Residential brothels are locations where victims of human trafficking, typically women and children from Latin America, are forced to have sex with many men each day in order to pay off exaggerated debts to their traffickers. One victim was kept in an apartment and forced to have sex with 25 men in one day for eight to nine months. Traffickers use force, fraud and coercion such as physical abuse, debt manipulation and threats to maintain control over victims and cause them to engage in commercial sex acts against their will.

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A residential building that operated as a sex
trafficking location.
This is a photo of a room in a residential
brothel. Women and girls commonly see as
many as four men per hour (every 15
"She came from Guatemala, a woman in her early 20's, smuggled into the
United States for what she thought was a housekeeping job. The journey from
her small town to the Texas border took 26 days. From there she was whisked
to a safe house near Houston, then brought to Tampa, and moved once more to
a house in Jacksonville. There, an enforcer for the human trafficking operation
told the woman her debt had jumped from $5,000 to $30,000. The enforcer
demonstrated how to use a condom by rolling it over a beer bottle. He said she'd
have to pay back the debt as a prostitute, according to authorities. She turned 25
tricks the next day and nearly every day for eight or nine months. This tortured
existence — the daily life of a human trafficking victim — ended May 22, 2007,
when authorities intervened."
- 2009 St. Petersburg Times Article
Humantraffickingvictims inresidential brothels are oftenforcedto
provide commercial sex to highvolumes of mendaily. Incertainsex
traffickingnetworks, womenandgirls commonly "serve" as many as
four menper hour (every 15 minutes), totaling48meninagiven12
hour day. Inthis network, the victims are almost always womenand
childrenfromLatinAmerica. Brothels are typically locatedin
homes, townhomes, condos, apartments, andtrailers. The majority
of residential brothels are “closednetworks” for only Latino menas
"johns." Rather thanadvertizingonline or throughnewspapers, they
distribute business cards or “tarjetas” andalso publicize their
existence throughword-of-mouth.
Afterbeingbrought into the U.S. fromNicaraguaby two
controllers, ayoungwomanwas kept inanapartment buildingand
forcedto provide commercial sex against herwill. The menwould
come to the street corneroutside the apartment andcall aphone
number. One of the controllers wouldlet the maninandtake the money. Once, ayoungmanvisited
the apartment andshe toldhimherstory –which she was unable to leave orcall forhelp. The young
manreportedthe situationanonymously to the National HumanTraffickingResource Center.*
*Basedoncalls receivedby the National HumanTraffickingResource Center. Identifyingdetails
have beenchangedto protect confidentiality.
When does it become trafficking?
Traffickingoccurs whenbrothel operators and/or
boyfriends/recruiters use force, fraud, and/or coercionto maintain
control over womeninthe brothel andto cause themto engage in
commercial sex acts. Anindividual under the age of 18engagedin
commercial sex is consideredavictimof sex traffickingregardless of
the presence of force, fraudor coercion. Commonmeans of control
include:
Force–Complete isolationinthe residential brothel;regular and
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many as four men per hour (every 15
minutes), totaling 48 men in a given 12 hour
day.
frequent transportationto other brothels or other cities by drivers
workingfor the traffickingnetwork;physical or sexual abuse.
Fraud–False promises of abetter life;false promises that ajob inthe UnitedStates will be better than
their current job;false promises by atrafficker presentingas aboyfriend.
Coercion –Pressure to please the customer;debt manipulation;verbal, psychological andemotional
abuse;threats of harmto the victimor victim’s family;threats to shame the victimby revealingthe
commercial sex to his or her family andothers inthe community; exploitationof aforeignnational
unfamiliarity withthe language, laws andcustoms of the U.S.;threats of deportationandarrest;
confiscationof passports andvisas;restrictions oncommunicationto family;forcedabortions;rumors
of or witnessedviolence at hands of traffickers;coercive pressure fromboyfriends or pimps outside
the brothel.
*The above list is not comprehensive orcumulative. One element of force, fraudorcoercionmay be
present, ormany.
Vulnerabilities
Immigration Status–Frequently, the womenwithinresidential brothel networks are
undocumented. They may have come to the U.S. onalegitimate visa, afalse visaprovidedto themby
the network, or they may have beensmuggledacross the border. Inmany cases, their passport or
identificationdocuments have beenconfiscatedby the trafficker, further increasingtheir
vulnerability. Without legal status, the womenfrequently are taught by traffickers to fear anddistrust
police or government authorities.
Economic Hardship–Residential brothel networks oftentarget womenexperiencingeconomic
hardship, exploitingwomen’s needto care financially for family members or children.
Frequent Movement & Disorientation –Typically, womenare not aware of or familiar withtheir
surroundings because they are made to live andsleepat the brothel locationandare not allowedto
leave except whentransportedto anewbrothel location.
Recruitment –Similar to domestic pimp-controlledsex trafficking, womeninresidential brothels
are commonly recruitedinto the network by traffickers posingas boyfriends who feignromance and
affection. Others are recruitedintheir home countries throughfalse job promises inthe U.S. Latina
womenalready livinginthe U.S. may also be targetedthroughprint advertisements, informal
communications, or wordof mouth.
Statistics Snapshot
Standardprice for 15 minutes of sex at aResidential Brothel:$30
Standardday for awomanor childat aResidential Brothel:10am–10pm;12 hours;7 days aweek
Estimatednumber of menawomanor childmust have sex withdaily:25 –48mendaily
For resources onhumantraffickinginresidential brothels, click here
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