413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

happens, you going to send hos there. When New York City went down, best believe there
was a whole new squad of hos in NYC. (D5)
Work opportunities were present everywhere, and some pimps chose to drive in order to maximize profits
while en route to a work destination: “It’s better to drive because you get to stop and see so much. When
you pull into a small town with no hos or prostitution, you get you a hotel where construction is going on,
or a store is being built” (D5). Travelling with few belongings also incentivized work for one respondent:
“I have a tendency to travel with no luggage, no clothes, and buy everything when I get there. I used it as
motivation. It was a mind thing. We go with no clothes, so we gotta get some money” (D8).
Travel also allowed pimps to capitalize on the “newness” of their employees in a given area. One
respondent explained, “After a female is doing it for a while, the clients can tell this person has been doing
it for a while. It’s a reason to move around” (E10).
Travel Networks
Networks were particularly important to pimps who regularly travelled or sent employees on work-related
travel as a routine business practice. Local pimps could instruct visiting pimps on local operations: “If I go
to New York City, I bump into this pimp in New York City and he tells me how New York operates. And
then he comes to [my city], I am going to show him. And then we might meet a guy from California. After
traveling, you have a network … The seasons change where people move and how police are going down”
(C9). Other respondents also reported using networks to inform their travel decisions, with a particular
emphasis on police enforcement. One pimp explained, “Pimps got a hotline. And they’ll be like ‘They [law
enforcement] are letting them hos get at their money.’ ‘You on such and such street’ They’ll converge …
Lots [of pimps] from Washington, DC; Memphis; a lot from California. The biggest market for pimping is
Las Vegas or Miami, but it rarely breeds pimp” (D13). Another respondent shared a similar report:
Before I go to a city, I call one of my partners, run down if y’all have any money, letting
girls work or [if the vice] task force is out. “What’s going on in the city” If they say
“Getting up, come on down,” or “No, rounding troops up.” We get in the car and are on
our way. I say get on Craigslist, get on to see how many girls are already on the site, and
get on there and post the ad. (D5)
Advance conversations with local pimps also helped respondents plan travel logistics. One pimp explained
how pimp networks could inform his hotel choice: “I travel to network with other pimps. I get their
numbers, I go to their area … Me and my girls pull into town, we know the hotel we’re going to use, the
hotel known for prostitution. The pimps hang out in the parking lot, they see me” (G12). Networks with
other pimps figured prominently into travel planning:
Interviewer: How many guys were in your circle
Respondent: That I had their phone numbers A lot. I knew a lot of them, but as far as
talking to them on the phone, only a couple. About ten. Different states. California. Some
of them were from Texas, DC. Different areas.
Interviewer: These were guys you would tell when you were coming to town
Respondent: Yeah.
Interviewer: Would you talk to them about business
Respondent: Yeah, sometimes we would kick it and I would slide a question in. I would
ask where he’s at in the country. He would say, “I am here, just got here.” If I needed to
know anything I would ask, “Where all the girls at Where you shopping Where you
staying” If he had a house, “How much was he paying What was the down payment” I
would only ask if I was on the way there. Sometimes I wouldn’t have to ask; they would
just brag, “Oh I have this, I am getting this.” (B4)
While business networks certainly existed for some pimps nationwide, not all respondents reported
supportive relationships between pimps in different parts of the country. Instead, some pimps remained
within specific travel circuits and described hostile relationships with pimps outside of their circuit. One
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