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The Sex Files
Last week’s cover story (“Weird Science,” Nick Pinto, March 24) took a look at research conducted by the Atlanta-based Schapiro Group, which claims to track incidents of juvenile prostitution, and found that it is based on a seriously flawed methodology. Beth Schapiro, president of the Schapiro Group, sent us a letter defending her study. Below is a shorter version of her letter, which can be found in its entirety here.
Do your homework: Beginning in 2007 with a first-of-its-kind statewide tracking study of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Georgia, The Schapiro Group has a track record of developing innovative, common-sense methodologies to better understand this hard-to-measure social phenomenon. In an area with no proven methodology, The Schapiro Group developed a series of logical assumptions upon which to base an admittedly conservative count of the number of young females being prostituted.
Findings from The Schapiro Group studies are providing policymakers, law enforcement, and social service agencies with important insights for combating the formidable CSEC problem. The Schapiro Group’s research has documented a major shift toward the Internet and escort services, and away from street solicitation, for procurement of underage girls. So it would come as no surprise that those with a commercial interest in this marketplace might seek to try and undermine the research.
This appears to be the case in the story published by Village Voice Media Holdings, the same company that owns Backpage.com. The Backpage website has an “Escorts” section that contains ads in which females use thinly-veiled language to advertise their sexual services and the rates for those services. Because Backpage charges a fee for and stands to profit from each posting, recent estimates are that Village Voice Media Holdings earns millions of dollars annually from all of these “escort” ads across the nation.
Had the writer done his homework on The Schapiro Group, he might have learned that researchers at The Schapiro Group use methodological rigor to reveal information our clients need to know — regardless of how that information aligns with what anyone presumes the findings will show. On this research topic specifically, we have documented both increases and decreases in the incidence of prostituted children both online and on the streets over the years.
For the record, we stand fully behind our work — work which puts us on the front line of one of the most critical issues of our time. In finding a solution to some unusual research barriers, I’m proud that we’re making an important contribution to addressing this very serious issue.
Beth Schapiro, PhD
A League of Their Own
Out of bounds: I think Luke’s suggestion that NFL players start their own league is a great idea (“Luke’s Gospel,” Luther Campbell, March 24). Then the players would realize how hard and expensive it would be to run a pro football franchise. Many players end up filing bankruptcy because they can’t even take care of their personal checkbooks. This is an employee-employer relationship. They don’t have to play in the NFL. They can go drive a truck at UPS for $15 an hour.
Derrick Knight
Gridiron blues: Where would they play, you stupid idiot? Do you think the players would pony up $500 million for their own stadium? And what about the day-to-day operations? How you still have a job writing really baffles me. As for your Tropical Park idea, do you realize that the only conduit there is the Palmetto and that is constantly logjammed to begin with?
Anonymous
Show biz: That has to be the dumbest idea ever. First of all, why the owner of a business should ever have to open his financials to an employee is baffling. Sure, Luke, try to get the owners of Miami New Times to tell you how much they make. They won’t tell you. Why? Because it’s none of your business. You get paid to work, and if you don’t like it, go find a different job.
Anonymous
Dumb and dumber: This would raise a number of interesting questions. Who would spell the names to be printed on the jerseys? Would the rules change to allow five minutes between plays for players to “hot dog” about a play they should have made? Maybe there would be no need to actually play because we could just watch the spectacle of physical freaks acting like preschool kids. A dumber idea than this is hard to imagine.
Brian Gordon
Watch hype: Not a bad idea. I firmly believe the XFL would have prospered if the marketing wasn’t so removed from the reality. It was marketed as something more exhilarating, more physical, and more crazy than the NFL, yet the players in the XFL weren’t good enough to ride the NFL’s benches.
C. Gallaway