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Wilkes Barre is a city of about 45,000 residents in central Pennsylvania that was a stop on a domestic sex trafficking circuit in the 1970s and 1980s. The “pimp circuit,” as it was then called, ran along highway corridors in central Pennsylvania (e.g., Allentown, Reading, Harrisburg, Scranton) and upstate New York (Schenectady, Albany, Buffalo). Like […]
Luzerne County is located in central Pennsylvania, and the city of Wilkes Barre is the county seat and population center. Other relatively populous communities within the county include Hazleton, Kingston, Nanticoke, and Pittston. The region has well-documented history of sex trafficking and prostitution activity. The county contained towns that were stops on a domestic sex […]
North Chicago is a suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Lake County, Illinois, with a population of about 31,000 residents. Prostitution and sex trafficking in the area have been well-documented, and police have targeted consumer-level demand in their responses. For example, in July and August 2016, four men were arrested and charged with […]
Cayuga County is located in upstate New York, abutting Lake Ontario and near Syracuse. Its population is approximately 76,000, and its county seat and largest city is Auburn. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented problems in the county, and to address them, efforts have been made to combat consumer-level demand. For example, in September 2015, […]
Onondaga County is in upstate New York; its population center is the city of Syracuse. The county is home to approximately 479,000 residents. Prostitution and sex trafficking have posed persistent and visible problems in the area for decades. Among the issues reported are several documented cases of sex trafficking of both minors and adults and […]
Sidney is a city of about 6,000 residents, and serves as the government seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska. The city is located in southern Nebraska, within 10 miles of the Colorado state line. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of Cheyenne County. This […]
Westminster is a city in northern Maryland that serves as the government seat of Carroll County. The city’s population was approximately 19,000 at the 2020 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD metropolitan statistical area. Prostitution and child sex trafficking activity are well documented in Westminster and surrounding areas of Carroll County. Consumer […]
Staunton is an independent city in Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,750. Prostitution and child sex trafficking activity are well documented in Staunton, and police have actively investigated many cases and conducted sting operations to apprehend those purchasing sex from children. For example, in May 2013, two online child predators were […]
Manassas is a town in northern Virginia with a population of approximately 43,000. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the town, 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. Among the more serious […]
Bel Air is a city of about 11,000 residents that serves as the county seat of Harford County, in northeast Maryland. Problems associated with commercial sex in the area are well-documented and include child sex trafficking. For example, in November 2013 three people were arrested after detectives made arrangements through an Internet site to meet […]
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.
