0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains strong language and some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Oh, Rubmaps. You pull up the reviews.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14It says Mia has breast size C.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16She's clean-shaven.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Nice and round. That's her butt.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19- Posterior.- Posterior.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21And all of a sudden, it goes into a narrative
0:00:21 > 0:00:23of what they actually did.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26"Handed me the towel and takes me to the table shower.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28"I think she may do Greek.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32"She told me to get on top, and I worked her mish,"
0:00:32 > 0:00:34which is going to be missionary style. Straight up, regular sex.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37"But then I felt her finger go up my ass,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41"and that made me blast deep into the cover."
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I don't know what that means, but I'm pretty sure that your
0:00:44 > 0:00:45imagination what that is.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Do you think these women are working against their will?
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Sometimes they are, sometimes they can go and come as they please,
0:00:51 > 0:00:52depending on the provider.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I was in Houston, Texas,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02on the trail of prostitutes and their pimps.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05As you see it, she's making that choice for what reason?
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Some women are just hoes.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09You know, they're just prostitutes.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11And that's all they're going to be.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15At a time when the internet has made the sale of sex easier than ever
0:01:15 > 0:01:16before,
0:01:16 > 0:01:21I was in one of America's epicentres of sex trafficking...
0:01:21 > 0:01:22SHE SIGHS
0:01:22 > 0:01:23You OK, Nikki?
0:01:25 > 0:01:26You OK?
0:01:27 > 0:01:30..getting to know the working women,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33and hoping to understand a lifestyle in which the line between
0:01:33 > 0:01:37choice and force isn't always clear.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40It makes me sick how much he can control me.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44And I fall for it every time.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06At an hourly motel in the south-west of Houston,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11I'd arranged a rendezvous using a website called Backpage.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13"Hi, guys. I'm Nikki. Looking for the best of the best?
0:02:13 > 0:02:16"Silky brunette hair, sexy amazing curves, great woman,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18"outgoing personality, discreet visits.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20"Really, really addicting.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24"Brunette Italian. 26. Call me."
0:02:26 > 0:02:28- Are you 26?- Hell, no!
0:02:28 > 0:02:30- How old are you? - How old do you think I am?
0:02:30 > 0:02:3127?
0:02:31 > 0:02:32SHE CHUCKLES
0:02:32 > 0:02:34No, not even close.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36I think you're 30-something, aren't you?
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Italians age very nicely, though, don't we?
0:02:38 > 0:02:40SHE CHUCKLES
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I'm 37 years old.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Do you get a lot of business through that?
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I get a lot of calls, but I screen everybody.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52If you text me, "Hey, are you available?"
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Or something like that... I'll show you. I have pre-set messages.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56"Hey, sweetie. How are you?
0:02:56 > 0:02:58"Did you want to schedule a session with me?"
0:02:58 > 0:03:01And then I have one for my prices.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03What are your prices?
0:03:03 > 0:03:05They need 150 for a half an hour, because the room's 20.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08I get the rest. And then 200 for the hour - 20 for the room,
0:03:08 > 0:03:09I get the rest.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13I don't rent rooms, because Houston has hourly rate rooms everywhere.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14Do you pretend to enjoy it?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17I try to enjoy it. I mean, if I'm going to have sex,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20I want to get off, but I don't always do it.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Sometimes I get really good looking men, though,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26that are, like, very successful, good guys,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28you know? And they want to...
0:03:28 > 0:03:30"Do you want to stop what you're doing and come live with me?"
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I'm like, "No."
0:03:33 > 0:03:35If I wanted a relationship, I'd be normal.
0:03:36 > 0:03:37And I'm not even...
0:03:37 > 0:03:40PHONE RINGS
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Loud!
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Do you need to get that? Who was that?
0:03:46 > 0:03:47Um...
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Do you call in to your pimp?
0:03:50 > 0:03:52I update him on every move I make.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58The person that you're with is supposed to
0:03:58 > 0:04:01keep you on point, make sure you're mentally stable.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Make sure you're fed, you've got a room, you're taken care of,
0:04:04 > 0:04:05at any means possible.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09You know what I mean? Like, that's my daddy. He takes good care of me.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10He's like your corner man?
0:04:10 > 0:04:12He knows where I'm at, what room I'm in.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Like, I give him every information, because my safety's on the line.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18If I make a mistake it could cost me my life.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20- Do you live with him?- No.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23You have a separate.. An apartment where you stay?
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Mm-hm.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26Which he pays for?
0:04:27 > 0:04:29You give him all your money?
0:04:29 > 0:04:30Mm-hm. All the money you make?
0:04:30 > 0:04:32- 100%.- 100%?- Mm-hm.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35So you must have made tens of thousands for him.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I've made him a lot of money, yes.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- And, if you...- Probably over, like, 150,000 total.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44When you're with a pimp, anything you want,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47you have to ask for permission, and if they say, "No," it's no.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And if you go against them, there's consequences.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52If you violate the rules, there's consequences.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54And they're not, like, minor consequences.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- He's physical?- He can be, yeah.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01If you're out of line, if you're disrespectful, if you disobey him.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Why not go with a softer one?
0:05:03 > 0:05:04SHE CHUCKLES
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Who wants a weak ass dude protecting you?
0:05:06 > 0:05:09What you going to do? If I can handle my business and you can't,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11why am I with you? Like, what are you doing for me?
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Had you been working, doing sex work, before you got with him?
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Yeah. He didn't, like, force me to do what I'm doing.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20- I was already doing it. - He didn't turn you out?
0:05:20 > 0:05:21- Uh-uh.- But you...
0:05:23 > 0:05:25- He was the first...- And I don't want people to misunderstand.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Like, I'm not forced to do what I'm doing.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31People have, like, built this whole human trafficking thing.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35Yes, human trafficking is real, but it's not
0:05:35 > 0:05:38realistically happening like they make it out to be.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40I like spending time with people.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42I like meeting new people. I love sex.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44I love money. And I love to travel,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46so I've got the best job in the world.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Hello?
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Hi, sweetie. How are you?
0:05:53 > 0:05:55I'm fine.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56Are you wanting to come see me?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00- Yeah.- OK.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02What is your age and race, baby?
0:06:03 > 0:06:05You're from the Virgin Islands?
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Houston is home to some of America's most notorious areas
0:06:10 > 0:06:11for illegal sex work.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16The nation's fourth-largest city, at the crossroads of two interstates,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19it is a magnet for both prostitutes and pimps.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- Hey.- Hey.- Where you at?
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I'm at Hillcroft and 59th.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30- OK, so...- Are you ready? - Yeah, we just got to Bissonnet.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34On a Friday night, I was with recovery coach Kim Isaacs.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38She was doing outreach in one of the city's hotspots.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40OK, you got all the condoms? You've got enough condoms?
0:06:40 > 0:06:42OK, let me get this girl real quick.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Hi, mama.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I used to be out here. Can I offer you some free condoms?
0:06:49 > 0:06:51No.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52You want some free condoms?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Where are we?
0:06:56 > 0:06:58We are on Bissonnet,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02which is a hub for human trafficking
0:07:02 > 0:07:04on the south-west side of Houston.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Most of the people that come here have gone through Louisiana,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and then they come to Houston.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16The girls out here are not out here alone. They are working for someone,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18which they call families,
0:07:18 > 0:07:26compiled of a pimp, and then anywhere from two to five
0:07:26 > 0:07:27to seven girls.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30They can't work out here without a pimp?
0:07:31 > 0:07:34On this particular track, no.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38The thing is that the veteran girls out here will spot a
0:07:38 > 0:07:41what they call renegade, which is a girl that's just out here
0:07:41 > 0:07:43on her own,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46and either physically attack her
0:07:46 > 0:07:49or try and coerce her into, you know,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51coming into their family.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Renegades really don't make it very long out in a place like this
0:07:53 > 0:07:56because of the brutality of the pimps, also.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57You were in the life.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00I was. When I started out here, I was 12 years old.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Did you ever have a pimp?
0:08:03 > 0:08:04Yes, I did.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06What were your feelings for the pimp?
0:08:06 > 0:08:10It felt good for someone to tell me that I was a pretty girl.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13- You didn't view him in a negative way?- Not at all.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18Even when I was out there with an umbrella, and it's storming raining,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and I'm freezing, and I'm hungry, and I have to wait until I get my
0:08:21 > 0:08:24quota to go and get a hamburger,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28I still couldn't wait to put that money in his hand,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30because I knew I was going to be praised.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33How do you see him now?
0:08:33 > 0:08:36I see him now as a parasite.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39It's like a plague, almost.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Kim and her colleagues work out of Santa Maria Hostel,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58a shelter offering treatment to women with drug problems.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Among them are a number of ex-prostitutes,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06some of whom have had pimps in the past.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Are you working with cops, Dee?
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- Yes.- You're taking your medications as prescribed?
0:09:12 > 0:09:13No.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17One of the newest arrivals was 18-year-old Savannah.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20She was doing a one-month review of her progress
0:09:20 > 0:09:22with Counsellor Tonia Granger.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24It's not just the drugs and alcohol that drives you,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27and I think you know that. Your validation comes from all them folks
0:09:27 > 0:09:29that want you. All them Johns,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32all them pimps that are out there fighting for you,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34because you're worth a tonne of money to them.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37That's where that attention seeking comes in.
0:09:37 > 0:09:38- Right?- Mm-hm.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40What was the lifestyle that you were in before you were here?
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I was selling myself.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47The fast life of being in that life was exciting to me.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50I always had something to do. I always...
0:09:51 > 0:09:53..had money. I always had clothes.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55I had someone who
0:09:55 > 0:09:56was obsessed with me.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- Was that your pimp?- Yes.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02You felt he was obsessed with you?
0:10:02 > 0:10:05- It seemed to you that he was obsessed?- Not obsessed...
0:10:05 > 0:10:07- Yeah, obsessed.- In what way?
0:10:09 > 0:10:12He would show me more attention than my wife at the time.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15- Your wife at the time? - So it was his girlfriend...
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Not his girlfriend. It was his other girl that he had,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20but it was called my wife.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21So I called her my wife.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24You have to understand what the human trafficking family
0:10:24 > 0:10:25looks like.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30A pimp's success is directly related to his top female.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Cos a woman is the only one that's going to be able to deal
0:10:33 > 0:10:35with a room full of women.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39And so that would be the wife, and so if it's his wife,
0:10:39 > 0:10:40it's her wife.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45The pimp seemed more interested in you than in the wife?
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Yeah, because I could make more money for him.- Mm-hm.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50And I knew that.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59There were two pimps in Savannah's life -
0:10:59 > 0:11:01the most recent one, who she still felt attached to,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06and then there was the man who'd first recruited her age 16,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08whose street name was Rico Pimping.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Only weeks earlier, she'd taken the brave step of testifying against
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Rico in court.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16He'd been given 35 years.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24I was curious how he'd got her into the lifestyle.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26How did that go down? You were at a party?
0:11:26 > 0:11:28We were at a park getting high,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33and all I remember is coming out of the high,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35being driven to a hotel.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38You were out of it, you were intoxicated,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40you found yourself being taken to a hotel.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Then what?
0:11:41 > 0:11:44He... Rico explained to me what I was going to be doing.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46And at the time...
0:11:48 > 0:11:51To me, it sounded better than what my life was.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54He explained to me that I'd be getting cars, and a house,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58and all the clothes I wanted, and that I didn't have to ever
0:11:58 > 0:12:00be sad again or be hurt.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04So he gave me kind of like a fantasy lifestyle.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08And at the time, I was OK with it.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10A sales pitch.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11Yeah.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17Then how soon after that did you turn your first trick?
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Within an hour.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23- Really?- Mm-hm.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24So what happened?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27He explained to me that the pictures he took were going
0:12:27 > 0:12:29to be posted on Backpage, and that...
0:12:29 > 0:12:30Backpage.com?
0:12:30 > 0:12:32So he took pictures there and then?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34- Mm-hm.- Of you naked?
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Yes. And he said, soon after that, that I'd be getting phone calls.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41So the calls came in straight away?
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Mm-hm.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44So do you remember the first one?
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- I don't.- Was it that night?
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Yes. I had, um...
0:12:51 > 0:12:52..five or six that night.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56How did the physical side of it seem to you?
0:12:56 > 0:12:57I mean, did it seem disgusting?
0:12:59 > 0:13:01At the time, I was not a virgin, but
0:13:01 > 0:13:03I had been with only one person.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07So, you know, I felt I was degrading myself, in a way,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11to have to do the job, which only made me do more drugs.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14How did you come to leave Rico Pimping?
0:13:14 > 0:13:18I was already reported as a runaway, so the cops were looking for me.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22So I do believe that I made contact with one of the officers.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27He was posing as a trick, and he came and he got me
0:13:27 > 0:13:28and picked me up.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Would you testify against your most recent pimp?
0:13:33 > 0:13:34Right now, no.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41He did traffic you, though?
0:13:44 > 0:13:46In a sense, it's the textbook definition.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Because he was moving you around the country, um,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53pimping you out.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Yes.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58You still have feelings for this guy?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01No. A little bit.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03But no.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10It makes me sick, how much he can control me.
0:14:12 > 0:14:13And...
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I fall for it every time.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Today, Texas' Attorney General announced the arrest of the CEO of
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Backpage.com, calling the website a
0:14:27 > 0:14:30"grotesque form of modern-day slavery."
0:14:30 > 0:14:32In the week of my arrival,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35authorities had attempted to crackdown on Backpage.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38It was said that many of the ads there were placed by pimps.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Increasingly, authorities view prostitutes less as criminals
0:14:44 > 0:14:47and more as victims of their traffickers.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50All right, UC's, y'all are clear to go when you're ready.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53At street level, to get a sense of what local law enforcement
0:14:53 > 0:14:57was doing, I was out with the Harris County Sheriff's Office
0:14:57 > 0:14:59for a sting operation.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02OK, one of the undercovers has a female.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03I think that's going to be her right there.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Undercover officers would be attempting to bust the working women
0:15:07 > 0:15:09by posing as customers.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Near the bell?
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- Yeah, I got her.- I would be listening in with Sergeant Chapper
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and Lieutenant Diaz.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Is it a typical morning?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23- Does this happen every morning? - Oh, yeah, every day.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26The last time we did an operation in this area,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29literally, right at daybreak, I counted eight before our operation
0:15:29 > 0:15:31even started.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33We try to speak to them, get their cooperation,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35and work on identifying the pimp.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41This guy's walking close to our area. He may see the camera.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Right, there's another one. It's going to be a
0:15:47 > 0:15:51black female. Shorts, pink socks, and a black jacket.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Did she just get out of the car?
0:16:18 > 0:16:20- She got out?- She got out.
0:16:22 > 0:16:23No deal on that one.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- No deal.- She twigged.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27How did she know?
0:16:27 > 0:16:30These girls, they're out here and they do it all the time,
0:16:30 > 0:16:31all the time.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33And, I mean, unfortunately,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35they start knowing that there's parameters of what
0:16:35 > 0:16:38an undercover police officer can and can't do.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Once a deal is done and a prostitute is in the undercover car,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12a patrol cop swoops in.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22The women who are arrested would be sent straight to jail.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Repeat offenders could be looking at up to two years.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30But it was hard not to feel that the real culprits were getting away.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34You made quite a few busts this morning.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37None of them were either trafficked or willing to say that they were
0:17:37 > 0:17:38trafficked, right?
0:17:38 > 0:17:41What do you think's standing in the way of women...
0:17:43 > 0:17:45..bringing their traffickers to justice?
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Most of them are likely going to fear the repercussions of it.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51I mean, once...
0:17:51 > 0:17:52In order to cooperate with us,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54that means that they have to stand against them.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Some simply don't want to be labelled as a snitch,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00and others are going to fear the physical harm that they're
0:18:00 > 0:18:01going to suffer from that.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02And some sense of loyalty?
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Absolutely.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Absolutely. There's a sense of loyalty and protection.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19My half-hour is 150 and my hour 200.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21I'd meet you at an hourly room for in-call,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23or I can come to you for 200.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26There's a hotel called The Pearl. You can meet me there.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28I can send you the address if you want?
0:18:28 > 0:18:29I was with Nikki.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35All right, sweetie. All right. I'll send you the information.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37All right, bye.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39How old was he?
0:18:39 > 0:18:4050.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43You could get, like, 100 to 200 calls a day, and, like,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45probably only ten of them were legit.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47The rest are people playing games.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50So it's kind of frustrating sometimes, especially when you're
0:18:50 > 0:18:53trying to make money and people are playing on the phone, like...
0:18:53 > 0:18:55PHONE RINGS
0:19:00 > 0:19:01SHE SIGHS
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Who was just calling?
0:19:07 > 0:19:08My daddy.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10I can't answer right now, though.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15It will make me, like, really fucked up. I can't...
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Cos I don't have what he wants, so he's not going to be
0:19:20 > 0:19:21pleasant about it.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Jesus, um...
0:19:28 > 0:19:30You OK, Nikki?
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Yeah, I'm good.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35I just don't like him
0:19:35 > 0:19:37being mad at me, I guess.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Why is he mad at you?
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Because I didn't achieve my quota,
0:19:42 > 0:19:48because I was not focused on what I was supposed to be doing.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Oh, it's cold!
0:19:54 > 0:19:57How long have you been doing this kind of work?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02- Well over a year and a half, I think.- Not that long?
0:20:02 > 0:20:04What did you do before?
0:20:04 > 0:20:05You had a square job?
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Yeah, I worked at Kohl's warehouse in the packaging department.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10I don't like regular jobs.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13I mean, I used to be married.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Where did you grow up?
0:20:15 > 0:20:16Cincinnati, Ohio.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18You got married in Ohio as well?
0:20:18 > 0:20:19Mm-hm.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23But you had led a relatively square life, right?
0:20:26 > 0:20:29For the first, you know, 30 years or so?
0:20:29 > 0:20:3135 years?
0:20:31 > 0:20:34And then to get into sex work, that's a big step.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36And I'm just trying to get a...
0:20:36 > 0:20:38I was having sex before that. I was just doing it for free!
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Right, but...
0:20:40 > 0:20:41Now I bank up on it.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45- Now you bank up on it? - I still enjoyed sex before, but
0:20:45 > 0:20:47it's more exciting when you get money for it.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51How did that happen? I'm wondering how that transition happened.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54A friend of mine was posting on there and she was telling me
0:20:54 > 0:20:56about it and telling me what kind of money she was making.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59So I just was like, "Let's give it a shot," you know?
0:20:59 > 0:21:00See what happens.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- Had your marriage already ended at that point?- Mm-hm, yeah.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05It's quite a big step to go from...
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Why do you think that? It's simple.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09I posted an ad. I got a room.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11And I screen my calls.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14What made you come down to Houston?
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Cos Houston's where it's at.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22The track, Bissonnet, it's the biggest fucking track in America.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24And how quickly did you meet...
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Same day, within 24 hours.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29- Your pimp?- Mm-hm.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31What was his pitch?
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Trouble doesn't have a pitch.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40I don't think you understand.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Like, I would never go against what he says.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46You know what I'm saying? Like, I respect him a lot.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49And I make a lot of sacrifices for that man.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51You don't really fully understand until you go through some of
0:21:51 > 0:21:53the things that I've gone through.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55And he's rode with me. He's saved my ass a few times.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Without him, I would have probably been
0:21:58 > 0:22:00really bad off, you know?
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Physically, do you mean?
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Like from dangerous situations?
0:22:06 > 0:22:08And mentally.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Like, some of the stuff that you go through can really, like,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13mess with your head, you know?
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Make you doubt yourself, and that's who...
0:22:17 > 0:22:22..moulded me into a real fucking solid ass female, like...
0:22:22 > 0:22:26It sounds like what you're saying is he gives you focus.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27He gives me everything.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30I don't associate with anybody other than him.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32Other than clients.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36He must be quite a special person.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39SHE CHUCKLES
0:22:39 > 0:22:41SHE TAPS HER FINGERS
0:22:42 > 0:22:43Yeah.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49Have you had enough to eat, by the way?
0:22:49 > 0:22:51I haven't eaten in, like, two days.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Why don't you have a little more to eat?
0:22:53 > 0:22:55I'm preoccupied.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59What is preoccupying you?
0:22:59 > 0:23:00Um...
0:23:04 > 0:23:09Somebody in my family passed away a few days ago. And, um...
0:23:09 > 0:23:12It's kind of been on my mind that I couldn't go to the funeral
0:23:12 > 0:23:13and stuff, and uh...
0:23:15 > 0:23:17It just sucks, you know?
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Because I have to, like, keep my composure.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I can't, like, show that I'm sad.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I've got to be this peppy, happy little person for my clients, right?
0:23:32 > 0:23:33Fuck!
0:23:35 > 0:23:36I think I lost the money.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Maybe it's in the car. I don't know.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41Jesus!
0:23:42 > 0:23:44At the end of our lunch,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Nikki made the awful discovery that her previous night's takings were
0:23:47 > 0:23:49missing.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51I'm going to freak out, man. He's going to kick my ass!
0:23:54 > 0:23:57How the fuck did I lose 250 fucking dollars?
0:23:57 > 0:23:59He's going to think I'm fucking playing with him,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01that I was fucking off all night. He's going to be like,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04"How the fuck you was out all night and ain't got no money?"
0:24:04 > 0:24:05That's fucking ridiculous.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08This dude doesn't just smack you around. He'll, like,
0:24:08 > 0:24:09beat the shit out of you.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Her sense of fear was palpable,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16her dependence and vulnerability suddenly laid bare.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Having heard so much about pimps, I felt I should speak to one.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Human trafficking convictions carry long prison terms.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Men in the lifestyle are understandably wary of publicity.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49But I had a lead on Shederick Smith, convicted in 2009
0:24:49 > 0:24:52of compelling prostitution by a minor,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and now serving a 42-year term in Amarillo, Texas.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58How are you doing? Nice to meet you.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01His pimp name had been Fancy.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05- How's it going?- I'm all right. How you doing?
0:25:05 > 0:25:09I was made to understand that you had been, and perhaps still are,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11- a pimp.- Yes, sir.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12Would that be correct?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Well, half of it is.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17I was a pimp, but I'm incarcerated now,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19so I'm no longer pimping.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22The case that got you incarcerated involved
0:25:22 > 0:25:24a girl aged 15...
0:25:24 > 0:25:28- Right.- ..who in the court documents is identified as LD.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31- Right.- Do you not see that
0:25:31 > 0:25:36a minor, or a child, is not appropriate? You know, that it's
0:25:36 > 0:25:38wrong for them to be working in that way?
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It's totally wrong. It's totally wrong.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43If I'd have known she was 15, it wouldn't...
0:25:43 > 0:25:46I would never even have been involved, got involved with her.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So you... You're alleging that you didn't realise she was 15?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54I didn't know. She didn't tell me she was 15.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56To be honest with you, she told me she was 17.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01In the account that she gives,
0:26:01 > 0:26:06she was more or less recruited by someone called LaPrincess Moore.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07She wasn't recruited.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10She was discovered on the hoe stroll.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14A hoe stroll is a street where women sell pussy at.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17She was drafted into your entourage?
0:26:17 > 0:26:21No, she wasn't drafted. She was chose to come with LaPrincess.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23You put them on Backpage, is that right?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Backpage, yes. That's correct.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29In her account, she says there were times she was with you
0:26:29 > 0:26:34when she wanted to stop working and you would pressure her and say,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36"You haven't made enough money yet."
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Well, if you read the documents correctly,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43this chick was only with me for seven days.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46So that's hardly enough time for us
0:26:46 > 0:26:48to even really get acquainted.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50You know what I'm saying?
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Seven days. I couldn't have been too horrible in seven days.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Do you think it's a good deal for the women?
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- Yeah, it was a good deal. - In what way?
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Because I'm a good provider. I'm a good manager.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08And as you see it, she's making that choice for what reason?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Because she want to.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12What makes her want to?
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Some women are just hoes.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18You know, they're just prostitutes, and that's all they're going to be.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20It's like a race car driver.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24He get a rush when he's going 200mph.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26They get a rush when they go up in the room
0:27:26 > 0:27:31and can manipulate a man out of 700 or 800, 1,000,
0:27:31 > 0:27:332,000, 3,000. They get a rush out of that.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Did they have to give all the money to you?
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Of course I'm getting all the money.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Why do you say, "Of course?"
0:27:42 > 0:27:44I mean, that's just... That's how the game goes.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48I'm the... I'm the... I'm the manager.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50It's my company.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53And if they leave,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55you give them some money back or not?
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Yeah, I give them some money back.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58How much?
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Nothing!
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Do you see why other people on the outside would view pimps as
0:28:11 > 0:28:12predators?
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Yeah, because they're ignorant.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Meaning they lack knowledge.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21She want a family or team.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25So she chose to come over here and mess with Fancy.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28And be a part of Fancy's Family.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32It's an emotional thing?
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Is it emotional... You think it's emotional?
0:28:40 > 0:28:43I mean, you know, you could be right.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45She might want a father figure.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49It's like a little cult, almost.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Is that what it is?
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Kind of.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59HE LAUGHS
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Oh, man.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Several weeks had passed, and at Santa Maria, there had been changes.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Savannah had been going in and out of recovery.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37During one relapse, she'd gone back to her pimp.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43It was also being said that while in treatment, she'd been prostituting.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44- Are you Jax?- Yes.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46And there were two new faces,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49ex-roommates of Savannah's who were said to be romantically linked,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Danisha and Jax.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55So I understand Savannah's gone?
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Yes. She left yesterday. Like, she snuck out the gate.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01- What was that about?- She's not done.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03- She's not done. - She relapsed in her mind.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Do you think she was turning tricks while she was here?
0:30:06 > 0:30:08- Yes.- Yes, of course she was.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10She was. She was.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12- The whole time. - Are you serious?- Yes.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15When she was on HUD side, the transitional part.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Yes, that's what she does.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20Wow, that's quite a shock.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22- Is it?- Why?
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Because when I was talking to her,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27she seemed very authentic in her desire for recovery.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30She's been talking to these guys from her past.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33But she told me he used to beat her and stuff.
0:30:33 > 0:30:34But I can't...
0:30:34 > 0:30:38One thing I don't do is I'm not a hypocrite.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Because just as well as she's talking to him,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45I still talk to the same guy that hit me so hard in my face one time
0:30:45 > 0:30:48that it looked like I had an extra something growing from it.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52In the lifestyle that we live,
0:30:52 > 0:30:53it's like we...
0:30:53 > 0:30:55I don't know. Do we find comfort in that?
0:30:56 > 0:30:59I'm never going to say that it's good to let a man hit me,
0:30:59 > 0:31:02but that's just something that I like.
0:31:06 > 0:31:07All right.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Danisha's pimp, T Money, had been her boyfriend.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Under his influence, she'd first prostituted.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18In her room, she had his letters from jail.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22OK. This one is from this month.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24He says, "Hey, baby.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27"I've been going crazy and stressing like hell since we've been out of
0:31:27 > 0:31:31"touch, baby. Since I've been in love with you, I can't stand to go
0:31:31 > 0:31:34"without seeing nor hearing from you.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38"I'm so ready to see you, baby. It don't make no damn sense.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41"That's going to be the happiest day of my life right now."
0:31:41 > 0:31:43What I'm struck by - it's very affectionate, isn't it?
0:31:43 > 0:31:45It is.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Was that the sort of relationship you had?
0:31:47 > 0:31:48We did.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50What was in it for you?
0:31:50 > 0:31:51SHE SIGHS
0:31:54 > 0:31:56I guess just him.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Him needing me.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02You liked giving him your money?
0:32:03 > 0:32:08I would watch other females doing the same thing I was doing,
0:32:08 > 0:32:13and they would be happy to pass the cash off to their daddy
0:32:13 > 0:32:15or their pimp. They would be happy.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20So I just figured it was what I was supposed to do.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Even though when we came to Houston it kind of got worse.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25It got bad.
0:32:25 > 0:32:26In what way?
0:32:26 > 0:32:30Because that's when all the physical abuse started happening.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34When we were outside, you said that you quite liked that.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38I like roughness.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39I like to be roughed up.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42- In general?- In general.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44In sex, or just in general?
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Like, if I get into it with my boyfriend and he hit me,
0:32:48 > 0:32:49that's, like, a turn on to me.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51I don't know why. Don't ask me.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54But with T, it was too much.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57It was beyond what I liked, my limitations.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58Like, I had boundaries to it.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01Did that not make you want to leave even more?
0:33:01 > 0:33:03It did. It did.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07I was afraid. Like, he's a dangerous man.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09Hang on. But you're still saying you love this guy.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13I know, it's complicated. But, it's...
0:33:13 > 0:33:15- You write to him as well, don't you? - I do.
0:33:15 > 0:33:16And what do you say?
0:33:16 > 0:33:18I'm not here for you any more.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20I can't be that woman you want.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22- I can't be her. - You've said that to him?
0:33:22 > 0:33:24Yes.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26That's not what I'm getting from his letters.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29This is from the third of...
0:33:29 > 0:33:30Like, I think... Wait...
0:33:30 > 0:33:31Is that a recent one?
0:33:33 > 0:33:35"Stop doing me like that,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38"because I'm starting to think you up to some with that
0:33:38 > 0:33:42"bullshit. I mean, done sat there and wrote me a whole letter
0:33:42 > 0:33:44"about I don't fuck with you."
0:33:45 > 0:33:48"I love you so much, baby. I miss you too much,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51"and I'm most definitely not trying to lose you for nothing
0:33:51 > 0:33:53"nor cut you out,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56"so stop with that talk. You're mine.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58"You're mine."
0:33:58 > 0:34:00He wants to make you his wife?
0:34:00 > 0:34:01Yeah.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05I don't want to marry him.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08That's not the man God intended for me to be with.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19We knew what the rules of the lifestyle was.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25It's amazing how we follow the rules of the game.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27But people got to understand the word "game."
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Games are made to lose.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34You do not win the game every time.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36So we were gambling and throwing
0:34:36 > 0:34:39the dice with our life at every turn.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Every car we got in.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Even if you were on Backpage
0:34:45 > 0:34:48or you were doing phone sex.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Where did it get us?
0:34:51 > 0:34:53What did you end up having to show for it?
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Hello. How are you doing?
0:35:09 > 0:35:10- Nice to see you.- Good. How are you?
0:35:10 > 0:35:13A few days after she disappeared,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16Savannah was back to pick up some of her things.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18You sure you don't want to stay?
0:35:18 > 0:35:19I'm positive.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23- You know I love you, yes?- Yes.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25And we gon' fight, no matter what.
0:35:25 > 0:35:26But I don't want you to die.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29So I'm here.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Oh, man.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36I know exactly what she's going to go do.
0:35:36 > 0:35:37She's going to go trick.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39She's going to go hoe again.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41She's going to go use. She's already... I mean, she looked
0:35:41 > 0:35:43messed up when she came in.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46I'm scared for her.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52Because of her case, or just because it's a high-risk lifestyle?
0:35:52 > 0:35:53It's a high-risk lifestyle...
0:35:55 > 0:35:56..and then the case.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Savannah had signed up as an outpatient in the programme,
0:36:03 > 0:36:06but there was some doubt as to whether she'd follow through.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10And either way, being on the outside put her at risk of reprisals from
0:36:10 > 0:36:13her first pimp, whom she testified against.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Why are you leaving?
0:36:16 > 0:36:18I'm tired of being here.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21So you were turning tricks while you were here?
0:36:21 > 0:36:23When I got on the HUD side, yes.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25And while I've been on treatment side, yes.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27- Not as much as I was.- How?
0:36:27 > 0:36:30I'd go and pass like they are now. Going to the bus stop.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33I just wouldn't go to the meeting and go work, and then...
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Go work where?
0:36:35 > 0:36:36Right here.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38How?
0:36:38 > 0:36:41Just walk. Wait until somebody comes to pick you up.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43- Someone you know?- No.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Just some random person rolls down the window.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Have you been in touch with your pimp? Your old...
0:36:52 > 0:36:54No, I lost all connections.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56- Trafficker?- I did go back to him.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00The reason some women are with pimps is for protection.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05I started getting scared that the one that got locked up
0:37:05 > 0:37:06was going to find me.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09I was there for about, like, three days.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Him and his other girl that he had there were constantly fighting,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14and I have bad PTSD,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17so when people start yelling around me, I start shaking.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19So I told him, "I can't do this.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22"I need you to buy me a bus ticket home."
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Are you worried about your safety, given the case, and...
0:37:28 > 0:37:29..your role?
0:37:29 > 0:37:33He sent death threats out to all the females that testified.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34But at the same time...
0:37:36 > 0:37:41..me testifying, I got my power back that he took from me.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45And so by me being scared for the rest of my life that he might
0:37:45 > 0:37:48find me, he might do something to me,
0:37:48 > 0:37:50that's him also having my power.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57- Good luck.- Thank you.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Successful recovery at Santa Maria often takes numerous attempts.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11In spite of all the training and support,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14the ties of the old life do not break easily.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18The boredom of months of therapy,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20and limited options in the square world,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22leading many to go back to what they know.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29What I wrote is the thing that we work on in treatment.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32We work on your biopsychosocial.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34We start with you biologically.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36We deal with you psychologically,
0:38:36 > 0:38:38and then we address you sociologically.
0:38:38 > 0:38:39It was Thursday night,
0:38:39 > 0:38:43and Counsellor Tonia was teaching her weekly family class.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48Now, I don't know how many of y'all dropped your family member off
0:38:48 > 0:38:50to treatment.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52And I don't know if you remember what she looked like
0:38:52 > 0:38:54when she got here.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Right?
0:38:56 > 0:38:59OK, but she has a very distinct walk.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02Let me show you the "I'm coming to treatment" walk.
0:39:02 > 0:39:03All right?
0:39:05 > 0:39:07LAUGHTER
0:39:08 > 0:39:11What's dragging behind me is my plastic bag of clothes.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Among those in the audience were Danisha and a male visitor.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17- Keith?- Keith.- Louis.
0:39:17 > 0:39:18- Nice to meet you. - How are you doing?- Good.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21How are you and Danisha connected?
0:39:21 > 0:39:25I've been knowing Danisha about six months, roughly six months, now.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27I left my wife a year and a half ago,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31and I've been living in a hotel, cos I'm a local truck driver.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33And I met her at the hotel I was staying at.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38When I found out that, you know, she was, sort of, prostituting,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41I found her attractive, so I became one of her clients.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Had you used the services of a professional sex worker before?
0:39:45 > 0:39:46No.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48Cos I was married for 13 years.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50And you were faithful to your wife?
0:39:50 > 0:39:52- Totally.- Was she with, um...
0:39:53 > 0:39:55..a...
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I was not.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59It was after that.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02- I was wondering what he's about to say. A pimp?- Yes.- No, not at all.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05I would never fool with a girl who had a pimp.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- Why's that?- Pimps are too aggressive and too dangerous.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11They'll set you up, rob you, can't be trusted.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14If you would beat up a woman, how can I trust you?
0:40:15 > 0:40:18So, Keith, you knew that Danisha used to have a pimp.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20- No.- You didn't know that?
0:40:21 > 0:40:23- That's news to you.- Mm-hm.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Are you surprised?
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Not really.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Not really.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34It's a good thing she don't have one no more.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37- Cos then it's not healthy for her, you know.- I know.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40- I'm done, like...- Right.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46How did you feel about the relationship...
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Was it even a relationship?
0:40:48 > 0:40:50I would say no.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- What was it?- Cos we barely knew each other.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54It was just, like, a
0:40:54 > 0:40:56casual encounter.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58A casual hook up.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00- Over how many...- Two or three times a week.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04- For how long?- That probably went on for about three weeks to a month?
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Yeah.
0:41:06 > 0:41:07And then?
0:41:07 > 0:41:09And then she got arrested.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12- You enjoyed it. That's why you were paying for it.- Mm-hm.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13And did you enjoy it?
0:41:15 > 0:41:19- Yeah, I did.- Do you have to say that, or...
0:41:19 > 0:41:22I did. I really did. I didn't show him.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24I might have didn't tell him.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26But in my head I was like, "Oh, my God.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28"This is the best!"
0:41:28 > 0:41:31- HE CHUCKLES - Yeah, right.- I'm serious.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33Yeah, right. Mm-hm.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35Do you have trouble believing that?
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Not really. A little bit.
0:41:39 > 0:41:40Sometimes you second-guess.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42I'll take her word for it.
0:41:42 > 0:41:43Yeah.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46I'll be honest, I don't know whether to believe it or not.
0:41:46 > 0:41:47Right.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Because it could be part of a hustle, right?
0:41:52 > 0:41:56It's not, though. I mean, I don't look for satisfaction, but if it's
0:41:56 > 0:41:59good, it's good. I just don't let it show or let it be known.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01It's strictly business.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03So what's your relationship now, then?
0:42:03 > 0:42:05- Just good friends.- Just friends?
0:42:05 > 0:42:08- Mm-hm.- But would you like it to be something more, Keith?
0:42:08 > 0:42:10You know, I really don't even think about that.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Do you still bring her little gifts?
0:42:13 > 0:42:16I come every week, give her 30. You know, to keep in her pocket.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Today, I brought her all kinds of toiletries.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25Is it possible you're still being hustled a little bit?
0:42:25 > 0:42:27- How dare you!- Probably not.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29- You didn't like that?- No!
0:42:29 > 0:42:32- Why not?- Because that's not what's going on.
0:42:32 > 0:42:33She calls me at least every other day.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Danisha calls you every other day?
0:42:35 > 0:42:38- Sometimes two, three days in a row.- Just to what?- Talk.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40- Just conversate, have somebody to talk to.- Just check up on him.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43- So you like him?- I do.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48For a stranger that I met in my hustle to still stand by my side...
0:42:50 > 0:42:53..I wish there was more people like him in this world.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Thank you for that. That was quite heart-warming.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59You're welcome. Thank y'all.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02You good, baby? You're good, darling. You're good.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19It was the early hours of the morning,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21and I was back on Bissonnet.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29Nikki was on shift, under the ever watchful eye of her pimp.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32- Hello.- Hi.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34Nosey ass nigga.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36He's like... Bye!
0:43:36 > 0:43:39- How are you doing?- Go. Go right. - You want to go?
0:43:39 > 0:43:42I just want to get off this area.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45I just told him I got picked up so
0:43:45 > 0:43:48he wouldn't be like, "Where you at?"
0:43:48 > 0:43:50I don't really look at myself like I'm drop-dead gorgeous,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53but I know I'm not ugly.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55I think you look great.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57He said I looked like a rock star today. I was like, "What!"
0:43:57 > 0:43:59- You do.- He's like, "Now go get some rock star money!"
0:43:59 > 0:44:02- You've got that sort of Joan Jett... - See, the other thing about a pimp,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05they have to motivate you and keep you feeling good
0:44:05 > 0:44:07about yourself. Because if they're ragging on you all the time,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10making you feel like shit, then that's how you're going to feel.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12- Are we good to go?- Yeah.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16You know, before when we spoke to you and you became distraught,
0:44:16 > 0:44:18do you remember?
0:44:18 > 0:44:20You were upset because you'd lost some money.
0:44:20 > 0:44:21SHE GROANS
0:44:21 > 0:44:24- And you started...- I was honest with him about that, though.
0:44:24 > 0:44:25You got into a tizz. Do you remember?
0:44:25 > 0:44:30Yeah, because there's consequences to my actions. You know what I mean?
0:44:30 > 0:44:32You were really upset. You seemed scared.
0:44:34 > 0:44:35I mean, nobody likes being punished.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Nobody likes being in trouble.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Is that what it was about?
0:44:39 > 0:44:43I mean, I was texting, talking shit, the other night. He pulled up,
0:44:43 > 0:44:45picked me up and punched me in the mouth cos I was disrespectful.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48You know what I mean? They take that shit seriously.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52Would you be able to read out some texts to get a flavour of how
0:44:52 > 0:44:54he talks to you?
0:44:54 > 0:44:55Um...
0:44:57 > 0:44:59And how you talk to each other?
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Cos you just said you were being, um,
0:45:02 > 0:45:03disrespectful.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08The first message I have, it says, "I'm your little Italian soldier."
0:45:08 > 0:45:10He said, "Fucking right, bitch."
0:45:10 > 0:45:14And then I was on the track, and I was walking and talking to somebody,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16and he drove by, and he texted me and said,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19"This is your first warning. Stop talking, bitch, and get active."
0:45:19 > 0:45:20I said, "I am, Daddy."
0:45:20 > 0:45:23He said, "Get picked up. I'm getting pissed."
0:45:23 > 0:45:25Cos I was out there for, like, three or four hours.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28I said, "I do good when I'm in good spirits, not a hot mess.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31"You feel me?" He said, "Yes, bitch."
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Was that after he'd punched you?
0:45:33 > 0:45:36- Mm-hm.- So you're putting a marker down saying that you don't
0:45:36 > 0:45:39appreciate him putting his hands on you, right?
0:45:39 > 0:45:41He knows that, though.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44- You said you've only been doing this a year and a half?- Mm-hm.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47- But you feel OK with it?- Mm-hm.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49I love what I do. I accept it.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52I'm not ashamed of it. Like...
0:45:52 > 0:45:55I feel like in some aspects, I help people.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58I mean, pleasure is good.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00Who don't like to have sex? Like, come on.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03I mean, I hear you.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06And at the same time, I've been talking to other women involved in
0:46:06 > 0:46:09sex work, and almost to a one
0:46:09 > 0:46:12they've said, "But the pimp thing is not good."
0:46:12 > 0:46:14The pimps are...
0:46:14 > 0:46:16It depends on the way you look at it, though...
0:46:16 > 0:46:18- ..predatory and parasitic. - ..or who you're with.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20It just depends on who you're with.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22He makes me a better person.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24How is he making you better?
0:46:24 > 0:46:25I'm smarter.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27I'm stronger.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29And he takes all the money.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31He doesn't take it. I hand it to him.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34But if I want anything, I just ask him.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37You wouldn't rather have your own money?
0:46:37 > 0:46:41I'm really bad with money. I'm not a financial person.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45Before, I was married, my husband did all that stuff.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49It seems quite precarious if he's got all your money. In a year,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52or six months, or ten years, say something happens, right?
0:46:52 > 0:46:56And you have a falling out, and then you leave,
0:46:56 > 0:46:58and what do you have to show for it?
0:47:01 > 0:47:02SHE CHUCKLES
0:47:04 > 0:47:05Not much.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11There's no part of you that wants to get away from him?
0:47:13 > 0:47:14Uh-uh.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18- Not even a little bit.- Really?
0:47:18 > 0:47:19I'm devoted and dedicated.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31I left convinced of the wrongness of Nikki's choices,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33but also baffled as to how to break through.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37By now I'd realised
0:47:37 > 0:47:40that for all the women I'd met who'd been trafficked and pimped,
0:47:40 > 0:47:42there was a pull deeper than the money or the drama,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45or in some cases the drugs.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48A need to feel valued and to show love.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54In a role of providing professional intimacy,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57it struck me that the women were also at the mercy of their own
0:47:57 > 0:47:59feelings when it came to their pimps.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05Perhaps none more so than Danisha.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Caught between her roommate Jax,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11her old pimp, and Keith.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15You know, it was nice meeting Keith.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17- Was it?- What are your feelings for him?
0:48:17 > 0:48:19SHE SIGHS
0:48:19 > 0:48:20I mean...
0:48:20 > 0:48:23I appreciate him, and I...
0:48:24 > 0:48:26I've got love for him.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31I wouldn't necessarily say that I could right now, at this point,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34see myself in a relationship with anybody.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37You seem to be in relationships with three people.
0:48:37 > 0:48:38Who?
0:48:38 > 0:48:39SHE LAUGHS
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Who? I am not in a relationship with anybody.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44Of a sort. Well, there's Keith.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49There's also your old pimp who is imprisoned,
0:48:49 > 0:48:51and then there's Jax.
0:48:51 > 0:48:52OK.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56I'm not in a relationship with Jax. Jax is, like, my best friend.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Which one are you most attracted to?
0:48:58 > 0:48:59Hmm...
0:49:00 > 0:49:02You want me to be honest?
0:49:03 > 0:49:04The one in jail.
0:49:07 > 0:49:08Yeah.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13He's the one who's treated you worst, I suppose.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17- Yeah.- And he pimped you out, right, if that's the right term?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20- Yeah.- He put you out on the track, right?
0:49:20 > 0:49:22- Yeah, you could say that. - And he was physical with you?
0:49:22 > 0:49:26- Yes.- What has he got that you don't get in the other two
0:49:26 > 0:49:27relationships?
0:49:30 > 0:49:32When Keith talks to me,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Keith talks to me about always wanting to have sex.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39"I can't wait till you can leave so I can come and get you
0:49:39 > 0:49:44"and take you out to eat and, you know, do this and do that."
0:49:44 > 0:49:47But with T, what does he talk to you about?
0:49:47 > 0:49:49He loves me and
0:49:49 > 0:49:52he don't want to lose me. He wants me to be a part of his life.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54I'm his life.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56You had a physical relationship?
0:49:56 > 0:49:57Yes.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01But it's more emotional now with him.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03Do you think that's true of pimps in general?
0:50:05 > 0:50:06It's... What...
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Well, that they are...
0:50:08 > 0:50:10They can push your buttons emotionally,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14and part of their control is that...
0:50:19 > 0:50:22..you can't manipulate them sexually.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25I can, though. I have.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27- With T?- Yes.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30He likes the way I do things in bed.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32- T does?- Yes.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35There's not a day we didn't sleep in the bed together
0:50:35 > 0:50:36that we didn't have sex.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38- You and T?- Yeah.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41When you look into your heart
0:50:41 > 0:50:44and you see that there's a part of you that wants that, right,
0:50:44 > 0:50:45or wanted it...
0:50:45 > 0:50:49- Wanted it.- What is it? Is it just a... Sort of an emotional...
0:50:49 > 0:50:56You know, a sense of pleasure that you get in providing for someone?
0:50:56 > 0:50:58Taking care of business?
0:50:58 > 0:51:01It is, because it makes me feel like I'm in control.
0:51:01 > 0:51:07You can see how looking at it another way, it's almost a kind of
0:51:07 > 0:51:10servitude, you know, a kind of...
0:51:10 > 0:51:12- Being submissive?- Mm-hm.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Yeah.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16If you know my background,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20me growing up, I always had to be submissive.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23I started being molested at the age of three.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29"No, no, I don't want to. "I don't want to."
0:51:29 > 0:51:32"If you tell, you're going to be in big trouble,
0:51:32 > 0:51:34"or I'm going to kill you."
0:51:34 > 0:51:36Put fear in me.
0:51:36 > 0:51:37Who did it?
0:51:38 > 0:51:40A lot of people.
0:51:41 > 0:51:42A lot of people.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45My mom even knows.
0:51:45 > 0:51:46It was two of her boyfriends.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52I hate for people to try to judge me about my lifestyle.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54I really do.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57Because no-one knows what I've been through.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59No-one knows where I come from.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03And I just thought that
0:52:03 > 0:52:06the person that I loved was the one who was going to save me,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10rescue me from all of the feelings and emotions that I endured
0:52:10 > 0:52:12inside of me.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16But, now, when I see it and I explain it to you guys,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20in my head it's like, "No, that's not what was happening."
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Do you mean with T?
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Yeah. I was being used.
0:52:24 > 0:52:25I'm being used by Keith.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28I'm just, like, being used.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32I don't know if that's true, you know?
0:52:32 > 0:52:34I mean, I hope that's not what you think I've been saying.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36I think...
0:52:38 > 0:52:41You know, relationships are complicated.
0:52:41 > 0:52:48And I think your relationships with Keith and T and Jax,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51they're all two-way streets, and in your own way,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54you have been powerful in those relationships.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14With my time in Houston nearly up, I had one last appointment.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19- How's it going?- It's going good.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Savannah was now back on her own in the world.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29We'd arranged to meet for coffee.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36So the sense I had from Santa Maria is that you're at risk out here
0:53:36 > 0:53:39of relapse into drugs and relapse into sex work.
0:53:40 > 0:53:41How does that sit with you,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43that image, is that accurate? Is it fair?
0:53:45 > 0:53:47No, I am in recovery.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50I do care about my recovery.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53I felt like I was going nowhere in Santa Maria.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57But out here?
0:53:57 > 0:53:59What do you feel? Where do you feel you're going out here?
0:54:01 > 0:54:02I'm getting a job.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07- Going to start working.- Where?
0:54:07 > 0:54:09I'm going to go apply for applications tomorrow.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12- What kind of job?- Any job, Subway.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16I'm applying a bunch of different places, front desk clerk.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19And the going back to the life,
0:54:19 > 0:54:23I mean, maybe in another person's eyes that would be relapsing,
0:54:23 > 0:54:28but I never promised that I wouldn't go back and do it.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32What is it that is making you think a little bit, like,
0:54:32 > 0:54:33it's still an option?
0:54:35 > 0:54:36I don't have a job.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40- And it's easy?- It's easy.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Is it a little bit exciting?
0:54:44 > 0:54:48Mm-hm. Oh, it absolutely is. The rush.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52It's like another addiction. It really is.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55Do you think there's a way of doing the sex work
0:54:55 > 0:54:57in a healthy way?
0:54:57 > 0:55:00I don't know. There's a part of me that just completely wants to just
0:55:00 > 0:55:02stop it, cos I know that I'm better than it.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06And that's not what I need to be doing with my life.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10And I could absolutely be doing a whole bunch of other things,
0:55:10 > 0:55:12but then another part of me is like...
0:55:14 > 0:55:17For some reason, doesn't want to let that go.
0:55:17 > 0:55:18Why?
0:55:20 > 0:55:23A big part of me is scared that I'm not going to be successful,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25that I'm going to fail somewhere.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27And that
0:55:27 > 0:55:30I might as well just stick to doing this...
0:55:31 > 0:55:33..instead of go and fail.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37But at the same time, I just... I don't know...
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Do you think you'd ever get back with a pimp?
0:55:44 > 0:55:45No, I don't.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51No longer will I allow a man to
0:55:51 > 0:55:56tell me what to do, or to disrespect me,
0:55:56 > 0:55:57or to hit me, or...
0:55:59 > 0:56:01..I give my money to them.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05I will no longer allow that.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26Cos I know when I was out here, I didn't think there was any hope.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29- I don't either. - I thought the older I got,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31because I was out here for 21 years...
0:56:31 > 0:56:33I'm going on 13.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35I had a baby over on 40th 1/2.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40It may be that as long as there are extremes of vulnerability,
0:56:40 > 0:56:42coerced prostitution will be with us.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46- Thank y'all for coming to see me! - Bye, baby.- Goodbye!
0:56:46 > 0:56:47In Houston,
0:56:47 > 0:56:51I'd seen women from backgrounds of abuse meeting the most basic
0:56:51 > 0:56:54human needs by seeking out what they knew best.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58You have a vision. You just can't see it cos it's too dark out here.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Cruelty that felt comfortable.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06What time do I need to pick you up Monday?
0:57:06 > 0:57:11It had struck me as both bizarre and deeply understandable.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13But it was also true that a few
0:57:13 > 0:57:16were finding their way back to the light.
0:57:16 > 0:57:17Got her!
0:57:17 > 0:57:19I love you. You're going to be fine.