413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Respondents distinguished between domestic pimping and international sex trafficking. They expressed
concern that the lines have blurred between “sex traffickers” and “pimps:”
I think there is a difference from the international shit, holding bitches hostage, that’s not
considered pimping to us. You got a different element. Most of the pimps in jail, they’re
separate. Guys who are sex traffickers, bringing [girls] from overseas, using that as
leverage. A pimp is someone who pimps by himself. Not with ten dudes. I’m not saying
that isn’t lucrative, but a pimp is not doing that. (B3)
Some respondents believed that while pimps had historically used violence to control employees, 57
contemporary pimps have moved away from the use of force. One respondent explained:
The old school cats would talk about how the girls would hide money, not give it all up,
and in the old days they would beat the girls if they didn’t get it all. Now, I know the girls
come to me and will stash some around the corner before they come in, but I’m just as
happy if they give me any of it, as long as they bring me something, because they’re the
ones doing all the work. (A3)
One woman who worked as a bottom believed force was never involved, and the media representation of
pimps ignores the role of individual choice:
Interviewer: Do you think the representation of pimps in the media is accurate
Respondent: Everyone makes it seem like a girl is forced to do it. A girl is never forced.
It’s always a choice. If you want to get away, you always can. (G8)
The majority of respondents disputed the use of force and violence in pimping. Among interviewees who
admitted occasional violence against employees (15 percent of respondents), few respondents admitted to
the use of physical force in the everyday management of employees. Chapter 6 explores the multiple
methods of control and manipulation employed by respondents, violence included, as tools of pimping.
As respondents indicated throughout data collection, the word pimp carries implicit meaning beyond “an
individual who facilitates and profits from prostitution.” These associations cannot be assumed of nor
projected on this study’s respondents. With this important note in mind, we do employ the term pimp
throughout this report. At present, no other broadly understood and comprehensive term exists to
identify individuals who engage in the facilitation of sex work. However, the term pimp is defined herein
as someone who facilitates prostitution and profits in some way from that facilitation. In many cases, this
includes the use of force, fraud, and/or coercion, particularly when juveniles are involved.
Entry Into Pimping
Not much is known about how pimps and traffickers first come to work in facilitating commercial sex. A
few analyses show that some pimps and traffickers had family members, such as parents, siblings, and
other relatives, who engaged in commercial sex either as facilitators or sex workers, and grew up in
communities and neighborhoods where prostitution was a normalized part of everyday life (May et al.
2000; Raphael and Myers-Powell 2009, 2010; United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human
Trafficking [UNGIFHT] 2008). Some studies have shown that individuals engaged in other illegal
economies, such as drug dealing, may also work as pimps (May et al. 2000).
This section explores how study respondents became engaged in pimping. While experiences were unique,
common points of entry can be identified. Figure 5.4 presents the common entry ways into pimping
identified by respondents. Respondents cited multiple reasons for entry into pimping, and thus the
response categories below are not mutually exclusive.
57 Throughout this chapter, the men and women who were compelled to sell commercial sex acts for respondents are referred to as
“employees” based on the format of the study’s interview protocol, which approached pimping and its related structure and networks
as a business.
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