Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Aaron Cohen (author)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Tone 19:26, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Aaron Cohen (author)

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This page had a lot of traffic and fighting over it by fans of the author until it was slashed down to the bare minimum. That leaves us with a LA Weekly article and a online author website. No one has shown that this author is no more notable than any other author. So he specializes in human trafficking ... and? We need to prove he is notable enough to have a Wikipedia page, provide the citations to back this up or it needs to go. Sgerbic (talk) 15:44, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Agree: Delete . There doesn't seem to be reliable 3rd party info on this person. A lot of what is claimed about him is unsubstantiated. Wyatt Tyrone Smith (talk) 15:53, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Authors-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 17:37, 25 April 2019 (UTC)


 * Delete lack of significant 3rd party coverage showing notability.John Pack Lambert (talk) 20:39, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Comment Some basic searches find this part-profile/part-interview originally published in The Observer in 2009:, and a short bit in the Orange County Register about an award he received ("Human rights activist honored" by Scott Martindale, Feb 3 2008, front page). He's also one of the main subjects of the academic paper "Slave Hunters, Brothel Busters, and Feminist Interventions: Investigative Journalists as Anti-Sex-Trafficking Humanitarians" by Roxana Galusca, published in Feminist Formations 24:2 (Summer 2012), pp. 1-24. Bakazaka (talk) 23:24, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Comment There are at least three different authors with the same name, so need to double-check each source to be sure it is the right person. See here.--Gronk Oz (talk) 00:31, 26 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Use keywords, such as book titles, along with name.E.M.Gregory (talk) 23:36, 1 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Delete I found the same sources Bakazaka found. It is not enough to pass WP:AUTHOR, despite the hot topic of the second book.  The article in Feminist Formations is a solid source and supports notability; it is critical of Cohen. The award he won was given by a local humanitarian group, in Long Beach, California, near his home. I cannot find that either of his books was reviewed.  This is puzzling for a 2009 book about the adventures of a self-proclaimed human rights activist who says he freed sex slaves from brothels in sundry countries with great daring-do. The answer may lie in a book interview /feature story about Cohen in The Observer by investigative reporter Carole Cadwalladr (Observer Woman Magazine: THE SLAVE HUNTER: 'Most women have a hard time accepting that I spend my life in brothels looking for underage sex slaves': Aaron Cohen travels the world, rescuing girls sold into prostitution. He tells Carole Cadwalladr why he does it - and how a suburban kid turned heroin addict became a human rights campaigner Cadwalladr, Carole. The Observer; London (UK) [London (UK)]22 Nov 2009: 40.) She writes:  "There are moments reading the book when I wonder if he's not a bit of a fantasist: the facts of his life seem so incredible. The rock-band antics, the years of Kabbalah study, the infiltration of criminal gangs and consorting with drug smugglers and human traffickers. He's larger than life, and when I meet him this turns out to be literally true: he's 6ft 5in, 44 and has the most unnerving gaze of almost anyone I've ever met. I keep going to the loo just to be able to stare at a blank wall and have five minutes' respite. There's an almost messianic passion that Cohen brings to bear on the subject of human trafficking: it is his life's work and, he believes, part of a divine plan."  i.e., he's a tad strange and Cadwalladr and the author of the article in Feminist Formations both feel that there is something a little over-the-top about his stories.  This may explain why we have only 3 sources.  Why the book drew so little attention despite the topic. And why he has not been in the news in the decade since Slave Hunter.E.M.Gregory (talk) 23:36, 1 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Damn E.M.Gregory, that summary gave me chills when reading it. It is interesting that there is so little on this person who says he led such a life. Sgerbic (talk) 13:15, 2 May 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.