HomeNewsBriefBrothel Discoveries Shed Light on US End of LatAm Sex Trade
BRIEF

Brothel Discoveries Shed Light on US End of LatAm Sex Trade

GENDER AND CRIME / 28 MAY 2014 BY MIMI YAGOUB EN

Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island have dismantled four residential brothels this year, shedding light on the receiving end of Latin America's lucrative sex trade, which receives comparatively little attention.

Police in the small northeastern US city say Mexican and Guatemalan women are trafficked from New York City on a weekly basis to residential brothels, where they are prostituted for around $30 per sex act, reported Providence Journal.

These sex trafficking rings operate by giving customers fake business cards directing them to clandestine brothels run out of apartments, where victims see an average of 20 to 25 clients a day. Due to their small size, residential location, and closed networks, these types of brothels can be difficult for authorities to track, according to Leah Meyer, a specialist at the non-profit anti-human trafficking organization the Polaris Project.

The victims are often paying off a debt to the traffickers and face constant threats of violence and abuse. Many are also undocumented migrants who fear being reported to authorities, said Meyer.

According to statistics from the Polaris Project's National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), in the United States as a whole the majority of sex trafficking victims come from Mexico, Central America and South America. Between December 2007 and September 2013, most of the victims who called the NHTRC, or whose cases were reported to this organization, were female and a third were underage.

InSight Crime Analysis

Reports of sex trafficking rings in Providence provide insight into life at the end of Latin America's sex trafficking routes and highlight some of the common tactics used by traffickers.

The story of one Mexican migrant who was promised more money to work as a prostitute than what she was making at her previous job and never saw a dime echoes that of countless victims in Latin America who are lured by false promises, while traffickers often use cruel threats to force their victims to stay.

SEE ALSO: Slavery in the Americas

While in the past the trade was run largely by smaller networks, in recent years, organized criminal groups have increased their role in the sex trade as they look to diversify their revenue streams. A 2011 Washington Post article highlighted the role of the Zetas in this criminal activity, while the NHTRC has reported some trafficking networks in the United States have ties to Latin American gangs like MS13, which has a presence on the US east coast.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

FEATURED / 20 SEP 2022

Authorities in Arizona are sounding the alarm about the rising use of outsiders as drivers for human smuggling.

ARGENTINA / 12 SEP 2022

Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, fentanyl, and ecstasy are reshaping Latin America's drug trade.

FENTANYL / 14 JUL 2022

An announcement by the Mexican government about the largest seizure of illegal fentanyl in the country's history appeared to ignore…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…