Scottsdale is a center of tourism and recreation, with myriad options to enjoy yourself ranging from the completely benign, such as golf and sunbathing, to the more debaucherous, including being a destination for bachelorette parties and our myriad nightclubs. However a recent development helped uncover a much seedier side to its reputation for recreation.
A recent police sting related to the sex trade recently led to 42 arrests, primarily of those attempting to buy sex, including arrests for child sex trafficking. All decoys were used, so no minors were directly involved in this process, but regardless it is another indicator of the darker side of the city’s generally positive reputation.
This comes not too far after a much larger sting nabbing a startling 158 people in February of this year. Clearly the issue not only has the attention of numerous levels of law enforcement, but is one that manages to persist. It is unknown if the decrease in the number of arrests is a result of a narrower scope and fewer resources for this more recent sting, or if the previous sting reduced demand and/or has made “johns” more cautious in their pursuits.
This is significant enough of an issue that the Scottsdale Police Department has a Human Trafficking Unit which partners with other local and state resources in order to minimize the impact of this black market, along with partnering with the federal government to try to stamp out child sex trafficking.
While completely anecdotal, commenters online also note the huge amount of purported prostitutes in clubs in Old Town. While that should be taken with a grain of salt, as often dress for a night out in the clubs could be confused with the dress of someone who is actively looking for johns, it likely isn’t something that should be completely disregarded. After all, in a city that has a lot of money, a lot of attractive women, and a lot of older men (often on vacation), it lays the framework for significant demand in the flesh.
The sex trade when it comes to consenting adults (and with women who are not coerced to be there) is a point of debate, where the merits of both why it should be legalized and why it shouldn’t exist and a healthy debate about it is probably warranted. Of course, that line stops with coercion and with those who are underage. While halting the demand side of this equation is important and welcome, we hope that similar efforts are made to stop the supply of this, as those who actively play a role in offering that supply deserve far worse than what these 42 arrestees will receive.