consenting women runs a sex business. A video distributor specializing in Bartok Twins films runs a sex business. Hugh Hefner runs a sex business.
Adults who train and market a little girl as a sex worker don't run a sex business.
They're professional rapists.
Though "where the sex trafficking was headquartered" would have sufficed.
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