Estimating The Size And Structure Of The Underground Commercial Sex Economy In Eight Major US Cities
http://www.urban.org/research/public...ew/full_report
What they said about DC ...
The underground commercial sex economy in DC's varied and includes online and street prostitution,
erotic Asian massage parlors, and Latino brothels(see table 4.3). Because of the city’s location between Maryland and Virginia, much of the underground commercial sex activity occurs without regard to jurisdiction. Furthermore, because of its location along major highways (I-95, I-66, I-270) and its proximity to Baltimore, DC's a significant part of East Coast sex trafficking circuits. Both online and street prostitution includes individuals who are pimp-controlled, drug-addicted, and transgender. Street/Internet-based pimps are networked with one another, but similar to what was reported in other cities, they operate in more of a social network, rather than an organized criminal network. Massage parlors and brothels do resemble more of an organized criminal network and will often include a hierarchical structure within the operation. These businesses will also wire money back to their home countries on a regular basis.
Especially about AMPS
Massage parlors are the second of three primary areas of UCSE activity in Washington, DC and have been found to operate as fronts for prostitution and sex trafficking. As the illustrated in figure 4.4,
there are no erotic massage parlors located in the District proper; however, there are numerous massage parlors in Virginia and the number appears to be increasing in Western Virginia. Massage parlors in DC, similar to other cities in the study, are operated primarily by Asian individuals and staffed by Asian women. Similar to other cities in our study, connections have been found between Asian women in prostitution or being sex trafficked out of massage parlors and New York (specifically Flushing, Queens, and Staten Island). Massage parlors investigated in DC have not been found to recruit minors. Asian massage parlors (AMPs) typically welcome customers from all racial and ethnic groups, unlike Latino brothels which limit their customers to Latinos. However, as will be described, with increased law enforcement investigation, AMPs have begun limiting their customer base in an effort to protect against detection by undercover law enforcement. Officials have noted that some drugs may pass through AMPs, but they have not uncovered any connections with drug or weapons trafficking or gang activity.
DC's Underground Economy?
