413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

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Table 4.1 Stakeholder Perceptions of the UCSE in Miami, FL Venue Street Offender profile N/A Employee profile Drug-addicted US citizen men and women a Evidence of prostitution Evidence of trafficking Pricing X $15 Open Brothels Latino Latina women X X $25/10–15 min. Internet US citizen US citizen minors and adults; pimp-controlled and non X X $150–300/hr. (same for minors and adults) Open/Closed customer base Closed by ethnicity Open Customer profile Men of all races/ ethnicities Latino men (often migrant farmworkers) Men of all races/ ethnicities Link to gangs, drugs, weapons, or organized crime Those selling themselves are often drug-addicted Uncovered cases linked back to offenders in Mexico transporting victims through Texas, Atlanta, Florida, and New York Pimps may be former or current drug dealers; operate in circuits throughout the United States (Miami on circuit with Atlanta, New York, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, Jacksonville, Seattle, and cities in California) Escort Erotic massage parlors Strip clubs/ topless bars c Foreign national groups (Eastern European) Chinese men and women b Eastern European US citizen women and minors; foreign national women (e.g., J1, H2B visa holders); pimp controlled and non Chinese women b X X Eastern European women X X $600–1,000/hr. Open X X Owner charges a “house fee” to rent the room. Charge for sexual activity dependent on the activity. Tip goes to woman performing sex act. Unknown–law enforcement unable to infiltrate Men of all races/ ethnicities + wealthy Gang activity (historically the Bloods) Evidence of organized crime establishments a Over the past 5 years this has shifted from US citizen minors to primarily drug-addicted women and men. US citizen minors are now being advertised online. b This has changed over the past few years as they used to be operated by Latino men and women advertising Latina women. c Not all strip clubs/topless bars in Miami are run by Eastern Europeans. This refers only to a subset of the clubs that law enforcement has reasonable suspicion that human trafficking may be occurring, but lacks the investigative manpower and resources to infiltrate. Open Closed legalized commercial sex Men of all races/ ethnicities Eastern European men Evidence of organized crime (multiple massage parlors controlled by few individuals) Evidence of organized crime–law enforcement unable to infiltrate 59
Brothels Law enforcement reported that Miami brothels are primarily operated by Hispanic or Latino men and women. Women have been found to be both voluntarily involved in prostitution and sex trafficked in brothels, with minors also sex trafficked in brothels. Women and girls are typically from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Law enforcement stated that women working in brothels are now are working voluntarily, but had been smuggled to the United States when they were minors and then forced into the underground commercial sex trade to pay off their smuggling debts. One law enforcement officer reported, What we’ve been seeing in the last one [investigation] we did is a lot of the girls were doing it voluntarily at that point, [but] had been trafficked [smuggled and then trafficked] in seven, eight years ago. They paid their debt off and they stayed down there. They know how to make money now so they do it voluntarily. They’re much older now, not very attractive, it’s kinda like this is all they got. (Miami Law Enforcement Official) He further explained that women and girls would be recruited in and transported from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador by individual families rather than large criminal networks. They are then linked up with a coyote or smuggler who would facilitate travel across the border. It was noted that Mexican drug cartels help facilitate the smuggling of women and children from Mexico and are highly organized compared to the smuggling of women and children from other parts of Latin America. Different border crossing patterns have been observed in these cases—some have gone to Cuba and others have crossed through Texas or California. Despite the method of passage, once individuals arrive in the United States, it is common for them to be transported to New York or New Jersey before being shipped down to South Florida. This pattern is believed to mirror the pattern of travel for migrant farmworkers following seasonal crop cycles, as these farmworkers are reportedly the largest client base of Latino brothels. Prices charged are usually about $25 for 15 minutes. At one brothel, law enforcement observed upwards of 60 to 80 daily customers. Brothel cases with no evidence of force, fraud, or coercion to substantiate human trafficking charges are prosecuted at the state level, rather than the federal level. In these cases, authorities use state laws on deriving proceeds from prostitution to shut down brothel owners’ operations. Internet Internet-facilitated trafficking and prostitution in Miami usually takes the form of escort service websites—as well as websites such as Craigslist, Backpage, or Eros—advertising individuals who may or may not be controlled by a pimp. In Miami, online escort services are typically described as “high-end” in that the prices charged are higher—$600 to $1,000 per hour—and therefore the customers tend to be wealthier. Law enforcement noted that escort services investigations have revealed sex trafficking and prostitution of women and girls, primarily Eastern European foreign nationals and a few US citizens. Foreign national women in the United States on a variety of visas, such as J1 visas and H2B visas, have been found to be sex trafficked. Law enforcement also reported that the escort services may be connected through a transnational organized crime network. The highly organized criminal networks and limited law enforcement resources (even of the task force), presented a challenge to dismantling these networks, as described by a law enforcement official below: We only just started scratching the surface. Quite honestly, I don’t know if we have the resources to take it so far and then everybody’s going to be scrambling … Because you are going into a different, an organized crime portion … doing more than what we do, basically surveillance, doing undercover operations. Now you’re doing more wiretaps, following the money, doing a money laundering case to try to tie into an organized crime. So these cases last a lot longer in these economic times. I know our department couldn’t do it alone. And even as a task force, it’s going to be hard for us to come up with the resources to do something like that. (Miami Law Enforcement Official) 60
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R E S E A R C H R E P O R T M A R C
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Table of Contents Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6:
Introduction and Review of the Lite
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Market Changes ....................
Page 9 and 10:
Appendix G ........................
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Main Findings We highlight 17 main
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6. For offenders, the prevalence of
Page 15 and 16:
Chapter 1 Introduction Purpose of t
Page 17 and 18: information about populations that
Page 19 and 20: In chapters three through eight, we
Page 21 and 22: seven sites were finalized in June
Page 23 and 24: individuals we wanted to interview.
Page 25 and 26: a total of 142 sex traffickers/pimp
Page 27 and 28: using interview data for the relati
Page 29 and 30: Table 2.2 Proxy Variables Dataset V
Page 31 and 32: Chapter 3 Methodology and Derivatio
Page 33 and 34: We also looked to estimates of the
Page 35 and 36: In this work, the LoCC will be invo
Page 37 and 38: 1.2.1. Linear Proxy We say that a v
Page 39 and 40: Table 3.2 Number of Sex Proxy ( ) R
Page 41 and 42: direct estimation method applied to
Page 43 and 44: in column 3 of the table below. The
Page 45 and 46: 1.2.4. Linear Proxy We followed the
Page 47 and 48: 1.4. The Linear Program 1.4.1. Sex
Page 49 and 50: Table 3.12 Cross-City Sex Proxy Rat
Page 51 and 52: Note that the entries in the tables
Page 57 and 58: 1.4.7. Techniques for Solving the L
Page 59 and 60: Where the above table shows actual
Page 61 and 62: 1.6.3. Guns Economy Rankings Here w
Page 63 and 64: The table suggests that three citie
Page 65 and 66: Chapter 4 Stakeholder Perspectives
Page 67: Main Findings from this Chapter Inc
Page 71 and 72: The other thing we do have is in th
Page 73 and 74: Dallas, Texas Fifteen individuals w
Page 75 and 76: Table 4.2. Continued Erotic massage
Page 77 and 78: that we’ve done because when we
Page 79 and 80: Although African American men compr
Page 81 and 82: I think what we are really talking
Page 83 and 84: actually go to them to find you wha
Page 85 and 86: Truckers The underground commercial
Page 87 and 88: Street and Internet Similar to othe
Page 89 and 90: Street/Internet-based pimps are net
Page 91 and 92: Figure 4.4 Erotic Massage Parlors i
Page 93 and 94: promising sign that law enforcement
Page 95 and 96: On the Latino brothel front we foun
Page 97 and 98: Street Street-based commercial sex
Page 99 and 100: majority of prostitutes. That does
Page 101 and 102: potential paper trail. Money was re
Page 103 and 104: Kansas City, Missouri Sixteen indiv
Page 105 and 106: Internet and Street Similar to what
Page 107 and 108: Pimps have always been mobile, movi
Page 109 and 110: San Diego, California Eighteen indi
Page 111 and 112: Street and Internet Similar to the
Page 113 and 114: are not documented by the police as
Page 115 and 116: always look for the most vulnerable
Page 117 and 118: hotels in their name … they have
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eliminated from having to follow a
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the room is, so it a three bedroom
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Street and Internet Seattle, like m
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Most of the gang members involved i
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Erotic Massage Parlors and Spas The
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getting a ticket in Lynnwood for no
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Table 4.8 Stakeholder Perceptions o
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need to be followed and pimps opera
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Erotic Massage Parlors Another prim
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typically between the ages of 16 an
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Chapter 5 Identity, Entry, and Risk
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Respondent Demographics Respondents
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presence of pimping in music and it
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Respondents distinguished between d
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Figure 5.5 Family Member Involvemen
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Multiple factors related to neighbo
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wanted me to know. She fed me the g
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mom. I wanted to go about it a diff
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Hiding Behind Legal Businesses Lega
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Another female interviewee, serving
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Chapter 6 Networks, Relationships,
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Actors in the Underground Sex Marke
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everything. I collected the money,
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they’ve made enough. That’s wha
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eally nice—not whorish—I’d ha
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Respondent: Right. I got a friend,
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affording a fancy lifestyle. Offend
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Figure 6.1 Recruitment Venues Neigh
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e escaping one life or seeking anot
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Mutual Dependency We are going to t
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money. I took care of who took care
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Rules One bad girl can knock your w
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Reasons for restrictions varied, bu
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encourage his employees to make mon
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have sex with each other when a con
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Competition Between Employees We ca
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little partner pull a gun on me. I
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Beyond employees, pimps shared othe
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pimp reported, “Usually you stay
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(D13). Another respondent reported
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Chapter 7 Business Practices and Op
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7.1 presents the percentage of resp
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eported the costs of maintaining he
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hour special. In-calls only.” You
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used because respondents feared tha
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Rates and Pricing Structures Rates
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One respondent explained the evolut
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Finally, respondents also charged d
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transactions completed were in-call
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associated with their charges, thou
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Changes in the Field The field does
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“Years ago, a john, a certain guy
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connected through the same gang. Th
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Main Findings from this Chapter Inc
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clients, served as a coping mechani
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Respondents worked in five of the e
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gays being together, men treating t
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multitude of environments including
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Rates, Expenses, and Spending Those
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individuals in their social network
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The Makeup and Conditions of the St
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Interviewer: You mentioned that wha
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Interviewer: And was that in cash o
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Demand, Clients, and Establishing D
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new venue to solicit sex work. A mo
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Respondent: Yeah, illegal. They mak
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explained, “A lot of guys would g
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Substances Participants felt that t
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A number of sex workers were caught
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I hear [other sex workers] talking
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while another respondent described
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the genital regions of clothed chil
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Recent studies (Merdian et al. 2013
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Technology It is widely accepted th
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Deep Web There is big problem that
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One offender acknowledged that purc
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The sample was almost evenly split
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One offender believed he knew what
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particular series When did this com
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One guy hacked into my computer one
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Production Location When asked wher
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availability, affordability, and an
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and eventually, it works its way to
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Law enforcement said they were able
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A national or international nexus w
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Table 10.1 Estimates of Illicit Mar
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Law enforcement noted that travel c
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in public venues, utilized their ow
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Pimps who were aware of the penalti
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Practice Implications Investigative
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Policy Implications As the above fi
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Finding 6: For offenders, the preva
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child pornography. More research ne
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Cooper, Bo. 2002. “New Approach t
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McMillan, John, and Pablo Zoido. 20
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US Department of Justice. 2010. The
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Appendix B Screening Interview Ques
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1. How many UCS cases has your agen
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8. How has the UCSE changed in rece
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If you have any additional question
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18:2421 Transportation generally 18
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these case reviews as supplementing
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Point-person designation The person
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Voluntary Participation: You may re
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Part I: Background information 1. W
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Part II: Specific Case Questions (P
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a. If yes, how did you learn about
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Part I: Background information 46.
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70. Are there any differences in th
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89. Are you aware of the prosecutor
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19. Who did what How was that decid
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Technology Questions These question
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discuss new or unprosecuted crimina
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Voluntary Participation. You may re
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Appendix L Terminology Blade: A pub
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