413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Chapter 2
Research Questions and Methodology
Little is known about the size of the underground commercial sex economy, how it operates, and UCSE
network interactions at the local, state and interstate level. This study is one of the first attempts to
systematically and empirically document the size and structure of the underground commercial sex
economy in eight major US cities through multiple data collection methods and sources. In this chapter,
we describe the study’s four research questions, our site selection process, the evolution of how we
estimated the UCSE, and the stakeholder and offender interview process.
Research Questions
This report will answer the following four research questions:
UCSE Operations
1. How large is the underground commercial sex economy in eight major US cities
a. How does the size of the underground commercial sex economy in these eight cities
compare to the underground drug and weapons economies in these eight cities
b. How have these economies changed over time
2. To what extent are the underground commercial sex, drug, and weapons economies
interconnected in the eight major US cities
Social Networks within the UCSE
3. How do the ties between traffickers within the underground commercial sex economy impact the
transportation of sex trafficking victims
4. What are the network characteristics of the traffickers that operate within the underground
commercial sex economy
Terminology
When deciding what terminology to use when referring to the various actors involved in UCSE, we knew
that whatever terms we used would appease some and offend others. These were not easy decisions to
make; however, the research team agreed that it was best to use the terms that the individuals we
interviewed (both offenders and law enforcement) preferred, since it was not our place to re-label these
actors. 13
As respondents indicated throughout data collection, the word pimp carries implicit meaning beyond
simply “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 pandering and 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. In chapters five through seven, we refer to the women and girls who work for
pimps as employees, 14 since that is how they were referred to in the interviews.
13 See appendix L for more definitions of terms used throughout this report.
14 We used the term employee (as opposed to sex worker or victim) in the interviews with pimps and traffickers since the questions
we asked them were business focused and we felt that this was a neutral term that would encourage respondents to speak with us.
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