413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Figure 5.4 Common Entry Points to Pimping
As prior studies have indicated, this study’s findings suggest that family involvement and community
exposure are the most common entry points. Respondents frequently had family members who engaged
in or facilitated sex work, or lived in neighborhoods where prostitution and pimping were common.
Offenders also reported that drug dealing served as a segue into pimping, and encouragement from
women was also frequently cited. In addition, study findings highlight additional routes to involvement
that were shared across multiple respondents: mentorship by another pimp, and exposure to the
facilitation of sex work in a country where prostitution was legal (reported by foreign-born respondents).
Finally, respondents also indicated they became pimps as a result of their own personality rather than
external factors or influences.
Family Experience
My mother was a hustler. At an early age, she would pick me up and say, “This is my
pimp here.” (G7)
Childhood awareness of sex work and the learned experience of close family members impacted individual
decisions to engage in pimping. Twenty-three respondents (32 percent) reported that a family member
was involved in pimping or prostitution. Many interviewees became aware of sex work at a young age, and
explained that they did not actively seek work as a pimp, but felt they had been raised around pimping
and prostitution. Drawing from the interviews with the nineteen respondents reporting familial
involvement, figure 5.5 illustrates the relationship of each family member to the offender.
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