But none came. The women were wrapped in burlap sacks and buried in the sand and brush. Like Gilbert, all of the victims were actively in prostitution and had solicited clientele on Craigslist. These became known as the Gilgo Beach Murders. Serial killers have long targeted prostituted womenβfrom Jack the Ripper, an evasive murderer who terrorized prostituted women in the late 19th-century, to this most recent Long Island Serial Killer.
According to a recent study , 22 percent of confirmed U. And those numbers are climbing at an alarming rate. In the last decade alone, 43 percent of victims were prostituted.
Considering that prostituted people make up just over 0. Studies conducted worldwide consistently show that those in prostitution suffer from physical and sexual assault at alarming levels.
In fact, violence is intrinsic to prostitution itself. Despite these statistics and news stories, our culture praises and encourages prostitution β claiming it is glamorous, empowering and liberating. But, the Gilgo Beach Murders are a mere case study of a much wider problem of violence against those in prostitution.
Most of the known victims were prostituted who advertised on Craigslist. The killer became known as the Long Island Serial Killer. Maureen Brainard-Barnes of Norwich, Connecticut, was 25 years old and had two children when she disappeared.
