Did Craigslist’s Erotic Services Reduce Female Homicide and Rape?

Abstract

Sex workers have historically faced harm from clients. However, sex workers have claimed that internet platforms, such as Craigslist erotic services (ERS), reduced that violence. Using the staggered rollout of ERS for identification, we find that it is likely that ERS reduced female homicides by between 12 and 18 percent and (reported) female rape offenses by between 7 and 9 percent. We hypothesize that this was due to more transactions occurring indoors, better screening efforts, and more efficient matching. Our results suggest that some internet platforms may mitigate the historical risks sex workers have faced.