413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

affording a fancy lifestyle. Offender respondents corroborated these findings, as one pimp explained: “I
would look for deprived [females] or females in bad situations or runaways” (G8). Another respondent
described his ideal employee, who was economically disadvantaged and experienced previous abuse:
My perfect employee for business had a taste for things that glitter, was persuaded easily,
was sexually active, was damaged (i.e. daddy issues, victim, etc.), motivated by poverty,
and willing to go the distance. (E11)
Other respondents emphasized that hardships opened recruitment opportunities for pimps. One
respondent explained that “most [recruits] came from broken homes. Mom and dad were divorced. Mom
wasn’t paying them much attention. Even though they were pretty and had nice bodies, they still had low
self-esteem. You can tell by body language—hunched over, sad looking” (D7).
Whether or not they explicitly sought vulnerable women, pimps observed that their employees often had
histories of sexual assault. One 22-year-old pimp explained, “[They] all had the same story—[when they]
were younger, they were molested in their home … Not too in with their families. Not family relationships
as good as they could be. Drug habits” (G11). Another respondent remarked on the pervasiveness of sexual
abuse among the women he pimped: “Of the five [employees] I had, all five had been raped before. It was
by uncles or stepdad” (G12). One offender noted, “A lot of times I’d say they were from broken homes.
They were from all over, no trend of where, they’d come from wherever” (A8). Another interviewee
reported similar observations: “Either they been molested by their father, their mom was on drugs and
used them to support their habit. Runaways, they ran away from home at 14 or 15 and wanted to get out
and have sex” (G3).
Other interviewees also acknowledged that economic need, past abuse, and low self-esteem impact a
woman’s choice to sell sex: “A lot of prostitutes was forced into this life style [by living conditions], and
then there are a lot that chose because of things that happened in their past. Some were sexually
molested, some have low self-esteem, some think they might as well get paid for it” (E2). Citing both
sexual assault and learned family experience, one female respondent believed that some women were
raised to expect to “get something” out of sex:
They make out pimps as being bad, and they’re not. Oftentimes the girls are in bad
situations. Oftentimes the father is molesting them. Most of the girls [are] abused from
the time [they were] ten up. And it’s common for black women to teach daughters, get
something out of it if you’re going to sleep with someone. And we see our mothers being
promiscuous. (G8)
Other pimps reported less consistency in socioeconomic status and past abuse. When asked if he tended
to recruit a particular type of women, a 25-year-old African American respondent noted that he employed
women of all different economic means, but did observe some socioeconomic trends:
Different backgrounds, different circumstances and scenarios. Some from well-to-do
families who really liked to party, get high, love to [have sex]. Come to the parties and
dance and work and entertain. Some of the Caucasian females were from lower
economically developed families, trailer parks. They were trying to make money to
support their family and feed their family. Their backgrounds were different—all kinds of
Caucasians. Hispanics, different backgrounds, different types of family. African American
females, basically all of those females were from the hood, the ghetto. Hard times. Lots of
girls were raised in foster care. Didn’t have much. They come to make money. (H1)
There were other observations that ran counter to common conceptions and extant literature regarding
the individuals who work for pimps. One pimp explained how experience changed his own assumptions:
“I assumed in the beginning that they are damaged women but I have had wives of preachers who came
and hoed for me for a month. Some do it for the money, some do it for the thrill, and some do it just to do
it” (C9). Other respondents reported that there was no shared background among recruited employees:
“Every girl that come, you don’t really know where from. Some might come from another pimp. Some, like
my bottom, might come from a decent home. She was tired of following grandma’s rules” (B3). Another
respondent explained, “They aren’t just like anyone down on their luck—they are college students. I’ve
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