413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Respondents reported varying levels of education. More than 75 percent of respondents had graduated
high school, attained a GED, completed some college courses, or attained a higher degree. Nineteen
percent of respondents did not graduate high school or attain a GED. Some respondents did attain a GED
while incarcerated, or were pursuing a GED at the time of the interview.
Figure 5.3 Highest Level of Education Completed
Definitions
A pimp is an individual who “controls the actions and lives off the proceeds of one or more women who
work the streets” (Williamson and Cluse-Tolar 2002, 1074). Debate exists over who is and is not
considered to be a pimp, particularly because legal definitions between municipalities and countries can
differ from popular and public understanding (May, Harocopos, and Hough 2000). Additionally, the lines
between pimping and trafficking are ideologically and legally blurry and often difficult to define.
Generally, pimping becomes trafficking when “the threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud,
deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the
victim” is present (United Nations 2000, 2). Under the United States penal code, sex trafficking is a
“severe form of trafficking” under which “a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion” or
the individual involved in the commercial sex act is under 18 years old (Title 22 § 7102). Sex trafficking
can also occur when “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person” occurs
for the purpose of commercial sex. Prosecutors in our study and previous studies have noted a preference
for litigating under sexual assault and pimping and pandering laws with clear case precedent (Farrell et al.
2010), highlighting the degree of prosecutorial discretion available in determining whether or not to
charge a defendant for trafficking (B. Cooper 2002).
The word “pimp” is commonly used in practitioner, legal, and research discussions to refer to individuals
who earn money through the facilitation or provision of sex work transactions. Some scholars argue that
an element of control needs to be present between the pimp facilitating the commercial sex transactions
and the individuals who ultimately perform them (O’Connell Davidson 1998). However, the term pimp
can carry cultural implications beyond a dictionary definition. The underground commercial sex industry
has been a popular topic in historical and contemporary culture, with its settings and actors recurring in
many television shows, films, and music. Perhaps the most popular and widespread portrayal of the pimp
in contemporary media and popular culture has been within music, particularly in hip hop and rap
(Jackson and Camara 2010; Quinn 2000). Some contemporary rappers project a public image that
supports their identity as a pimp, whether literally, such as in the case of Snoop Dogg (Rolling Stone
2010), or more figuratively as a performance of their masculine power, ability to make lucrative financial
gains, and influence over women in light of their early status as young, lower to working class, African
American males (Jackson and Camara 2010; Quinn 2000). One respondent to this study reported on the
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