413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

e escaping one life or seeking another. As a result, bus stations and subways could help pimps connect to
women who were potentially more inclined or easily persuaded to follow a new path. One respondent
explained that he sought out bus stations to look for runaways: “Most girls you meet at the greyhound
station. Runaways ” (C8). Another respondent reported, “One of my partners, he was a pimp, and he was
ho-less. Ho broke. I had a couple of hos and he was like, ‘Take me down to the west end, I’m going to see if
I can find me a hooker.’ It [messed] me up because he was like, ‘that’s where the runaways be’” (D13).
Schools, malls, and transit locations could be associated with younger women or minors. Only a few
pimps indicated that they sought out particular spaces to recruit young women or minors specifically.
Rather, pimps who recruited from malls and schools were generally younger men or minors as well, and
sought individuals of the same or similar age.
Methods of Recruitment
I believe one of the strong points of this business is manipulation. Say an individual is
left wanting, needing. She has aspirations for a bigger future, that’s key. A lot has to do
with promising, what you have at that point. So if I have nothing, I can’t offer her
anything. (A4)
Williamson and Prior’s (2009) study of domestic minor sex trafficking revealed how pimps often appealed
to their victims’ emotional dependencies and basic economic needs through “finesse pimping,” which
involved the recruitment of minors through a bait-and-switch technique of providing wants and desires in
return for commercial sex acts. In contrast, some pimps use a “gorilla pimping” style to intimidate and
coerce an individual into trading sex through the use of violence or threats (Williamson and Prior 2009).
Many respondents self-described as “finesse” pimps, but defined the term more broadly than Williamson
and Prior, suggesting that finesse pimping simply meant a pimp did not engage in physical abuse to
control his employees. One pimp explained his belief that pimping now is more about persuasion than
violence:
Well, [in the media representation of pimps] it seems like [women and girls] are more
forced or tricked. In actuality, you can’t make anyone do anything they don’t want to do.
It is their choice in the end. Back then, in the old days, they called it gorilla pimping, slap
the girl around. It’s not like that, it’s more subliminal. You trick them, you kind of
persuade them in a way … they are having a hard time, they are in town, money is tough.
There is no line of work they can find at the time. Do a couple dances for this club. Slowly
usher them in. “Try this, you got the right stuff.” Eventually they get real comfortable with
it. They’re making almost six or seven [hundred dollars] a week. “You are making more
than what you do on a regular job, what you got to lose” “You’re not from this area so no
one really knows you.” “You can go home whenever you want; I am not making you stay.”
Once they get comfortable, they don’t want to leave. The money is good. (E15)
Pimps in this study did not commonly admit to the use of violence to either recruit or control employees;
despite both prior research and common perceptions of the role of physical violence in pimping, only 15
percent (n = 11) admitted to work-related violence. 60 While study respondents did not disclose the use of
physical violence in recruitment, multiple respondents described other coercive and fraudulent tactics to
attract and persuade new employees to engage in sex work. Pimps chose and adjusted these methods
based on their perceptions of the woman they intended to recruit: “Not all girls are the same, you can’t
approach them all like that. You have to figure them out, figure [out] how to manipulate them” (A4).
Similarly, law enforcement respondents in this study also observed that pimps’ recruitment tactics varied
depending on the characteristics of the woman or girl they intended to recruit. Perceptions of
vulnerability influenced recruitment methods: “How I approached it depended on how bad their situation
was. In a bad situation, I’d say, ‘You’re already having sex with guys and not getting anything, you should
get something.’ In a better situation, tell them they’re pretty and they should be modeling. Then tell them
they can get paid a little more if they do this or that” (G8).
60 Findings from this study are based on self-reported data. Based on prior research with pimp-managed sex workers, it is likely
that respondents under-reported their use of violence.
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