Grand Forks, the county seat of Grand Forks County, is a city of about 57,000 residents in eastern North Dakota. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been known to occur in the city and surrounding areas dating back to the late 1800s when the railroads were being built. Prostitution increased a great deal with North Dakota’s […]
South Burlington is a city of about 19,000 residents in northern Vermont, near Burlington in Chittenden County. While prostitution is not known to be widespread in the city, it (along with sex trafficking cases) have been reported in the area. To address such problems, it was announced in June, 2018 that the Vermont Human Trafficking […]
Cass County is located in North Dakota and has approximately 180,000 residents. The county is over 80% urban, and most of the population resides in the county’s government seat, Fargo. Police report that commercial sex is a substantial problem in the area, especially at local hotels and motels. In recent years there have been more […]
With about 6,000 residents, Watford City is in Northwestern North Dakota that serves as the county seat of McKenzie County. Since 2000, a relatively large proportion of the population have been male workers in the energy sector. Prostitution activity has been documented in the city and surrounding areas. Among the more serious concerns associated with […]
This class of initiative involves organized, community-led action, such as routinely and systematically forwarding tips to police about sex buyers, conducting citizen patrols targeting demand, operating citizen-led blogs or websites, or launching billboard campaigns featuring messages meant to deter consumers of commercial sex. Some neighborhood organizations participate in “community impact panels” or make presentations at […]
This tactic involves police agencies sending letters or other forms of messages to the homes of known or suspected sex buyers. These “Dear John” messages, used in close to 100 U.S. cities and counties, are sometimes sent to the addresses of registered car owners, alerting the owner that their vehicle was seen in an area […]
Waco is a city of about 138,000 residents in McLennan County in central Texas, located along an interstate highway (Rt. 35) that links the Dallas/Fort Worth area with Austin, and is home to Baylor University. The city has long recognized that substantial prostitution activity occurs locally, and generates a wide range of other crimes and […]
San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, which is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay area. It is the third-largest city in California, with a population of just under one million. Sex trafficking and prostitution have been identified by law enforcement and residents as substantial problems in the […]
Roanoke is a city in the state of Virginia with a population of approximately 100,000. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city, surrounding communities, and in other 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. Some of […]
Miami-Dade County is located in the southeastern part of Florida and is the state’s most populous county with a population of about 2.7 million. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been reported as serious problems in the county for decades. In addition to city-level efforts to combat prostitution in the communities of Coral Gables, Homestead, Miami, Miami Beach, […]
Demand Forum is powered by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and directed by Dr. Michael Shively, NCOSE's Senior Advisor on Research and Data Analysis. It was originally developed by Dr. Shively and Abt Associates with grant support from the National Institute of Justice. In January 2020 the website transferred to NCOSE. In January 2021, work began on a new grant from NIJ (#2020-75-CX-0011) to update and expand the content presented on Demand Forum.
