NCJ Number
190173
Date Published
2000
Length
67 pages
Annotation
This study examined the dynamics of sex markets in Great Britain, with attention to "pimping," and explored the various options for policing sex markets.
Abstract
The study focused on four British cities, as it conducted interviews with pimps, sex workers, partners of sex workers, and managers of massage parlors. The views of police officers were also canvassed in each site. The study found that only a minority of sex workers were managed by pimps, and these sex workers were at risk of physical and emotional abuse from their pimp. Many sex workers were self-managed and often supported partners, but these partners were less likely than pimps to deploy violence. Those who worked "street sex" markets and young sex workers were more likely to be pimped. Although pimps undoubtedly played a part in drawing people into sex work, they did not provide the only route into it. They did, however, play a large role in maintaining sex workers in the trade. Pimps tended to have a diverse repertoire of offending styles. They had long criminal histories and did not necessarily define themselves as pimps. The majority had pimped juveniles at some stage, and they routinely engaged in violence, often using or threatening the use of guns, both in the furtherance of pimping and other crimes. Many were heavily involved in drug dealing, and most had significant drug habits. Drug dependence often substituted for violence as the means of coercing compliance from sex workers. Although pimps had extensive contact with the criminal justice system, only a small proportion of their offending came to police attention. Managers of off-street sex work tended to be women, who had no significant involvement in other forms of crime. Their relationships with sex workers were contractual rather than coercive, and there were pressures on this group of managers to avoid working with juveniles and to minimize drug use on their premises. One of the clearest findings to emerge from the study was that effective police action against pimps was helped by specialization. A specialist unit develops clear "ownership" of pimping as a problem; it builds specialist knowledge of the relevant legislation; it can establish relationships of trust with sex workers, who are likely to be key witnesses; and it can develop working links with corresponding specialists within other policing and service units. 11 tables, 30 references, and appended 1997 cautions and convictions for vice offense and a case study