413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Beyond employees, pimps shared other resources as well. One bottom explained, “They didn’t share
money, but they shared hotel rooms and the guys would hang out and drive around. Go to the strip club
after and gamble, etc.” (E1). Some pimps would also provide each other with monetary support when they
fell on hardships. One respondent reported that pimps would lend each other money when necessary: “If
my money is not right and I got a couple girls locked up, I call and say, ‘Hey, I need some money.’ [My
pimp partner] is going to put it on the wire and I am going to get the girls out” (D5).
Relationships between pimps proved particularly important when pimps travelled. Partnership networks
enabled pimps to promptly engage in the local UCSE upon arrival in a new city.
Travel
Travel proved to be an essential business practice for some respondents. Seventy-one percent of
respondents reported working in more than one city. In one interviewee’s experience, “I always wanted to
be on top of my game. I might have to be in one place today. Then I get a phone call, and I have to be in
Texas tomorrow” (G15). Respondents cited multiple reasons for work-related travel, employed different
tactics to incentivize earning money while in transit, and used networks to facilitate movement around the
country.
Reasons
Reported reasons for travel included recruitment, police crackdowns, special events, tragedy, and
employee appeal.
Police crackdowns incentivized some pimps to travel to new locations; they reported that law enforcement
attention to prostitution waxed and waned in different cities, and respondents avoided areas where
crackdowns were occurring and police attention was high. A respondent explained his reasons for travel:
It’s kind of seasonal. At one time—a lot of things determine [travel], it doesn’t have to be
the season—it could be in certain cities vice is cracking down and the bonds on
prostitution is a lot higher in some cities than others and you got to weigh a lot of things. I
was quick to travel. [It was] nothing for me to just pack up and be gone for three months
or six months at a time. (D8)
Demand also peaked around major events, and pimps travelled to cities where crowds were promised.
One respondent reported the locations where he travelled: “I’ve been to Dallas, Memphis, Birmingham,
Myrtle Beach, and South Beach, Florida. Basically for events: NBA playoffs, NFL playoffs. Daytona Beach
and Myrtle Beach for bike week” (G12). Another interviewee similarly explained why pimps would
sometimes travel to Miami: “Downtown Miami, you have times when people crowd up on South Beach.
[During the] NBA championships a whole lot of money is made. Special events these people have, they’ll
leave from here and go to Miami” (D14). A pimp who worked in Washington, DC during a presidential
election observed the impact that major events had on the local UCSE:
Demand would change, like in Washington, DC in 2004, [with] the election. The summer
of 2004, the election with Kerry and Bush, the market skyrocketed. If Congress is in
session and there are more people around … Around big sporting events, [demand]
increased 100 percent. In DC around election time, [demand increased] around 50
percent. (D21)
Las Vegas was regularly reported as a travel destination, and competition in Las Vegas between pimps was
reportedly high. A respondent explained, “Your bitch has to know how to ho when you take her to Vegas.
She got to know how to play the carpet. [In Las Vegas,] a bitch can play the concrete, she can play the
carpet, she can play the Internet, and she can play the strip club” (B3).
While special events drew customers to specific cities, lucrative business opportunity could also be borne
from disaster or tragedy:
If you see police come through, you know it’s time to go. When Katrina hit in New
Orleans, basically a lot of hos in New Orleans. When the hurricane hit Houston, best
believe there are going to be a lot of hos in Houston. Every time something devastating
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