Wheeling is a city of approximately 25,000 residents, located along the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Situated along Interstate 70 near the Pennsylvania and Ohio borders, the city has struggled with sex trafficking and prostitution activity in the area’s rest stops and local hotels, among other places in the city. Consumer level demand provides the […]
Westport is a coastal town located in eastern Connecticut with a population of roughly 28,000 residents. In late 2010, officers from the Westport Police Department conducted a web-based reverse sting after receiving a complaint about a Craiglist post soliciting sex in the Westport Library. Police then scanned the site for similar listings, and responded to […]
Westland is a suburb of Detroit located in Wayne County, Michigan and has a population of roughly 85,000. Cases of prostitution rings and sex trafficking have occurred in the city. Police have conducted reverse stings in an effort to reduce local prostitution by deterring the demand for prostitution.
Westchester County is a county of approximately 960,000 residents, located just north of New York City. It includes the communities of Elmsford, New Rochelle, Ossining, Peekskill, Rye, Rye Brook, White Plains, Yorktown, and Yonkers. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented in the county, including sex trafficking of minors in the foster care system. In February, 2014, […]
West Sacramento is a city of approximately 54,000 residents, located just across the Sacramento River from the city of Sacramento in Yolo County, CA. The city has struggled with persistent street prostitution in the downtown area for decades. Local residents and law enforcement have also reported other problems related to prostitution, such as the robbery […]
West Palm Beach is a city of approximately 117,000 residents, located in Palm Beach County in southeastern Florida. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been persistent local problems for decades and a wide range of crimes associated with the local sex trade have been well documented. For example, sex buyers have been set up by prostituted […]
West Des Moines is a city of approximately 70,000 residents, situated in the suburbs of Des Moines in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties, Iowa. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding areas. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. […]
West New York is a city located in Hudson County, New Jersey and has a population of roughly 52,000. Prostitution rings, indoor prostitution, and street prostitution have all presented problems for the city for decades, and resulted in complaints from the community. In 2010, the Street Crimes Unit of the West New York Police Department busted […]
West Bridgewater is a town of about 7,300 residents located in Plymouth County, south of Boston, Massachusetts. Prostitution activity has been well-documented within the city, and throughout the region, and the local problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream […]
Wenatchee is a city in Central Washington and has a population of roughly 35,000. It is the largest city and county seat of Chelan County, WA. Prostitution is documented to have occurred in the city in the 1800s, and efforts to combat prostitution in the city date back to the 1930s. More recently, there have […]
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.
