TAMPA, Fla. -- 10News got a rare look into the sex industry by driving Nebraska Avenue on a Friday night and meeting women working the streets.
Shutting down backpage.com, a sex marketplace website was a victory for victims, but it doesn't mean the sex industry is going away. It just means it's going somewhere else.
One place the sex industry has continued to thrive is on the streets. 10News went somewhere we've never gone before- face to face with women in the sex industry while they're on the job.
10News reporter Liz Crawford joined Tampa outreach group, 'Created.' The group tries to make connections with women working the streets by offering them a bag filled with toiletries, snacks, and informational pamphlets. Created also invites the women to learn more about their organization and offer them a pathway out of the sex industry.
On the Friday night that 10News joined the street outreach group, the women had six interactions with women on the streets. Created members consider that a busy night. Sometimes they'll only meet one or two women during street outreach.
Every interaction is different. The group talked to one woman they believe was very high. While talking to her, a man approached them. They believe he was her trafficker and she'll have little recollection of the night.
The outreach group explained they must act quickly just to get a few minutes with a woman. The women on the streets are on the job and often expected to take a certain amount of work.
Created usually calls it a night around 1:00 am but they do this outreach every Friday night in hopes women in the sex industry will pursue a life outside of the streets. Over the years, they've had several women come through their program and get back on their feet without the sex industry.
HOW IS LAW ENFORCEMENT TRACKING SEX TRAFFICKING?
Cpl. Alan Wilkett with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office explained that keeping up with the sex trafficking business is constantly changing.
For instance, shutting down backpage.com actually creates challenges for law enforcement who now have to look elsewhere to find leads that used to be plentiful on backpage.com.
Although human behavior remains the same, the business model has gotten a lot more sophisticated. Cpl. Wilkett fears the industry will thrive on the dark web, a layer of the internet criminals access through specialized software.
"It really is large, criminal organizations, transnational criminal organizations who are setting up these marketplaces and recruiting from the local streets," explained Cpl. Wilkett.
PROSTITUTION VS. HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Law enforcement is trying to shut down sex trafficking operations as fast as they can. Many times the victims involved are juveniles and if they're not, there's a good chance they started being victimized before they were 18.
Cpl. Wilkett added, "Most of them do not want to be in this business. They don’t want to be in this life. They feel like they’ve been trapped."
The idea that prostitution is a victimless crime is a misconception. Anytime a transaction happens between two people (a buyer and a seller), and another is being exploited, that's the model for the multi-million dollar sex trafficking business.
"They’re victimized young and as they continue on through their life, they feel like there’s no escape. We have to be able to find a way of escape for them."
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