413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

The Current Sex Market on the Streets and Online
The structure of the modern-day market for sex work reflects a confluence of factors that have shaped it
over time. Today’s street-based sex market consists of johns who are paying less and more violent; sex
workers who are either voluntarily or reluctantly charging less for their work; deeply rooted drug
addictions; and law enforcement crackdowns that are pushing sex work off the streets to new and
potentially isolated areas and online. Street-based sex work, in particular, has become more dangerous,
more prone to detection, and less lucrative.
There is a strong likelihood that there has been a decline in buyers and sellers of sex on the streets, but an
increase in other venues, particularly online. A 41-year-old sex worker who had been trading sex since the
late 1990s felt that there are fewer sex workers, although still plenty of johns, on the street: “I think there
are less girls out there now, there used to be more when I was out there. I see tricks out there all the time,
but no girls I know” (J3). However, another sex worker from Denver speculated that there were fewer
johns on the street, that “it’s really hard to pick up tricks now,” and that more buyers of sex services have
turned to the Internet to engage sex workers (J9). Observations like these led some, including a 23-yearold
sex worker from Washington, DC, to conclude that “the stroll used to be a hot spot, [but] now it’s
hardly used at all” (L7).
Some sex workers speculated that the individuals still trading sex on the street tend to be younger. A 50-
year-old from Washington, DC, who started trading sex in the early 1980s, stated, “I see a lot of young
girls coming out now, ages 13–14. [They’re] coming out to the streets in groups of girls, not by themselves”
(L6). However, sex workers interviewed for this study who engaged in street work at some point between
the mid-2000s and the present day were between the ages of 11–54 when they traded sex during those
years, precluding conclusions that those trading sex on the streets in recent years are of a particular age
group.
What is clear, however, is that the pricing structure of the market shifted significantly in recent years. The
street-based prices and the dating-spending pattern described above persisted through the 2000s and
into present day, with individuals trading street-based sexual acts for as little as a few dollars and/or
small amounts of drugs. Johns are playing a key role in the price drop; a sex worker explained, “Someone
even offered me $5. I got really upset, so I got out. They [johns] know it’s really hard [to make money on
the street], so they try to take advantage” (J9). In other words, buyers of street-based sex are demanding
more for less. One Denver-based sex worker described this recent trend: “Now, I’ll see people [that] want
you to date two times for $20 … like having sex twice for only $20. The economy is so bad … I mean, it
would take a long time to get your price. You could do it, but you’d be tired by the time you got it” (J6).
One of the most notable shifts has been the drop in prices on the low end of the price range for streetbased
sex work and the persistent ability to garner higher earnings online. It was stated that street-based
rates in the 1990s and 2000s ranged from $5 to $150 for oral sex and $5 to $250 for sex, compared to the
going rates in the 1970s and 1980s of $50–100 for oral sex and $60–300 for sex. Internet-based rates are
much higher: Based on the information provided, a 15 minute date typically costs about $60, a 30 minute
date ranges from $60 and $150, a 60 minute date ranges from $120 to $250, and a “full service” date
(during which any number of sex acts may be performed for a predetermined fee) costing as much as
$300 to $350, if not more.
Sex workers on the street continue to engage in significant price negotiation with johns who are paying
less. As a Seattle-based sex worker selling sex in the 2000s explained, “[The johns] start with a low price
for [oral sex] and then I have to bring the price up” (K1). The overall effect of this market is significantly
lower profits for the sex workers, in the form of money or drugs. In the words of one Washington, DC
worker, “[You’d] be lucky if you make $100 a night today. It’s just that bad now” (L2).
In part because of this, many sex workers in today’s market are using the Internet to advertise services
and arrange dates, allowing them to reach clients that are willing to pay more than street sex work rates.
Of the many sex workers in our study who reported engaging in or being familiar with online work, nearly
all indicated that prices online were consistently higher than street prices. For example,
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