413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Practice Implications
Investigative techniques used to uncover organized crime, drug trafficking, and gangs should be adopted
to better uncover the level of organized crime within all forms of the UCSE. The development of
confidential informants and the use of wiretaps (where allowed under state law) should be promoted to
gather evidence necessary to prove sex trafficking or prostitution within certain venues of the UCSE (e.g.,
massage parlors, brothels, strip clubs). In addition, steps should be taken to increase law enforcement
racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, and recruit individuals with fluency in languages spoken by suspected
offenders and victims in the local UCSE.
Given the large number of cases that cross state and international lines, cross-deputizing local law
enforcement should be promoted, as well as partnerships with federal law enforcement.
Finding 10: Findings suggest that the cases of pimping and sex
trafficking investigated and prosecuted in the United States represent
only a small fraction of the UCSE.
Across sites, criminal justice stakeholders felt the UCSE was much larger than they were able to
investigate, due to resource constraints, political will, or lack of public awareness about the prevalence of
UCSE crimes. This is striking, given that the cities selected for this study had some of the highest numbers
of convicted sex traffickers and pimps across the United States. When looking across UCSE venues, it
appears the cases least likely to be investigated may also be those that are more organized, generate more
money, more likely to be run by foreign national groups, and have client bases that are the most closed
ethnically or socioeconomically (i.e., only wealthy individuals that pass background checks are accepted as
clients). The vast majority of offenders interviewed in our study were pimps that facilitated street or
Internet sex work and did not base their operations out of a commercial space, such as a strip club or
brothel. Given that these individuals were not criminally organized and generally did not restrict their
client base, it may be that these cases are easier to investigate through law enforcement operations and
are not the most prevalent.
Findings from offender interviews suggest that UCSE extends far beyond the cases investigated and
prosecuted by law enforcement. Offenders observed that many, many people in their home cities and
throughout the United States were engaged in the facilitation of sex work. In addition, respondents noted
that very few people were arrested, charged, and incarcerated for pimping. Despite their present
incarceration, multiple offenders expressed the sentiment that “no one actually gets locked up for
pimping.” To many, incarceration was a sign of extreme missteps or failures during facilitation.
Policy Recommendations
Each policy recommendation noted in findings 1 through 9 provides opportunities for the federal and
state governments to support the detection, investigation, and prosecution of sex trafficking cases.
Practice Implications
The practice implications discussed in findings 1 through 9 will help law enforcement, local government,
and the public address the prominence of sex trafficking throughout the United States.
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