413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

mom. I wanted to go about it a different way. When I talked to girls in the club [I say,]
“I’ve had a pimp. I know what it’s like to start all over leaving them.” A woman connects
better with a woman. Then a woman comes and says “I get what you’re going through,
here’s how you can make a difference in your life.” The girls I worked with in a club, I told
them to go back to school. Half the women dancing are there because they are single
mothers and have kids to support. I have a kid so I know how it can be. I always kept it
honest. (H8)
While all female pimps in this study engaged directly in sex work prior to becoming pimps, female pimps
also cited many of the same factors that influenced men to become pimps. Female respondents noted the
impact of family member involvement, neighborhood exposure, and mentorship on their decisions to
pimp. Some female respondents also segued from drug dealing into pimping.
Summary of Respondent Paths to Pimping
Pimps found different entry points into the UCSE and were driven by multiple factors. Common among
study respondents were exposure to family member involvement in the UCSE, the impact of the
neighborhood environment, male mentorship, and the role of women in the initial recruitment of men
into pimping. Yet some pimps also recognized their own internal drivers that were not linked to external
forces. They explained how their personality, often from a young age, made them feel they were well
suited for the position. In other cases, emotions drove interest in pimping; as one pimp described above,
he first entered the field as a means to alter his feelings following divorce.
Some respondents expressed remorse for their chosen path, while reflecting on the cultural and social
pressures that impacted their own decisions: “Just being raised up and the money was coming in the
street life, all that plays a part in my thinking. I didn’t learn who I was and what I was becoming until the
end. That’s the old me. When I got caught up in that mentality, I couldn’t stop” (G3).
Despite the ease with which some respondents reported entering the underground commercial sex
market, interviews highlighted the perceived risks involved in pimping. While the risks ultimately did not
dissuade interviewees from engaging in the underground sex economy, they did at times impact business
policies and practice.
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