The Hollywood chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), joined by the president of the Los Angeles City Council and several other NOW chapters, sent a letter to Mayor Mike McGinn this afternoon announcing their support for an advertising boycott of Village Voice Media (VVM) and its subsidiary publications. VVM's Backpage.com has been linked to a number of cases of child prostitution, and McGinn has asked the company to require ID checks for those taking out adult ads. He established a city boycott of VVM-owned Seattle Weekly two weeks ago and has been discussing that boycott today with leaders from across the country at the US Conference of Mayors meeting in Los Angeles.

"We are asking that the US Conference of Mayors follow in your footsteps and resolve to discontinue advertising in the Village Voice and its subsidiary outlets until further investigation confirms that neither sex trafficking nor child prostitution are taking place in these publications," write Hollywood Now and LA Council President Eric Garcetti. "Furthermore, we are asking that the Mayors recommit their efforts to identify and eradicate sex trafficking in their respective communities."

The full letter is here.

McGinn met earlier today with mayors of Salt Lake City, Oakland, Pembroke, Madison, St Louis, Louisville, and Burnsville, MN to "report the current status of our efforts to work with Backpage.com to change their policies," says spokesman Aaron Pickus.