The Illegal Commercial Sex Industry in Phoenix
The illegal sex trade is alive and well in Arizona, fueling the exploitation and abuse of countless vulnerable people. Many prostituted people enter the “industry” as minors—the common age a girl is first sold for sex in the area is 15 years old—but Arizona law enforcement agents have reported girls as young as 9 being purchased. To stop this growing problem police in Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale, and Glendale are actively arresting men who buy sex. Their motivation is simple: if there were no buyers, there’d be no more business; no more harm. These perpetrators show no sign of stopping; arrests of commercial sex buyers are up by 150% valley-wide.
How CEASE Phoenix is addressing the problem
CEASE Phoenix is a collaboration of local prostitution survivors, activists, members of law enforcement, city officials, business leaders, and highly qualified individuals who focus their efforts on ending the demand for prostitution in the Phoenix area. The Phoenix team is targeting buyers through ongoing support of buyer stings, developing massage parlor citizen patrols, collecting buyer data, and engaging in multiple public awareness campaigns.