Networking Characteristics

• Pimp-Controlled Trafficking: “Many of those who engage in street prostitution, escort services, or prostitution affiliated with sexually-oriented businesses may actually be under the control of traffickers that refer to themselves as pimps. A pimp may be a stranger who recruits a runaway off the street, or an intimate partner or family member.
• Trafficking In Residential Brothels: Another form of sex trafficking that victimizes youth occurs in residential brothels. Residential brothels are typically informal, cash-based, underground businesses that operate inside homes or apartments, and are frequently advertised by word of mouth and business cards called ‘tarjetas.’
• Familial Trafficking: This next form of trafficking involves an intimate partner or family member serving in the role of a trafficker. These traffickers might force or induce young family members or intimate partners to work or engage in commercial sex to make money for the family or relationship, or as a way to support the trafficker’s addiction.
• Gang-Involved Trafficking: Females affiliated with gangs are often not allowed to be members. Rather, gang members often treat them as property and use them for profit. Gangs often recruit youth through social media and schools while using techniques such as boyfriending and promises of love and support. Gang members also resort to threats of violence and physical harm to coerce compliance from their victims.