By Jacob Batterman
Over the last decade, prostitution in the Oshkosh area has largely moved online, spurring a shift in police tactics to combat the growing trend.
“We could do cases almost daily,” Oshkosh detective Paul Frey said. “The main site is Backpage. That’s where I would say almost all our arrests come from now.”
From 2012-14 the OPD made on average about 43 prostitution related arrests per year. With 23 of such arrests already this year, the increased traffic that summer events bring could make 2015 a record year for prostitution in Oshkosh.
“There’s girls that are gonna come up from Milwaukee or wherever else to cater to those big crowds– Country USA, EAA any of that,” Frey said. “There’s an uptick in prostitution when there’s an uptick in male clients with money.”
Free classified sites like Backpage and Craigslist allow anyone to advertise prostitution thinly veiled as legitimate services. Many ads are under categories like escorts, body rubs, and strippers. It only takes a few minutes on the sites to realize most of the ads are hardly platonic.
Controlled by violent and deceptive pimps who profit from them, many of the prostitutes on the sites are also victims of human trafficking, a legal term that refers to recruiting and using force to exploit someone and does not necessarily include transporting that person.
Frey said the Oshkosh Police Department started investigating online cases of human trafficking about six years ago.
Frey said that that the most common way to arrest johns and prostitutes is through stings.
“We’ll have one of our females undercover, and we’ll post an ad on Backpage then arrest guys that respond to the ad,” Frey said. “We’ll also do stings where we arrest the females and we’ll use venues like hotels, houses, apartments, semitrailers– whatever a customer might use to contact a prostitute.”
Frey said that in a city the size of Oshkosh, prostitutes aren't likely to be found walking the street and because sites like Backpage and Eros make it easier to find clients, much of the illegal trade has been pushed online.
“Craigslist used to be pretty active but they faced a lot of pressure from the public and eventually kind of re-did their site to limit the amount of prostitution on there,” Frey said. “There’s another site, Eros.com, that’s sort of centered out of the Milwaukee area. We make some cases off that, and now we’re starting to see social media sites like tag become more prevalent too.”
Although some sites have responded to scrutiny from authorities– Craigslist removed its adult services category in September 2010– online prostitution continues to thrive in Oshkosh and across the country.
Online research and consulting firm, AIM Group reported rising profits in 2012 for five popular websites that carry prostitution ads.
“During the last 12 months, prostitution advertising in 23 U.S. cities has generated at least $36.3 million,” the AIM Group estimates. “More than two-thirds of that amount, $25.4 million, was generated by Backpage.com, a general classifieds site owned by Village Voice Media.”
One of the last bastions of Oshkosh’s traditional prostitution market, Naughty Girls was closed down after a successful OPD sting at the strip club.
“Naughty Girls always had some level of prostitution,” Frey said. “That's very common in most if not all strip clubs. The girls will, either on their own or through a pimp, meet customers after work.”
Whatever the medium, prostitution and human trafficking remain dangerous black market trades. Those involved, gamble with their lives everyday and are much more prone to drug addiction, disease and physical abuse.
Nicole Tynan, an anti-trafficking advocate for Reach Counseling Services said human trafficking has been reported in every one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
“The average age that a girl enters into prostitution is age 13, Tynan said. “Research indicates that women in the sex industry face higher rates of drug addiction, PTSD, pregnancy, sleeping disorders, violent assaults, suicide– the list goes on and on.”
The harsh reality of human trafficking makes it very difficult for prostitutes to leave the business on their own accord.
Frey said many of the prostitutes in Oshkosh are involved with drugs in some way or another.
“On a fair number of them we find drugs right on the arrest, Frey said. “If you had to get into what percentage are drug users or doing it because of drugs, it would be very high. Heroin is a huge reason why a lot of girls are involved in it. Trying to get that money to get that heroin every single day to keep from being sick– you see a fair amount of that.”
Crippled by addiction, many prostitutes serve as easy prey for pimps who seek to control and make money of them.
Tynan said that most pimps fall into one or more archetypes based on the way they handle their girls and their business.
“Romeo” pimps will pursue girls romantically, feigning amorous intentions to gain trust and control. After a relationship has been established, romeo pimps convince girls to enter prostitution through guilt and abuse.
“Business” pimps are another common type of human trafficker that coerce women into the prostitute lifestyle. They see themselves as managers and create things like pyramid schemes to deceive their victims with the promise that prostitution will only be a temporary situation that will lead to more successful illegal pursuits.
Tynan said that the worst types of pimps are called “gorillas.”
“They’re very aggressive,” Tynan said. “They don’t even attempt to play girls like the romeo pimps. “They use physical methods like assault and rape to control the women. Video taping them during rape and assault for blackmail has also been used.”
To the average Oshkosh citizen, human trafficking may not seem like a problem. Its shift online may make it easier for police to set up stings, but it also allows for virtually anyone to advertise and respond for free, creating a game of cat and mouse that will likely continue until major policy changes are made.
Over the last decade, prostitution in the Oshkosh area has largely moved online, spurring a shift in police tactics to combat the growing trend.
“We could do cases almost daily,” Oshkosh detective Paul Frey said. “The main site is Backpage. That’s where I would say almost all our arrests come from now.”
From 2012-14 the OPD made on average about 43 prostitution related arrests per year. With 23 of such arrests already this year, the increased traffic that summer events bring could make 2015 a record year for prostitution in Oshkosh.
“There’s girls that are gonna come up from Milwaukee or wherever else to cater to those big crowds– Country USA, EAA any of that,” Frey said. “There’s an uptick in prostitution when there’s an uptick in male clients with money.”
Free classified sites like Backpage and Craigslist allow anyone to advertise prostitution thinly veiled as legitimate services. Many ads are under categories like escorts, body rubs, and strippers. It only takes a few minutes on the sites to realize most of the ads are hardly platonic.
Controlled by violent and deceptive pimps who profit from them, many of the prostitutes on the sites are also victims of human trafficking, a legal term that refers to recruiting and using force to exploit someone and does not necessarily include transporting that person.
Frey said the Oshkosh Police Department started investigating online cases of human trafficking about six years ago.
Frey said that that the most common way to arrest johns and prostitutes is through stings.
“We’ll have one of our females undercover, and we’ll post an ad on Backpage then arrest guys that respond to the ad,” Frey said. “We’ll also do stings where we arrest the females and we’ll use venues like hotels, houses, apartments, semitrailers– whatever a customer might use to contact a prostitute.”
Frey said that in a city the size of Oshkosh, prostitutes aren't likely to be found walking the street and because sites like Backpage and Eros make it easier to find clients, much of the illegal trade has been pushed online.
“Craigslist used to be pretty active but they faced a lot of pressure from the public and eventually kind of re-did their site to limit the amount of prostitution on there,” Frey said. “There’s another site, Eros.com, that’s sort of centered out of the Milwaukee area. We make some cases off that, and now we’re starting to see social media sites like tag become more prevalent too.”
Although some sites have responded to scrutiny from authorities– Craigslist removed its adult services category in September 2010– online prostitution continues to thrive in Oshkosh and across the country.
Online research and consulting firm, AIM Group reported rising profits in 2012 for five popular websites that carry prostitution ads.
“During the last 12 months, prostitution advertising in 23 U.S. cities has generated at least $36.3 million,” the AIM Group estimates. “More than two-thirds of that amount, $25.4 million, was generated by Backpage.com, a general classifieds site owned by Village Voice Media.”
One of the last bastions of Oshkosh’s traditional prostitution market, Naughty Girls was closed down after a successful OPD sting at the strip club.
“Naughty Girls always had some level of prostitution,” Frey said. “That's very common in most if not all strip clubs. The girls will, either on their own or through a pimp, meet customers after work.”
Whatever the medium, prostitution and human trafficking remain dangerous black market trades. Those involved, gamble with their lives everyday and are much more prone to drug addiction, disease and physical abuse.
Nicole Tynan, an anti-trafficking advocate for Reach Counseling Services said human trafficking has been reported in every one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
“The average age that a girl enters into prostitution is age 13, Tynan said. “Research indicates that women in the sex industry face higher rates of drug addiction, PTSD, pregnancy, sleeping disorders, violent assaults, suicide– the list goes on and on.”
The harsh reality of human trafficking makes it very difficult for prostitutes to leave the business on their own accord.
Frey said many of the prostitutes in Oshkosh are involved with drugs in some way or another.
“On a fair number of them we find drugs right on the arrest, Frey said. “If you had to get into what percentage are drug users or doing it because of drugs, it would be very high. Heroin is a huge reason why a lot of girls are involved in it. Trying to get that money to get that heroin every single day to keep from being sick– you see a fair amount of that.”
Crippled by addiction, many prostitutes serve as easy prey for pimps who seek to control and make money of them.
Tynan said that most pimps fall into one or more archetypes based on the way they handle their girls and their business.
“Romeo” pimps will pursue girls romantically, feigning amorous intentions to gain trust and control. After a relationship has been established, romeo pimps convince girls to enter prostitution through guilt and abuse.
“Business” pimps are another common type of human trafficker that coerce women into the prostitute lifestyle. They see themselves as managers and create things like pyramid schemes to deceive their victims with the promise that prostitution will only be a temporary situation that will lead to more successful illegal pursuits.
Tynan said that the worst types of pimps are called “gorillas.”
“They’re very aggressive,” Tynan said. “They don’t even attempt to play girls like the romeo pimps. “They use physical methods like assault and rape to control the women. Video taping them during rape and assault for blackmail has also been used.”
To the average Oshkosh citizen, human trafficking may not seem like a problem. Its shift online may make it easier for police to set up stings, but it also allows for virtually anyone to advertise and respond for free, creating a game of cat and mouse that will likely continue until major policy changes are made.