413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

encourage his employees to make money: “I didn’t really give [my employees] a quota. I just tell them
when we make money one day, I put it all up … We start from nothing each day. On a bad day, we make
$500. On a good day, [we make] $800 or $1,000” (B5).
Other Rules
Some respondents reported additional rules regarding timeliness, condom use, general safety, and
hygiene. Some rules were more synonymous to the basics of any office or business entity. Employees
could not be late for work and were required to keep their appointments running on schedule. A
respondent explained, “We had rules—they can’t come late, can’t come in their own car (had a driver pick
them up—the girls paid him), and they can’t deny the customer … If they violated, they weren’t called
anymore. They were allowed one day off if they wanted to” (I2). Another respondent explained, “One rule
was no staying longer than the appointment. A lot of times the guy would get there and want longer, but
my [driver] was waiting on them so they can’t stay longer” (A1). A female respondent reported “Just show
up on time. When they call me and say they are available, it was important that they can be reached. Treat
clients nice and no stealing” (F1).
Condom use was also regulated by some pimps. A respondent reported that his employees were required
to “always use their own condoms, and never use condoms that someone had on them” (E2). As some
pimps had sex with their employees, rules regarding condom use were also imposed in self-interest. A
respondent explained, “You got guys trying to pay $700 or $800 [to have sex without a condom], I’m like,
‘No, don’t do that.’ I’m having sex with them too. I use a condom. That’s the biggest red flag: a guy trying
[to have] sex without a condom” (D13). According to one respondent, employees did not always follow
rules around condom use, nor were they strictly enforced. He reported, “[Condom use] was one of my
rules, but I don’t know. Girls are weird. They’d chuck the condom for an extra $200” (A4).
Other rules related directly to employee safety on the job. One respondent imposed rules that also read as
security guidelines: “Don’t go to nobody’s rooms, don’t get in vans, don’t get in cars with two people” (E1).
Another interviewee explained a rule that he imposed to increase his employees’ capacity to respond
quickly in a dangerous situation:
They can’t take all of their clothes off on a date. If they working the streets, they out there
in tall leather boots, they don’t take everything off. They keep boots on, take off all the
clothes. Skirt on, lift the skirt, don’t take it off. It’s basically to keep the trick in and out. If
she need to get up and get away from him, she got some clothes on. She won’t be
scrambling completely naked. (G3)
One respondent imposed rules regarding safety at the location of out-calls and would tell his employees
“If there are drugs in the house when they come in, they need to turn around and go back out. If they see
guns, they need to leave as well. If [there are] drunk people, they need to leave. The drivers did not have
guns or weapons” (H5).
Rule-making was a tool of control for respondents, but some pimps also viewed rules as a means to
protect employees who worked in a dangerous field. One respondent explained why he imposed some
guidelines on his employees:
A lot of times because I care for my girls’ safety. Hey, we all we got. [It’s] one of those
situations where I am going to protect you as much as I can. I put my life on the line for
you, just as you put yours on the line for me. When a girl is prostituting, everybody knows
that anything can happen. You [have to] be smart. It’s not really no rules, just giving them
insight. Some people make it to be rules, but at the end of the day she is a woman, and
she is going to determine what she do. (E3)
Pimps did not all apply the same rules to their employees, nor report the same philosophies on rulemaking
and enforcement. Some pimps did not enforce rules at all: “They just did what they wanted to.
They were basically my girlfriends. I didn’t really set any rules or anything” (B4). For pimps who did
enforce rules, they exerted control over employees by enforcing their demands as business regulations.
Through rule-making and enforcement, respondents established themselves as authority figures that
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