413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

In chapters three through eight, we refer to the individuals engaged in the commercial sex market as sex
workers. According to Thukral, Ditmore, and Murphy (2005, 9), sex work is defined as “a term used to
refer to all aspects of the lawful and unlawful sex industry.” The term “sex work” is frequently used to
encompass the broad array of legal and illegal activities that take place in indoor and outdoor settings in
the sex industry, ranging from stripping and dancing to streetwalking to working for escort, massage, and
call services. Due to sex work’s broad definition, researchers have recognized the considerable diversity
that exists among different types of commercial sex transactions and services. Murphy and Venkatesh
(2006, 130) highlight this variability in their study of indoor sex workers, writing that while the
individuals in their sample engaged in some form of sex work, the sex workers’ “working conditions, their
client base, the specific place in which they conduct their work, their rate, etc. … all differ, depending on
the specific type of sex work in which they are engaged. So, while the term sex worker denotes women
who exchange sex for material goods, the condition under which this exchange is conducted varies
greatly.”
Scholars have drawn distinctions between indoor and outdoor sex work. Indoor sex work takes place in
brothels, homes, strip clubs, and bars, and includes escort and massage services as well as fetish work,
including bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism (BDSM). Outdoor sex work encompasses street
work that occurs in public spaces, hotels, motels, and cars.
Many scholars use the terms “prostitution” and “sex work” interchangeably as a generic term for any
individual who exchanges a sexual act for something of value. Murphy and Venkatesh (2006, 129) define
sex workers as “anyone who exchanges sexual intercourse (including oral sex) for money or some other
material good.” The National Institute of Justice defines “prostitution” similarly, as “the offering of
something of value in exchange for sexual activity. By definition, prostitution is a form of
commodification, which in this context is the belief that women generally and/or sexual activity
specifically are commercial products” (Moses 2006). Sexual acts are exchanged for a number of items of
value, including but not limited to, money, drugs, or other desired objects (Dalla 2000; Schauer and
Wheaton 2006).
Research Design
We used quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies to answer the research questions
outlined above. In order to estimate the size of the UCSE in each study site, we estimated the changes in
the markets for illegal drugs and weapons over time, and how they differed across sites. This was done by
measuring changes in a series of “proxy” variables, which we assumed to be proportional to underlying
activity. Thus, official national datasets 15 that measured some sort of drug and gun activities over a period
of time were collected to measure these changes.
We collected qualitative data through interviews with local and federal law enforcement and prosecutors,
as well as interviews with convicted traffickers, pimps, and child pornographers, and sex workers involved
in court diversion programming, to help us understand the structure and network ties of the underground
commercial sex economy at local, state, and interstate levels. We also used the interviews with pimps,
traffickers, and sex workers to quantify the amount of profits generated through the UCSE and to create
overall UCSE estimates by city.
Site Selection Process
We employed a targeted, purposive sample of urban areas as study sites for a number of reasons. First, it
allowed us to efficiently direct sampling resources. Second, with the exception of Internet-based
commerce, the underground commercial sex trade is known to be a phenomenon that is largely
concentrated, and most likely observed, in urban settings. 16 We also assumed that convicted traffickers,
15 These datasets included the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH); Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
(YRBSS); Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF); and National Vital Statistics
data (NVSS).
16 Focusing only on major cities precludes a nationally representative sample, but because major cities have more experience with
cases involving the UCSE and richer data than non-urban areas, this trade-off is justified (Newton et al. 2008).
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