Buyers and Sellers
A Window into Sex Trafficking
Report
February 8, 2017
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) works to end all sexual exploitation and help victims,
both locally and across the nation. In that process, the office has been gathering anonymous
demographic information on thousands of individuals involved in the sex trafficking industry in
an attempt to more clearly understand the problem’s dynamics and implement informed
solutions. To that end, the office is producing this report based on surveys and interviews of
approximately 3,500 sex buyers and more than 150 individuals involved in illegal prostitution.
The results illustrate how sex buyers and those they exploit can come from different social
worlds. Sex buyers are often educated and of means while the victims are frequently burdened
by addiction and coerced or forced into selling sex before they could even legally drink alcohol.
According to the data, sex buyers are more often Caucasian, at least high school educated, and
in many cases, college educated, middle-aged-or-older men. Many are married and very few
are unemployed.
According to interviews of those who self-reported as being involved in prostitution, most
started before they turned 21, used drugs – most often highly addictive drugs such as heroin
and crack cocaine. A majority reported experiencing violence against them, including sexual
assault as an adult or child.
To be sure, these results are not being presented – and should not be taken – as the analysis of
a regulated, scientific research project. The demographic information on sex buyers is gleaned
from law enforcement interviews of arrested or cited sex buyers across the country. The
demographic information on victims is culled from interviews and surveys of women who said
they were involved in prostitution, individuals who came in contact with Sheriff’s police and
victim services through various means.
Yet, these results can be taken for what they are: a window into the backgrounds and
demographics of thousands of individuals involved in the sex trafficking industry.
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DATA BACKGROUND
Obtaining reliable data on illegal acts is inherently difficult.
Since 2011, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart has worked with key partners to found and
grow the National Johns Suppression Initiative (NJSI) to focus law enforcement and public
attention on reducing the demand that fuels sex trafficking. As of 2016, NJSI has included more
than 80 law enforcement agencies that participated in coordinated, periodic reverse stings
across 23 states. These reverse stings lead to the arrest or citation of sex buyers through the
use of decoy internet ads and decoy prostitutes on the street.
As part of these stings, law enforcement partners collected and submitted anonymous
demographic information on the arrested or cited sex buyers to the Sheriff’s Office for
collection and analysis. This central database does not contain any personal information on the
sex buyers, such as name, address or date of birth. While the initiatives have resulted in the
arrest or citation of nearly 6,000 sex buyers since 2011, demographic information was
submitted for approximately 3,500 as of late 2016. The data comes from locations across the
country, including Seattle, Las Vegas and Boston, among others. The collection and analysis was
funded in part by Demand Abolition, an organization that seeks to reduce illegal commercial
sexual exploitation by reducing the demand that sex buyers fuel.
The CCSO has also come into contact with hundreds of victims involved in illegal prostitution
through a number of programs and initiatives, including social service outreach tied to law
enforcement or custodial programs. Since 2012, the office has been able to gather
comprehensive, anonymous information on 172 individuals across several key data points. This
information comes from individuals who self-identified as being involved in prostitution, both
through interviews and anonymous surveys. As with the sex buyer information, the
demographic database used for this report doesn’t include any personal information, such as
name, date of birth or address. In all cases, the information was provided voluntarily.
The federal definition of sex trafficking is the use of force, fraud or coercion to induce someone,
or keep someone, in prostitution. Sex trafficking also applies to any inducement of a person
under the age of 18 to perform a commercial sex act. It is the Sheriff’s Office experience that
sex trafficking is both pervasive within and inseparable from the illegal prostitution industry.
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SEX BUYERS
The following data is based on information reported by arrested or cited sex buyers from
jurisdictions participating in the NJSI between 2011 and 2016.
Race/Ethnicity
Race or ethnicity was reported for 3,673 individuals. More than a third of sex buyers reported
as Caucasian (38 percent). Caucasian sex buyers represent the largest group in the data,
followed by Hispanic (30 percent) and African American (22 percent).
Sex Buyers' Race/Ethnicity
4% 5%
Caucasian
22%
38%
Hispanic
African American
30%
Asian
Other
Age
Age was reported for 3,013 individuals. More than half of those buying sex were over 30 years
old. The largest percentage of sex buyers were between 31 and 40 years old, (29 percent),
followed by 18-30 years old (26 percent) and 41-50 years old (24 percent).
Sex Buyers' Age
15%
24%
7%
26%
18 to 30
31 to 40
29%
41 to 50
51 to 60
Over 60
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Education
Education level was self-reported by 3,007 individuals. The majority of sex buyers said they had
completed high school (47 percent), with a quarter saying they obtained a college degree (25
percent). A little under a quarter said they had not completed high school (23 percent).
Sex Buyers' Education Level
High School/GED
5%
23%
47%
College Degree
25%
Less than High
School
Graduate Degree
Marital Status
Marital status was self-reported by 3,109 individuals. Nearly half of the sex buyers (46 percent) selfreported as married, another 10 percent said they were in a relationship.
Employment
Employment data was available for only the latest sting operation in 2016 and was self-reported by 872
individuals. The vast majority (91 percent) of said they were employed. Construction (21 percent),
warehouse/utilities (10 percent), professional (8 percent) and information technology (8 percent) were
the most frequently cited fields of employment.
Sex Buyers' Employment Status
2%
7%
Employed
Student
91%
Unemployed
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VICTIMS
The following information is based on surveys and interviews with 172 women who came in
contact with the CCSO over the course of four years (2012-2016) and self-identified as being
involved in prostitution. This contact included jail-based interviews as well as interviews of
individuals who sought services.
Race/Ethnicity
Of the 171 women who reported race/ethnicity, the majority were African American with 60
percent. The next highest were Caucasian with 29 percent and Hispanic with 6 percent.
Victims' Race/Ethnicity
4%
6%
1%
29%
African American
Caucasian
60%
Hispanic
Bi-racial
Other
Age of Entering Prostitution
Of the 156 women who reported the age at which they started prostitution, 44 percent
reported starting prostitution before the age of 18. That means someone paid and likely
coerced many of them to engage in sexual acts before they were an adult, often times before
they were even legally able to consent to sex.
Age Prostitution Started
35%
44%
Under 18
18 to 20
22%
21 or Older
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In an even more tragic representation of influence and coercion, 37 of the women reported
starting prostitution under the age of 16. Several reported starting at age 13 or younger, with
one woman reporting that she started at nine.
Violence and Sexual Assault
A majority, 88 of the women reported experiencing violence in their life, such as physical
beatings. Separately, 35 women reported experiencing sexual assault as an adult and 15 of
those women also reported experiencing sexual assault as a minor. Thirty-four women in total
reported sexual abuse as a minor.
The actual numbers in these categories may be higher as not everyone interviewed was asked
about violence and some who were asked declined to discuss it.
Drug Use
Exposure to drugs is a known method traffickers use to control victims. It can also be a type of
self-medication for mental illness or trauma caused by the aforementioned violence. Reported
drug use was overwhelmingly prevalent with 141 of 170 women (83 percent) reporting that
they used some type of illicit drug.
Most concerning was the prevalence of hard drugs. Of the 141 women who reported drug use,
74% of them reported using crack cocaine, cocaine or heroin, or a combination of those drugs.
Drug use was also frequently cited by women who reported being prostituted at a younger age,
with 78 percent of those who reported starting prostitution under the age of 18 admitting to
drug abuse.
Mental Health
Mental illness was also reported, with 45 percent of women stating that they had some type of
mental illness. Depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder were the most commonly cited.
Recruitment/Current Pimp or Trafficker
Exemplifying the problem of young women being coerced into prostitution, half of the women
reported being recruited into prostitution. Of those who reported being recruited, 63 percent
of the women said it was by a pimp. Other recruiters were described by the victim as friends or
relatives.
About a fifth (19 percent) of the women said they currently had a pimp, though it is possible
that many would seek to protect themselves by not answering truthfully.
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