BUSINESS MODEL

Sex trafficking can occur within organized residential brothels run by a network of coordinated traffickers or within private house- holds used more informally for commercial sex. Residential brothels that follow the first, more formalized model tend to cater to commercial sex buyers from similar ethnic and/or language backgrounds, advertising through word of mouth or covert business cards. Advertisement for the second model varies but often includes word of mouth, and Backpage.com is emerging as a frequent source.