Prostitution and Organized Crime

Prostitution refers to the practice of giving sexual services to another person in exchange for payment. Approximations place revenues generated out of global prostitution industry at around $100 billion per annum (Campbell 23). Occasionally, it is known as “the world’s oldest profession”. Organized crime is a national, transnational and local groupings, which h are mainly centralized enterprises operated by ill-minded people for the sake of engaging in prohibited activity, majorly for monetary profit. Prostitution, more so in countries where the activity is legal, forms part of organized crime especially in instances where there are people who use sex workers for selfish gains in order to build big business empires out of tireless work of prostitutes, who may be under the legal age or forced into these activities. Therefore, prostitution as part of organized crime revolves around sex trafficking, forced prostitution, as well as crimes committed in the name of the activity. One of the outstanding notorious personalities who got in trouble with law for managing a prostitution ring for egotistic gains is Heidi Lynne Fleiss, an American television personality, columnist and a former Madame. Fleiss operated a flourishing prostitution ring which earned her millions of dollars. In fact, she made her first $1 million within a period of 4 months in the business while working as Madam, and $ 10,000 earnings became her slowest night. Her success in the business was inevitable between 1991 and 1992 when she could not accept applications for more sex workers (McCall 34). Despite all these success, it all became eminent that the activity was part of organized crime illustrated by the fact that, in June 1993, Fleiss got herself on the wrong side of law when she was arrested for multiple charges, one being attempted pandering. This confirms the fact that, in America, prostitution takes place as part of organized crime even though a number of instances happen at the back scenes that are yet to come under the light of the truth.

Prostitution is regarded as a form of criminal activity conjoined with syndicate operation and organizations. For instance, in 1953, West Coast residents were astounded in discovering a sizeable underground traffic in prostitutes based in coastal states. Despite the fact that the traffic was highly concealed from spilling out on wrong ears, it was a regular operation. Shockingly, when address books were confiscated from pimps and sex workers were arrested as far as in California, Stockton and Sacramento, the list of names emanated together featured dozens of addresses and phone number of brothels in Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho. Other details from the list were also houses in which prostitution is done within Alaska and its environs. It implies that other similar circuits are reputed to exist with one circuit running on eastwards from Southern sides of California and expanding around states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Far East sides of New Orleans (McCall 56). It is important to take note of an eye opener depicting that most circuits are apparently loosely organized confederations rather than one tight syndicate. In actual sense, these circuits seem like a form of informal, corporative working engagement between prostitutes, brothel-keepers and panderers. Nevertheless, they all maintain extensive contact with each other, in order to regulate constant flow of prostitutes from one brother, city and state to another, as well as prime long distance clients. Another instance in 1954 was when special agents from FBI succeeded to s crack down on a prostitution circuit that was based in Louisiana (New Iberia) and further extended into 8 states. Sadly, the area residents were astonished to find out that most of the girls, who were shuttled around the circuit, were virtual prisoners of the syndicate until the time when the FBI agents liberated them (McCall 70). Therefore, these instances emphasize the point that prostitution existed a long time ago as part of organized crimes in most cities, in the contemporary America.

Prostitution brings into a community a train of narcotics traffic and pimps, which tie-up with a whole host of minor and major lawbreakers that troop with prostitutes and pimps. It implies that commercialized prostitution transcend the moral question and outgrows to a vicious circle. A city where the activity is allowed almost invariably is characterized by the highest occurrences of crime. In fact, prostitution spreads Venereal diseases. A report from American Medical Association indicates that prostitutes hardly attend any medical examination, but rather are tainted with HIV/AIDs, syphilis and other Sexually Transmitted Infections. Unfortunately, most of the women get infected forcefully without moral engagement. In some occasions, they are bribed by higher payments if they accept to engage in sexual intercourse without using condoms. Finally, prostitution acts as a gateway through which other forms of crime gets into a region, and, therefore, it qualifies as an organized crime.

Forced drug addiction points out towards crime in prostitution. Estimation indicates that 10-25% of prostitutes, at one point in their careers, become addicted to using narcotics to relieve stress and as such, a form of dope pusher created a profitable market. This is intentional in a way that, once a prostitute or even her pimp gets into a definite addiction to using narcotics; she becomes compelled by obtaining the $30-$50 each day to cater for satisfying her dope craving. In the West Coast, it is a common knowledge that the underworld characters traffic the sale of bodies of young girls. This implies that the existing cartels expose sex workers into a form of slavery with threats issued against their lives, with no way to escape from such a prison. Therefore, it becomes a great criminal offence for such illicit organizations to push impersonification of women. Funnily, frequently tolerated prostitution corrupts the police while the tolerated law offence inevitably leads to law enforcement in the affected region. Just like other gang leaders, a successful keeper of brothel comes out as a smart, efficient and ruthless business woman keeping regular ledge sheet to reflect the number of tricks made up by each prostitute in the establishment, time in and time out, among others. This becomes a necessity in accounting with syndicate and the prostitutes, as well as relentless pursuers of all authorities, which imply state and federal income tax collectors. Therefore, just like other criminal organizations, which employ a number of cover up measures towards ensuring their survival in heated areas, prostitution is entirely viewed as organized crimes.

Human sex commercial trafficking is one of the most striking aspect of prostitution as an organized crime. It is the most prevalent form of contemporary slavery featuring mostly children and females enslaved in the sex industry, who are paid hardly any money all. The term as such assumes young girls exposed to abuses that happen throughout the US. Pimps have been found to champion trafficking of young women entirely against their own will or by threats of force, for the purpose of human sex trafficking. Human sex trafficking is not just a big business, but rather the most rapidly growing business under organized crime and also the 3^rd largest existing criminal enterprise in the world today (Knapp 67). Most of the occurring cases of sex trafficking is an international business, with victims brought out from Central and South America, Southeast and South Asia, ex-Soviet Union and third world countries, Middle East, as well as developed countries including Western Europe or North America. Unfortunately, sex trafficking also does happen domestically within the spheres of United States of America, which not only gets challenged by engagement of victims internationally, but also homegrown problem involving interstate sex trafficking of minors.

Recruitment into prostitution takes a form of crime. Young people in America get dragged into prostitution network through pressures from parents, forced abduction or deceptive arrangements set between the traffickers and parents. The moment, when children engage into prostitution abduction, they are compelled to travel far away from their relatives and homes; therefore, they can hardly get in touch with their families and friends anymore. Some children under these circumstances can even develop relationships with adults and peers, which go beyond the victimizer arrangements. Sadly, the general life style of victimized youths revolves around forced drug abuse, constant threats and violence. Among children and teenagers that live on streets in the US, their engagement in commercial sexual activities is a problem commensurate the epidemic proportion. Majority of girls living off streets take part in organized prostitution, and some of them end up entangled in organized crime networks operating nationwide, where they get trafficked throughout the nation. Criminal networks are responsible for transporting such children all around US by different means, such as planes, cars, vans and trucks, and supply them with counterfeit identification for use in case they are arrested. Research indicates that the span between 12 to 14 years is the age bracket when girls become victimized by prostitution, at first (Macionis and Linda 98). However, girls are not the only victims in the streets since this business affects also boys, who enter prostitution at the age between eleven and thirteen. Therefore, prostitution is a common reality in United States of America and other parts of the world, and in thus being at the core of organized crime.