The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Sex Trafficking in a Border Community: A Field Study of Sex Trafficking in Tijuana, Mexico Author: Sheldon Zhang, Ph.D. Document No.: 234472 Date Received: May 2011 Award Number: 2007-IJ-CX-0013 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Sex Trafficking in a Border Community: A Field Study of Sex Trafficking in Tijuana, Mexico Final Report Submitted to United States Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Grant No.: 2007-IJ-CX-0013 Prepared by Sheldon Zhang, Ph.D., Principal Investigator San Diego State University Department of Sociology San Diego, CA 92182-4423 Tel: (619) 594-5448; Fax: (619) 594-1325 Email: [email protected] May 2010 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. FOREWORD This project was conducted under Grant No. 2007-IJ-CX-0013 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the United States Government. SUGGESTED CITATION Zhang, S. X. (2010). Sex Trafficking in a Border Community: A Field Study of Sex Trafficking in Tijuana, Mexico. San Diego, CA: San Diego State University. 2 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study would not have been possible without the collective effort of a group of dedicated individuals. Although they entered and exited the project at different points in time, all contributed in their unique ways to the eventual success of this project. The author wishes to express his profound gratitude to the following individuals for their participation and contribution to the design, implementation, and data collection of this study: Project Manager: Karen J. Bachar Consultants to the Project: Donavan Dunnion, Esq. Larry Lambert Interviewers: Fabiola Alvarado Gabriel Gonzalez Lillian Hughes Marla Lino Aracely Rodriguez, Gabriella Sanchez-Evangelista Perla Vidales Soto Aida Quintero Graduate Research Assistants: Ariana Marron Maria Ortega Nicole Rangel The author also wants to express his deep appreciation of the positive feedback and constructive suggestions by two anonymous reviewers of an earlier draft of this report. In addition, Jeffrey McIllwain and Alex Hatoum participated in the grant proposal development, the startup phase, and the initial data collection activities of this project. 3 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background and Study Objectives Sex trafficking has caught worldwide attention in recent years, often being portrayed as modern-day slavery. The United States, along with many countries, has taken an aggressive position on pursuing sex traffickers, pimps, and sex tourists, making the nation among the most inhospitable to human trafficking and prostitution. Despite widespread attention on sex trafficking, there has been little empirical research on the nature and process of sex trafficking activities. Most existing studies have relied on so-called expert sources (i.e., advocacy groups, shelters, and law enforcement agencies). This study gathered information from the two sources closest to this illicit enterprise - (1) prostitutes; and (2) pimps (or sex trade facilitators). Data for this study were primarily gathered in Tijuana, Mexico. It was hypothesized that human traffickers and sex industry operators might find Tijuana’s socio-political environment conducive to trafficking activities. Tijuana, the largest city on Mexico’s northern border, has long been a major tourism and weekend destination for Southern Californians. Its red light district draws a large number of visitors from both sides of the border. With more than 60 million people crossing the busiest international border annually, there is no shortage of demand for fringe services. Despite its geopolitical significance and the potential of spillover effects, to date there has been no empirical study on sex trafficking activities in Tijuana. This study is the first known empirical effort to fill this knowledge gap. The main questions in this study included: 1. To what extent, at what stage, and on what premises are deception, fraud, force, or coercion being used in the transportation of prostitutes into Tijuana? 2. To what extent and with what methods are human traffickers and sex industry operators managing trafficking activities and controlling prostitutes? 4 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. 3. How do human traffickers and sex industry operators organize themselves and engage in business transactions? 4. What policy implications can be drawn to improve efforts by U.S. law enforcement and social service agencies to deter human trafficking and assist victims? Method and Data Collection This study followed the qualitative research traditions of in-depth interviews with semi- structured and open-ended questions, field observations, and naturalistic conversations with major players in the prostitution business, law enforcement and advocacy groups. The main emphasis of subject recruitment was to maximize the range and variety of the search for discernable patterns of trafficking activities and the operation of the sex industry in Tijuana. Although hundreds of interviews were conducted with a wide variety of individuals, this study does not pretend to produce statistical estimates about the scope of sex trafficking activities or any other aspect of the sex industry in Tijuana. Findings discussed in this report are primarily descriptive rather than inferential. Furthermore, recruitment procedures used in this study were not based on probability sampling, but on a combination of location-based approach sampling and referrals from the social networks of those involved in this project. Due to the restrictions imposed by the university Institutional Review Board (IRB), the recruitment of women in the sex industry was mostly conducted at a government-run health clinic where the “sanitary control card” is issued to registered sex workers in Tijuana. Data in this study can only represent to some extent those who chose to use the health services at the clinic or those who came to the clinic for interviews through referrals. 5 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Included in the data are interviews with 220 women from Tijuana’s sex industry, 92 pimps and sex trade facilitators (defined as anyone who solicited customers, arranged transactions, or otherwise enabled prostitution for a fee), 30 government and law enforcement officials, and 20 community-based service providers. To explore possible spillover effects from transnational sex trade activities, the study also conducted interviews on the U.S. side (almost all in San Diego) with law enforcement representatives, social service providers, and 72 exotic dancers in the city of San Diego. Field observations were also conducted in Tijuana and interior Mexico in states with established illegal U.S.-bound migration activities. Findings This study found that women from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds entered into commercial sex. The men using women to advance their financial interests also comprised a diverse group. Law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups interviewed exhibited great concern about women being forced into prostitution. It remains an issue of debate whether current anti-trafficking efforts are adequate given the size of the problem, and whether current anti-trafficking strategies are appropriate for the identified patterns of sexual exploitation of women. The vast majority of the women interviewed in this study chose prostitution as a means to achieve personal and familial financial ends, however they chose to rationalize their participation in the sex industry. It was clear that many of these women were under tremendous financial pressure to keep their children fed and clothed or to assist their families in interior Mexico. With limited education and few employable skills, these women applied the only resource readily available (namely their bodies) to achieve the best financial outcome they thought possible.