413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

However, respondents did not agree on broader market changes over the years. Another interviewee
reported a slump from 2003 to 2008:
Respondent: The pimp game slowed up between them years 2003 and 2008. Even the
junkie girls out there prostitute, but the regular pimp game, it ain’t nothing like it was in
the 90s.
Interviewer: Why
Respondent: I don’t know. When I first started I was making $1,000 a night. It was
hard to make $1,000 a night in late 2007, 2008. The money wasn’t coming fast. The
economy, I can’t really say what. A lot of the tricks weren’t spending a lot of money like
they were back then. (G3)
Other respondents reported that the changes they perceived were largely the result of their own
development and increasing expertise within the field. Pimps perceived changes in the market around
them as they grew older and became more experienced, but acknowledged that these changes were largely
an effect of their increased knowledge rather than external forces. One pimp explained, “As time went on
and people did this for a living, they became more advanced” (D10). While these were perhaps not actual
changes in the market themselves, pimps saw their own businesses change dramatically. One woman who
engaged in the sex market as both a sex worker and facilitator spoke to the evolution of her business:
Everything changed when I got older. I got my own place, my own apartment, things
started happening. [There were] more killings, more money to be made, and more
opportunity to be imprisoned. We started getting known. People started knowing us. The
laws knew what we was doing. We looked so innocent when we was younger. Wearing
makeup and clothes. We could wear jeans and a shirt and a john would pick us up. [Over
time,] we started revealing ourselves even more. (D16)
Also speaking to the development of his expertise, another interviewee explained: “The amount of money
increased, my clients increased, and my knowledge of how it worked increased. I think that reaching the
people who were interested was key. I was introduced to several [websites to post ads]: SoWet.com,
Craigslist.com, and Adultfriendfinder.com—after those, business increased” (A1). While another pimp
reported some change in the overall economy, he also felt that he ran his business more efficiently over
time:
Interviewer: Did demand increase Were there more guys looking to buy sex Or did it
change because you became more efficient
Respondent: I would say a little bit of both. As the money starting increasing, the drive
for it was increasing. Instead of two clubs in one night, I would try and go to three or four
clubs in one night. Instead of working one gentlemen’s club, I would work two or three.
(G1)
Perceptions of the market size, and the methods that pimps employed to reach their target market, were
somewhat codependent. Offender interpretations of the available market shaped the methods they
employed to connect to that market. At the same time, tactics, such as online advertisement, influenced
perceptions of the size of the available customer base.
Internet
You could tell that business has gone different. It’s gone to the Internet; it’s not on the
strip. (C5)
As discussed throughout preceding chapters, the Internet has had a substantial impact on sex work and
pimping, and the rapid progression of Internet use was the most frequently identified systemic change
reported by respondents. In one pimp’s words, “The Internet was the only thing that changed over the
years. There were no other trends that I can think of” (C9). Some respondents reported an increase in
demand due to the growth of widespread Internet use: “The Internet really kicked it off. Demand
increased by 60 percent” (D7). The Internet also removed some of the spatial limitations that historically
constrained connections between individuals who sell sex and customers. One respondent explained,
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