413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Appendix B
Screening Interview Questions
Estimating the Unlawful Commercial Sex Economy in the U.S.
Screening Interview
Background: The screening telephone interview is designed to gather basic information
about cases involving the unlawful commercial sex economy investigated by law
enforcement agencies under consideration for inclusion in the study. This information will
be used to select partners for the study and provide the research team with background
information to help prepare for the onsite interviews and possible case reviews.
Hello, my name is XXXX, I am a researcher from The Urban Institute in Washington DC.
I am working on a project that is funded by the Department of Justice that is trying to better
understand the structure and scale of the unlawful commercial sex economy (UCSE) in the
United States. Cases that involve the unlawful commercial sex economy include: human
trafficking, the production and distribution of child pornography (in exchange for money),
and prostitution. Yours is among a select group of agencies that has been chosen for
potential participation in the study. You may have recently received an e-mail from us that
described the goals of the study. Did you receive this e-mail which included a one-page
description of the project [Note: If they did not receive a message, then indicate that you
will explain the reason for the contact now].
The Department of Justice has tasked us with gathering information about the UCSE,
especially the networks of people benefiting from it. Your agency is one of a select few
across the country that we believe can give us greater insight into how the UCSE works.
Because of your agency’s track record in pursuing some of these cases, we would like to find
out some basic information about your experience investigating the UCSE. Our goal is not
to evaluate your investigatory practices, but to get a better understanding of the market itself
in your city. The purpose of gathering this general information is to help us select the
jurisdictions that would be most appropriate for a more detailed study. None of the
information provided by you during this call will be published, reported externally or shared
with your supervisors or others that oversee your agency. This is for our project’s use only,
to help us screen for the best sites for the study.
Answering these questions should only take about 15 to 30 minutes. Would you be able to
help us answer some questions, or is there someone else within your agency who may have
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