Back when I was looking for work, I would peruse the listings on Backpage. I also listed some items for sale there, since there are regular classifieds, in addition to the multitude of ads for escorts. It always seemed to be a bit seedier than Craigslist, but there were also less listings for actual items for sale, so I hoped that would work in my favor. I never did sell anything on there, nor did I find employment, but perhaps that's because I wasn't looking for work as a prostitute/escort. There's been a big emphasis in Texas, and especially here in Houston, toward shutting down the sex trafficking business. Houston is a hub for human, sex, and drug trafficking, being a main city close to the US/Mexico border and also with I-10 running through it. I'm glad to see that authorities here are working to stop the activity. Drug trafficking is bad enough, but human/sex trafficking truly disgusts me. I can't understand how someone can think it's o.k. to sell people, whether as day laborers, domestic employees, or sex workers. I'd love to see more attention focused on this type of activity, which is modern day slavery, rather than focusing on what happened decades and centuries ago.
Don't forget the happy ending massage parlors...there's quite a few around here...mostly the Asian ones. I don't think anyone's forcing these women but it's illegal and police are looking the other way it seems.
There are a lot of those in Houston, too. The local police have been cracking down on them for years, but of course new ones just keep opening, or the same owners slip through the cracks. Now that the state police and feds are involved in human trafficking, it might change, but catching and stopping the ones importing them is the only thing that will stop them. Obviously those who frequent the places must be aware that some aren't doing it voluntarily, but they don't seem to care.