413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Prices vary within the street and Internet-based commercial sex markets depending on the characteristics
of the adults or minors trading sex, as well as the characteristics of the buyers. Sex acts from drugaddicted
individuals tend to be the cheapest—$20 or less for any type of sex act. Pricing for pimpcontrolled
and non-pimp-controlled women ranges from $20 to $150 and is relatively the same for
transgender individuals. It was reported that women often determine pricing based on their self-perceived
attractiveness as well as a customer’s car type and willingness to pay.
Although the adults and minors involved in Internet-facilitated sex work are the same as those involved in
street-based markets, the pricing structure is different when services are advertised via the Internet.
Within the DC online underground commercial sex market, there is a set fee depending on whether the
service is an in-call (buyer meets the seller) or an out-call (seller meets the buyer). In-calls are cheaper
and can be as low as $60 for 15 minutes. Out-calls are more expensive, with $250 the minimum amount
typically charged. Pimp-controlled minors are commonly marketed as adults and are sold for higher
prices than adults:
Depending on how they [minors] look, most of the time the juveniles will mimic the
adults because again, they are put out to be adults. They may advertise online as 19, 20 or
21. They try and tend to fetch higher prices, especially if they are attractive. (DC Law
Enforcement Official)
Pimp-controlled adults and minors exploited on the Internet and street have daily quotas they must meet.
As one official explained, “It depends on the pimp, but it is typically $500 on weekdays and $1,000 on
weekends. That totals out to be $234,000 a year for one girl if they meet the quota.” Based on investigated
cases, DC law enforcement reported that pimps typically traffic one to four individuals (known
colloquially as their “stable”).
Recruitment tactics used by street/Internet-based pimps vary from psychological manipulation to
physical force and the use of drugs. One law enforcement official explained how pimps recruit through
psychological manipulation:
When they start recruiting, especially with young girls, pretty much what they do is go
and give the girls an ear … and the girls end up telling them, “I am having this problem at
home, my mama is doing this, and my dad is not doing that.” And they will just figure out
what is going on with this girl and they will fill that void. At first they might not even
approach her with the prostitution or anything like that. They just want to take her and
shower her with what she is missing: gifts, attention or whatever. Once he gets her away
from her family and it has been some time, he will eventually approach her and be like,
“Take care of my man for me.” And he might ease her into it or he will tell her, “Baby, we
cannot live here for free. There are bills that need to get paid and everything, you need to
start contributing.” Well, of course she does not know how to contribute so he tells her
she can do it for a short period of time, we can get this money and then we can go get this
big house or whatever and they will go for it. (DC Law Enforcement Official)
However, law enforcement noted a trend in cases involving minors who approached the pimp on their
own:
I want to say that now a lot of these young girls are looking at this sort of thing like it is
the “in” thing. I have seen pimps as young as 18 or 19 years old. And the girls, even the
case we just had, these guys did not come to them and say, “Hey, we want you to come
and do this.” This girl and a couple of her girlfriends, the youngest was 13 and the oldest
was 15, they went and found this guy and told him that this is what they wanted to do.
And of course he said yes. So now it is very different. It is not like a lot of these girls are
being forced into it, even the youngest ones. Even though they are juveniles and they
cannot make these kinds of decisions they are knowledgeable enough to say whether or
not they want to do that. The money is good; the only thing they can see is how much
money they are making, but not how much money they are actually making because he is
the one that is going to get all the money. He is just going to give them a little here and
there and make them feel like he is taking care of them. (DC Law Enforcement Official)
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