Clewiston is a town of about 7,300 residents in south-central Florida, in Hendry County, near Lake Okeechobee. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been well-documented in the town, surrounding communities, and unincorporated areas of the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking.

Consumer-level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. Web-based reverse stings have been used to catch those soliciting prostituted persons in Clewiston. The names, ages, pictures, and other detailed information about those arrested are often reported in the news. The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Division has also arrested men for pimping.

The Florida State Legislature passed a bill which was signed into law in June 2019 that creates a registry of convicted sex buyers and provides a publicly-accessible listing of their identities. The registry data includes the names, addresses, and photos of those found guilty of soliciting sex from a prostituted person. The database is part of a broader legislation aimed at combating human trafficking by lowering demand for commercial sex. If fully implemented, all communities in Florida would begin using identity disclosure as a demand reduction tactic.