413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

used because respondents feared that text messages or calls from a pimp would discourage customer
interest.
I would text and call them. I wouldn’t text her “Hey bitch,” etc. If she was working, she
would ask me something and I would respond to her normally. I would have them
respond to me as another female. I would be a girl name in their phone and in the texts to
me they would say “Hey girl.” The john doesn’t want to know they have pimps. They don’t
want to date them if there is a pimp. The girls play it that they are trying to pay their rent
or pay their bills. (C9)
Other pimps avoided the trail created by text communications, but were willing to use phones and walkie
talkies for quick conversations. A respondent stated, “A lot of times I would call. Texting is dangerous.
You don’t know who you texting. That’s how I caught my first case. Well, my experience, I don’t really do
too much talking over the phone. If she has questions or whatever we can meet up and talk” (E3). One
respondent also noted the need to change methods when law enforcement detected particular types of
use: “Cell phones, Boost mobile, that is all figured out [by law enforcement]. We used prepaid phones …
Burnouts, [so we could] could get rid of the phone” (B3).
Respondents stressed the importance of face-to-face business discussions with employees as the safest
method. One pimp explained, “We had meetings each night, at 9:30 p.m., which I ran, and I asked the
girls what problems they had, who they talked to” (A1). Most pimps did not maintain such regular
schedules to meet with employees, but another respondent believed, “It had to be face-to-face
communication. I didn’t want to leave a paper trail. It is common sense” (D3). In-person meetings
provided a venue free of documentation.
Regardless of the method employed, ongoing and frequent communication provided pimps with a tool to
ensure control and management over their businesses. Communication enabled pimps to maintain a
facilitator role and enforce their position as
employees’ first contact when their personal safety
Escort Call Centers
Respondents with escort licenses reported the use of call
centers. One respondent explained that he maintained clear
delineations between his call center staff and escort staff, and
maintained strict guidelines for both:
There was the initial interview and the orientation
to the script with the appointment center, which
went hand in hand with actual escort script when go
on calls. Escorts can never be appointment setters
and appointment setters can’t be escorts. That’s the
whole trick: you don’t have to worry about them
stealing your cars [and you can] keep them on their
toes. Escorts don’t even hang around the office or
anything like that. Basically, [they’re] just on call …
As far as calls are dispersed, it was through the
appointment center. It’s their duty to check in and
check out. They check you into the call and then
they check you out of the call. The money is turned
into the appointment center. [There’s] no
fraternizing at the office. I had 12 phone numbers, 12
lines ringing like an orchestra. (D8)
Organized call teams allowed respondents to not only control
their employees, but also dictate the message that was
conveyed to clients.
was threatened. In turn, pimps could establish
themselves as an essential resource and critical
actor for individuals working within the
underground sex economy.
Communications with Clients
Pimps also employed specific tactics to maintain
control over communications between employees
and customers. As with employee-to-pimp
communications, code was important to avoid
incrimination, and many pimps avoided
documented conversations. One pimp noted that
all business communications were conducted over
the phone: “I don’t like the computer. In my case,
they had no physical evidence. It was all
circumstantial” (F6).
Pimps could use a centralized phone number on
advertisements so that all customer inquiries were
controlled and owned by the pimp: “The numbers
on the advertisements are numbers I own. If she
left, I’d put the number on another girl’s cell
phone. The name of the game is control” (D18).
While multiple advertisements were posted by the
same pimp targeting different interests, they
would often ring to the same phones: “[We had]
three phones. It’s all the same girls though [who
answer the phones], but you would advertise them
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