River City Writer

I was looking at the keywords that bring search traffic to River City Writer this morning.

While most of the keywords are related to Edmonton, I was surprised by one of the long-tail terms that brought in someone from Winnipeg: winnipeg prostitute throw facebook group.

Not quite sure what exactly this searcher could possibly have been looking for, aside from a Facebook group involving Winnipeg prostitutes…and throwing (throwing what?), I plugged the query into Google. The results were surprising.

It turns out, there is a Facebook group dedicated to discussing throwing things at hookers in Winnipeg.

According to the CBC:

Gloria Enns, an outreach worker who counsels sex-trade workers at Sage House in Winnipeg, said the ugly pranks being discussed online are real.

“They are not just talking about it and internet e-mailing about it, but they’re actually doing it. We’ve had women who were assaulted with thrown bricks in their face. One had a full bottle of beer thrown in her face,” she said.

“I know that those people on the site represent a tip of an iceberg of hatred out there, and of people who are willing to be violent against women.”

Winnipeg police said they are looking into the site’s content and its members. Throwing an object at someone could be considered assault, they said, and charges could be laid.

While this is pretty fucked up, the sad truth of the matter is that this sort of thing doesn’t just occur in Winnipeg.

It happens in Edmonton, too.

When I was in high school, an acquaintance started telling me about a game that he and his friends had played on the weekend, called Spoons.

The game involves driving down streets known to be frequented by prostitutes, and throwing spoons at hookers from a moving vehicle. If you hit the woman, you get a point.

If you miss, you have to get out of the car and retrieve the spoon. This, you don’t want to do, because it means potentially getting your ass kicked by the prostitute.

It also means having to confront the fact that you’re playing a game that is essentially about degrading a fellow human being.

I’m not sure that I need to say more about this. I’d like to think that it’s universally accepted that this sort of thing isn’t cool.

But, people are obviously still doing it, so there are still people who think it’s acceptable to treat another person like an animal, simply because they aren’t as privileged as they are.

I honestly don’t even know what else to say about this, other than that I find it pretty abhorrent.

What’s your take on it?