Tonawanda is a city in Erie County, New York, with a population of approximately 15,000. It is located at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal from North Tonawanda and north of Buffalo. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area.

Prostitution and sex trafficking activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities and in unincorporated areas of Erie 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 child sex trafficking. For example, in November 2011, ten women were arrested on prostitution charges during a two-day sting operation conducted by the Town of Tonawanda Police Department. Police believe they were part of a network of freelance prostituted women who travel the country posting ads on the Internet and then moving on after a few weeks. Two of the suspects were thought to be a mother and daughter. The investigation was conducted in response to numerous complaints from the Town of Tonawanda Tip Line, 879-6606.

In July 2015, three women were arrested by the City of Tonawanda Police for running a prostitution ring out of a massage parlor. The investigation began after police received numerous allegations against the massage parlor, located on Hinds St. in the Hinds Street Plaza. Police then sent in an undercover detective who was solicited for sex; the establishment was then raided, and those arrested were booked on charges ranging from promoting prostitution in the third degree to permitting prostitution, resisting arrest, and obstructing government administration. In December 2015, a Tonawanda mother was arrested on child endangerment and prostitution charges after negotiating a fee to perform a sexual act with an undercover Amherst Police officer. Amherst Police said the 25-year-old woman arrived at a hotel at the appointed time, carrying her 14-month-old child. She told the undercover officer she would leave the child in the bathroom while they had sex. The woman was taken into custody and charged with prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child.