413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

have sex with each other when a conflict arose between employees. He reported, “If they have a
disagreement then I’d make them have sex. I’d say that’s the only way they’d be able to bond. They
probably didn’t like it, but they did it” (G12).
Violence was also used when employees demonstrated a desire to leave a pimp. One respondent
explained, “Well it’s accepted, it’s not force, it’s that a chick might be involved in it and she wants to quit.
That’s when the force comes in. Because [the pimps are] addicted, they can’t accept the loss” (D13). A
woman who worked as a bottom explained that force was usually not involved at the outset of a
relationship with a pimp, but violence would often be used to keep women from leaving. She explained,
“You’re not necessarily forced into it. You think it’s funny, it’s cute. Then you’re into it, but you don’t know
how to get out. You can get into it without being forced, but you can’t get out” (D21).
Pimps’ perceptions of their employees’ attitudes toward violence illustrated the dominant role of
psychological manipulation and coercion in controlling employees, even for pimps who used violence.
Two respondents believed that their employees sought physical violence. One respondent suggested that
his employees accepted violence because of his role as a father figure. He stated, “They like being beat up,
under the gun, per se. They will accept that the guy who is forcing them or demanding that something get
done, they’re accepting it because [he’s] a father figure” (D14). Another respondent reported, “The girls
didn’t like when I didn’t hit them, they’d think something was wrong. Or I’d try to use their names instead
of ‘bitch,’ but if I ever say ‘Yo, [name of girl],’ they
thought something was wrong!” (A3).
Escort Service Rules and Regulations
Some studies have concluded that managers of escort
services are very different from pimps in street
prostitution as they rely on contractual relationships
with workers and serve a primarily administrative and
management role. They are more concerned with
maintaining a positive reputation with clients, and
therefore rely heavily on rules for behavior rather than
violence, intimidation, or threats (May et al. 2000).
Other studies have found that escort agencies operating
in seemingly legal venues does not automatically mean
less violence or better working conditions (Raphael and
Shapiro 2004).
Despite the legal structure provided through an escort
license, many of the business-related practices reported
were consistent with those employed by pimps. Escort
service owners also imposed strict rules on their
employees, similar to pimps who facilitate sex work
without a legal structure in place. One respondent
explained why he terminated contracts with employees
that were unreliable:
Some girls were not dedicated to working
strictly for me. They might make $1,000 one
night, and then I wouldn’t see them for three
or four days. They show up trying to get on
the list for calls. That’s a major infraction—no
calls, no showing up. The more leniency you
show, the more they think they can run you
over. Pretty is as pretty does. I can’t take
pretty down to the nearest Mercedes Benz
and cash out on the new 550. I sure can’t take
it to the mortgage company and bills center.
(D8)
Other respondents implied a distinction between
“business-related” violence against employees, and
domestic violence against the same woman that also
played the role of intimate partner. The role of violence
in the administration of business was thus complicated
by the intimate relationships that often developed
between pimps and employees. Similarly, respondents
noted the challenges of maintaining both business and
intimate relationships:
It ain’t easy. On the streets. Pimpin’ ain’t easy.
Got to know how to deal with a bitch’s
emotions. You get paid for it. You got to be able
to stomach the fact that your bitch can have sex
with ten guys and treat her like an equal. It’s
when a bitch don’t come with no money, that’s
when you don’t treat her well. They are always
working. (B3)
Not all pimps saw value in violence, and other
respondents reflected that violence could be
counterproductive to business interests. One
respondent observed that resorting to violence with
employees indicates a lack of other forms of control: “I
have smacked a woman before. Yes, that has happened.
But once you get physical with a ho, then that means
you ran out of game. She beat you mentally and she
beat you emotionally, so all you have is physical. You
ran out of mental games to teach her a lesson” (C9).
Another pimp explained the difference between his own
business and the violence he had seen portrayed
through the media regarding pimps: “Truthfully, it’s all
about how you treat them. A lot of girls I been seeing on
MSNBC, I don’t know who these guys are they meet.
Don’t let them leave, cut them, all this and that. That’s
not what it is about. You can’t keep any woman like
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