this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2024
181 points (99.5% liked)

News

23019 readers
3760 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

A Massachusetts woman pleaded guilty on Friday to running a high-end brothel network in the greater Boston area and the suburbs of Washington that served wealthy and well-connected clientele including politicians, corporate executives, lawyers and military officers.

Han Lee appeared in Boston federal court to plead guilty to charges that she conspired to persuade, induce and entice primarily Asian women to travel to Massachusetts and Virginia to engage in prostitution and committed money laundering.

She was the first to admit wrongdoing of the three individuals who prosecutors charged in November in connection with a sex ring run out of apartment complexes in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts and Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia.

Lee, 42, faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced Dec. 20. She stressed when addressing U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick that while she ran an illegal prostitution business, she did not force any women to engage in sex work.

all 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] shish_mish@lemmy.world 178 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Sex work should be legal as long as it is done willingly.Let them pay tax and work out of buildings. That would keep the women much safer than working on the streets and get into cars with people.

[–] Shou@lemmy.world 29 points 4 days ago

That's exactly what amsterdam did. Same with drugs. You make it legal, and you'll make it easier to regulate.

Fun fact: Red light district is an alcohol free zone. As alcohol tends to increase aggression. People aren't allowed to walk there while under influence.

[–] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 57 points 5 days ago

It turned out really well in NZ when we legalised it.

There's even a sex workers union.

We still have our share of christofacists and prosperity grifters though, they're just relatively politically impotent.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 33 points 5 days ago (2 children)

And in this specific case, none of the workers were street-level, getting into randos cars. That doesn't necessarily mean that all of the workers were willing participants, but I would bet that with the level of clientele involved, almost all were.

[–] GiantChickDicks@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I'm curious why you assume almost all were willing participants. I'm also concerned with the use of the word "coerced".

The promise of good money doesn't ensure willingness, and just because workers are "street level" doesn't mean they aren't being exploited.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Just because the exploiters are rich that doesn't mean the exploited are well paid at all.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 6 points 4 days ago

Federal minimum wage is $7.25, your point is?

[–] egrets@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago

And with some degree of oversight, for the safety and health of the workers and their clients.

[–] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You don't have to look to other countries for this, prostitution is legal in many counties in NV.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, but the law was written in a way to keep it out of all major cities in Nevada.

[–] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

For sure. I'm just saying that you can examine the social effects of legalizing prostitution in a US context already.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 days ago

You're right in that the trade is legalized, but it is really hard to analyze the social effects as the only state to legalize it has purposefully kept the trade away from most civilization. You have to go out of your way to go to a Nevada brothel in a way you don't have to in other countries.

Hell, it is probably a reason why Vegas has a prostitution problem in the city.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 35 points 4 days ago

Sex work should be legal, regulated, unionized.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 72 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Where is the accountability and harsh consequences for the

politicians, corporate executives, lawyers and military officers

They're gonna be held accountable right?

Guys...?

[–] Llewellyn@lemm.ee 0 points 14 hours ago

Are you being deliberately naive?

[–] eskimofry@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Best I can do is another Epstein

[–] zbyte64@awful.systems 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] eskimofry@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I mean not me personally but it's a good bet.

[–] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 57 points 5 days ago (1 children)

We would create jobs, increase tax revenue, and people like Han Lee wouldn’t need to launder money, if we simply legalized prostitution.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 35 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Agreed. We should come down like a ton of bricks on anyone who coerces anybody to enter into prostitution, and leave everyone else alone.

Abusive pimps get the bullet, everyone else gets a 1040

[–] randomaside@lemmy.dbzer0.com 49 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Are any of the high end clientele facing charges?

[–] The_v@lemmy.world 17 points 5 days ago

Well, her new business is a subscription service to keep the pictures she has of them off the internet.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 11 points 5 days ago
[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago
[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Surprisingly it looks like at least 40 clients have been referred to state courts for charges. We'll see.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 33 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Why is this a crime? I’d suck dick for enough money and I’m a cis male. People getting paid for their effort shouldn’t be a crime.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I’ll do it for nineteen.

[–] Llewellyn@lemm.ee 2 points 14 hours ago

Not with that nickname, thank you!

[–] piccolo@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] tacosplease@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

If I can find him he is.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 4 points 5 days ago

It's not in some counties in Nevada.

But everywhere else in the US, this is a no-no.

[–] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago