Grooming Traffickers: Investigating the Techniques and Mechanisms for Seducing and Coercing New Traffickers, New York City, New York, Chicago, Illinois, 2021-2022 (ICPSR 39120)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to gain new insights into the process of persistent sex trafficking. Specifically, this study sought to 1) provide an understanding of the social learning process involved in sex market facilitation, such as who passed down those skills, what is passed down, and how this impacts their recruitment and sex market facilitation styles, 2) evaluate how these social learning processes vary based on participants' demographics and prior traumatic experiences and 3) establish how participants are socially and criminally networked and how this impacts facilitation.

This project was guided by the following research questions:

1. Are there patterned processes or mechanisms from which older/experienced traffickers teach or model these skills to the pimps, recruiters, sex workers or sex trafficking victims who over time recruit other trafficking victims?
2. How are traffickers socially networked to other traffickers, pimps and established sex workers who manage/recruit other sex workers (i.e., 'bottoms') and how does grooming differ across social networks in New York City and Chicago?
3. How do traffickers detect vulnerabilities of potential recruits and what are the key individual and structural vulnerabilities that they target?

Study Design View help for Study Design

Data collection occurred in New York City (NY) and Chicago (IL) through in-person interviews or, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, through online face-to-face interviews using Zoom. For in-person interviews, researchers met participants in a designated public location where some privacy could be maintained (e.g. libraries, diners). Researchers also used office spaces and public parks to conduct interviews as a means to continue interviews through the COVID-19 pandemic and changing lockdown requirements. Alternatively, interviews were conducted via Zoom. For Zoom interviews, participants were given passwords to ensure that only they could enter the room and were assigned unique ID numbers so that no names or other direct identifiers would be recorded at any point.

In-depth, one-hour, open-ended interviews were conducted to examine how traffickers groom and sometimes deceive and coerce contacts into the sex trafficking industry as well as to understand critical moments in their past that might be linked to their vulnerabilities and grooming strategies. A semi-structured interview guide was used to ensure that certain topics were covered, while allowing for unique probes and more organic conversations.

Participants were paid $70 for completing the interview, or $20 if they chose to withdraw from the study. Participants who declined to answer specific questions still received the $70 upon completing the interview. Participants who agreed to assist the project in recruiting additional participants were offered $15 for each eligible recruit (up to 3) who completed the interview.

Sample View help for Sample

This project employed Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) methods to recruit participants in each city. Study participants were given a stipend for an interview, follow-up, and for successful referrals of (up to 3) other participants from their personal networks who are known to engage in trafficking.

Initial 'seeds' for RDS were established by advertising on websites where individuals advertise sex for pay and other erotic services. Different websites were selected for each location based on internet searches and information obtained through local sex work outreach groups who are familiar with novel means of advertising since The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) and The Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA).

Researchers aimed to recruit 200 sex traffickers or 'recruiters'/'bottoms' from New York City (n=100) and Chicago (n=100), with the sample split into 50 sex traffickers and 50 recruiters/'bottoms' for each city. Participants were screened for the following inclusion criteria:

1. Participant is a sex trafficker or apprentice ('bottom' or assistant manager) in two U.S. major metropolitan areas, New York City and Chicago.
2. Participant worked in the commercial sex market within the last ten years.
3. Participant confirmed through self-report that they are 18 years of age or older.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Individuals ages 18 or older engaged in sex trafficking or sex market facilitation in New York City, New York or Chicago, Illinois.

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Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

These data include several variables coded from audio recordings and transcripts from interviews with sex traffickers or 'recruiters'/'bottoms.' These variables contain information on participants' roles, relationships, and personal experiences within the sex trafficking industry. Demographic variables include age, gender, race/ethnicity, city of birth, education, children (including children's ages and gender), and income.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

The final dataset includes data from 183 participants, or 91 percent of the anticipated sample (n=200).

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2026-05-27

Version History View help for Version History