413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Pimpin’ is not no competition sport … [We] always network and help each other out. We
are the masses and everyone is against the pimp. A lot of people think we are bad people.
I may have a better idea than the next man, think different, but that don’t make me a bad
person. (D5)
Respondents who networked with other pimps often opined that they received more loyalty from their
male counterparts than female employees. One respondent explained that he never attempted to recruit
employees from his pimp friends: “If I mess with the pimp, I don’t mess with the ho. I would rather have a
good pimp friend for life than a prostitute for two years. Because they do leave” (E2).
In addition, prior studies have revealed that some pimps trade, exchange, or sell and buy women among
themselves (Hughes 2000; Raphael and Myers-Powell 2009; Wilson and Dalton 2007). These findings
were corroborated by a few respondents who traded or sold employees with other pimps. 62 The exchange
of employees could benefit the business interests of both pimps involved and was used at times to
discourage employee independence. Pimps were able to solidify supportive relationships with one another
by trading or lending employees. A respondent noted, “If a guy don’t have a girl he can always borrow one,
give it to him she’s yours” (E2).
At other times, a financial transaction would take place between pimps. One pimp explained: “I would sell
girls [to other pimps], too. Say he needs someone and then they come to me, I’d find them for him … He’d
give me $5,000 dollars for a girl” (A4). Another respondent reported that he would occasionally purchase
employees from other competitors:
Interviewer: Did you work with competitors
Respondent: No, not really. Sometimes I would talk to them and if they were going to
fire one girl, I’d hire them. Sometimes I’d pay money for them, $500 to $1,000. Every
three or four months. Three times a year, not real often. I’d do the same. If I had a
problem with a girl, I’d call someone up to maybe work it out. (A1)
One interviewee reported a code of conduct surrounding the trade and purchase of employees between
pimps:
The code of the streets is if she’s already involved with somebody, at that point if she
choose to be with me, with all the money she got on her then, it’s his. I respect that. She
has to turn it over to me anyway, so I am going to give him all that prior to being with me.
I’m going to call him and let him know. (D13)
As law enforcement has also observed, pimps trade employees with one another or even “give” an
employee to another pimp. A respondent explained, “A pimp partner is going to last way longer [than an
employee]. Before I put a partner on the floor, the bitch is on the floor. If he is really good, you might
shoot him a bitch” (B3). Trades were not always permanent, and pimps described a process of “sharing
employees.” When asked if he worked with business partners, one pimp responded, “For a while. I
wouldn’t even call them business partners. Just associates. They just help out a little bit, show you the ins
and outs. Whatever you make you keep to yourself. Take her for a couple days, share her for a couple
days” (E15). Sharing employees could also provide means to remove employees from their support
systems and force them to rely more fully on the pimp:
They trade girls [without paying fees]. It just be like trading match cards, the girls have no
say so. Or it can get to the point, “I know the runaway is running away from here, so she
can’t work here. Do you want to trade so she can work somewhere else” Also cause she’ll
have someone to run back to. If you take someone away from their support, now they
have no one to depend on. They wake up and have no one else, so they’re stuck. (G8)
When trades occurred, they were usually used coercively to extract individuals from their support systems
or remove employees who presented management difficulties for the pimp.
62 While this study’s interview protocol did not focus explicitly on the trade and purchase of employees from other pimps, it did ask
pimps to report how new employees were found.
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