1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,500 Do you know about this place on the internet? 2 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:04,500 Oh, this place right here? Yes, it's called the 7th Spa. 3 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:10,220 They got a write -up on a place called backrub .com or... Oh, Rub Maps. You 4 00:00:10,220 --> 00:00:16,640 up the reviews, it says Mia has breast size C, she's clean, shaven, nice and 5 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:17,780 round, that's her butt. 6 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:19,240 Posterior. Posterior. 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,500 And all of a sudden it goes into a narrative of what they actually did. 8 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:25,900 me the towel and takes me to the table shower. 9 00:00:26,220 --> 00:00:27,880 I think she may do Greek. 10 00:00:28,340 --> 00:00:29,600 She told me... 11 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,240 to get on top, and I worked her mish, which is going to be missionary style, 12 00:00:33,340 --> 00:00:34,500 straight up, straight regular sex. 13 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:41,100 But then I felt her finger go up my ass, and that made me blast deep into the 14 00:00:41,100 --> 00:00:44,340 cover. I don't know what that means, but I'm pretty sure that's your imagination 15 00:00:44,340 --> 00:00:45,319 what that is. 16 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,540 Do you think these women are working against their will? 17 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:51,980 Sometimes they are. Sometimes they can go and come as they please, depending on 18 00:00:51,980 --> 00:00:52,980 the provider. 19 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,060 I was in Houston, Texas. 20 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,740 on the trail of prostitutes and their pimp. Do you see it? She's making that 21 00:01:03,740 --> 00:01:05,180 choice for what reason? 22 00:01:05,459 --> 00:01:06,820 Some women are just hoes. 23 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,400 You know, they're just prostitutes and that's all they're going to be. 24 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,820 At a time when the internet has made the sale of sex easier than ever before, I 25 00:01:16,820 --> 00:01:19,720 was in one of America's epicenters of sex trafficking. 26 00:01:22,220 --> 00:01:23,240 You okay, Nikki? 27 00:01:24,940 --> 00:01:25,940 You okay? 28 00:01:27,210 --> 00:01:32,570 Getting to know the working women and hoping to understand a lifestyle in 29 00:01:32,570 --> 00:01:36,470 the line between choice and force isn't always clear. 30 00:01:36,930 --> 00:01:40,330 It makes me sick how much he can control me. 31 00:01:42,010 --> 00:01:43,850 And I fall for it every time. 32 00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:08,530 At an hourly motel in the southwest of Houston, I'd arranged a rendezvous using 33 00:02:08,530 --> 00:02:10,410 a website called Backpage. 34 00:02:11,070 --> 00:02:14,510 Hi, guys, I'm Nicky, looking for the best of the best. Silky brunette hair, 35 00:02:14,650 --> 00:02:18,590 sexy, amazing curves. I'm a great woman, outgoing personality, discreet visits, 36 00:02:18,670 --> 00:02:19,990 really, really addicting. 37 00:02:21,310 --> 00:02:23,150 Brunette, Italian, 26. 38 00:02:23,670 --> 00:02:24,670 Call me. 39 00:02:25,990 --> 00:02:26,990 Are you 26? 40 00:02:27,350 --> 00:02:28,350 Hell no. 41 00:02:28,370 --> 00:02:30,010 How old are you? How do you think I am? 42 00:02:30,370 --> 00:02:31,930 27? No. 43 00:02:33,450 --> 00:02:34,450 Not even close. 44 00:02:34,510 --> 00:02:38,030 I think you're 30 -something, aren't you? Italians age very nicely, though, 45 00:02:38,030 --> 00:02:39,030 don't we? 46 00:02:40,850 --> 00:02:42,250 I'm 37 years old. 47 00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:45,830 Do you get a lot of business through that? 48 00:02:47,270 --> 00:02:49,730 I get a lot of calls, but I screen everybody. 49 00:02:50,470 --> 00:02:53,750 If you text me, hey, are you available or something like that, I'll show you. I 50 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:54,750 have preset messages. 51 00:02:54,910 --> 00:02:57,870 Hey, sweetie, how are you? Did you want to schedule a session with me? 52 00:02:58,570 --> 00:03:00,150 And then I have one for my prices. 53 00:03:01,070 --> 00:03:02,070 What are your prices? 54 00:03:02,990 --> 00:03:06,110 They need $150 for half an hour because the room's $20. I get the rest. 55 00:03:06,330 --> 00:03:10,110 And then $200 for the hour, $20 for the room. I get the rest. I don't rent rooms 56 00:03:10,110 --> 00:03:12,630 because Houston has hourly rate rooms everywhere. 57 00:03:13,130 --> 00:03:14,470 Do you pretend to enjoy it? 58 00:03:14,750 --> 00:03:18,910 I try to enjoy it. I mean, if I'm going to have sex, I want to get off, but I 59 00:03:18,910 --> 00:03:19,910 don't always do it. 60 00:03:20,470 --> 00:03:22,870 Sometimes I hear some really good -looking men, though, that are very 61 00:03:22,870 --> 00:03:25,630 successful, good guys. 62 00:03:26,570 --> 00:03:30,390 And they're like, do you want to stop what you're doing and come live with me? 63 00:03:30,430 --> 00:03:31,590 I'm like, no. 64 00:03:32,780 --> 00:03:35,120 If I wanted a relationship, I'd be normal. 65 00:03:36,020 --> 00:03:42,980 And I'm not even... Do you need to get that? 66 00:03:43,540 --> 00:03:44,540 Who was that? 67 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,160 Do you call in to your pimp? 68 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,180 I update him on every move I make. 69 00:03:54,080 --> 00:04:00,360 The person that you're with is supposed to keep you on point, make sure you're 70 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:01,360 mentally stable. 71 00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:04,620 Make sure you're fed, you've got a room, you're taken care of in any means 72 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:08,640 possible. You know what I mean? Like, that's my daddy. He takes good care of 73 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,140 you know what I mean? He's like your corner man. 74 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,100 He knows where I am at, what room I'm in. Like, I give him every information 75 00:04:14,100 --> 00:04:18,019 because my safety's on the line. If I make a mistake, it could cost me my 76 00:04:18,260 --> 00:04:19,260 Do you live with him? 77 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:20,519 No. 78 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:25,980 You have a separate apartment where you stay, which he pays for. 79 00:04:26,860 --> 00:04:28,660 You give him all your money. 80 00:04:29,140 --> 00:04:30,360 All the money you make. 81 00:04:30,820 --> 00:04:35,340 100%. 100%. So you must have made tens of thousands for him. 82 00:04:36,660 --> 00:04:38,040 I've made him a lot of money, yes. 83 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,380 Probably over like $150 ,000 total. 84 00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:45,280 When you're with a pimp, anything you want, you have to ask for permission. 85 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:46,280 if they say no, it's no. 86 00:04:46,740 --> 00:04:49,140 And if you go against them, there's consequences. 87 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,300 If you violate the rules, there's consequences. 88 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,060 And they're not like minor consequences. 89 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:55,520 He's physical. 90 00:04:55,620 --> 00:04:58,040 He can be if you're out of line. 91 00:04:58,490 --> 00:05:00,490 If you're disrespectful, if you disobey him. 92 00:05:00,950 --> 00:05:02,930 Why don't we go with a softer one? 93 00:05:04,030 --> 00:05:07,790 Who wants a weak -ass dude protecting you? What are you going to do? If I can 94 00:05:07,790 --> 00:05:11,330 handle my business and you can't, why am I with you? What are you doing for me? 95 00:05:11,670 --> 00:05:14,970 Had you been doing sex work before you got with him? 96 00:05:15,490 --> 00:05:18,910 But just without him. He didn't force me to do what I'm doing. I was already 97 00:05:18,910 --> 00:05:20,450 doing it. He didn't turn you out. 98 00:05:21,150 --> 00:05:24,970 And I don't want people to misunderstand. 99 00:05:25,370 --> 00:05:27,230 I'm not forced to do what I'm doing. 100 00:05:27,690 --> 00:05:31,370 People have, like, built this whole, like, human trafficking thing. 101 00:05:31,690 --> 00:05:37,110 Yes, human trafficking is real, but it's not realistically happening like they 102 00:05:37,110 --> 00:05:38,110 make it out to be. 103 00:05:38,390 --> 00:05:42,470 I like spending time with people. I like meeting new people. I love sex. I love 104 00:05:42,470 --> 00:05:45,370 money. And I love to travel. So I got the best job in the world. 105 00:05:48,170 --> 00:05:49,170 Hello? 106 00:05:49,810 --> 00:05:50,970 Hi, sweetie. How are you? 107 00:05:54,810 --> 00:05:56,050 You want to come see me? 108 00:05:59,790 --> 00:06:01,670 Okay, what is your age and race, baby? 109 00:06:03,550 --> 00:06:05,110 You're from the Virgin Islands. 110 00:06:06,390 --> 00:06:11,390 Houston is home to some of America's most notorious areas for illegal sex 111 00:06:12,030 --> 00:06:16,990 The nation's fourth largest city, at the crossroads of two interstates, it is a 112 00:06:16,990 --> 00:06:19,590 magnet for both prostitutes and pimps. 113 00:06:21,030 --> 00:06:23,650 Hey. Hey. Where you at? 114 00:06:24,390 --> 00:06:26,750 I'm at Hill Project 59. 115 00:06:27,350 --> 00:06:28,530 Okay, so... Are you ready? 116 00:06:28,810 --> 00:06:29,890 Yeah, we just got to Bissonnette. 117 00:06:30,510 --> 00:06:33,990 On a Friday night, I was with recovery coach Kim Isaac. 118 00:06:34,710 --> 00:06:37,510 She was doing outreach in one of the city's hotspots. 119 00:06:37,910 --> 00:06:39,870 Okay, you got all the condoms? You got enough condoms? 120 00:06:40,090 --> 00:06:41,490 Okay, let me get this girl real quick. 121 00:06:43,030 --> 00:06:44,030 Hi, 122 00:06:44,710 --> 00:06:45,449 Mama. 123 00:06:45,450 --> 00:06:48,110 I used to be out here. Can I offer you some free condoms? 124 00:06:49,170 --> 00:06:50,170 Come on. 125 00:06:50,570 --> 00:06:51,670 Want some free condoms? 126 00:06:54,670 --> 00:06:55,670 Where are we? 127 00:06:55,870 --> 00:06:57,770 We are on Bissonnette. 128 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:03,300 which is a hub for human trafficking on the southwest side of Houston. 129 00:07:03,700 --> 00:07:08,120 Most of the people that come here have gone through Louisiana, New Orleans, and 130 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,400 Baton Rouge, and then they come to Houston. 131 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:17,260 The girls out here are not out here alone. They are working for someone 132 00:07:17,260 --> 00:07:23,620 they call families, compiled of a pimp, and then anywhere 133 00:07:23,620 --> 00:07:27,190 from... Two to five to seven girls. 134 00:07:27,490 --> 00:07:30,170 They can't work out here without a pen? 135 00:07:31,290 --> 00:07:33,790 On this particular track, no. 136 00:07:34,230 --> 00:07:39,110 The thing is that the veteran girls out here will spot what they call a 137 00:07:39,110 --> 00:07:44,630 renegade, which is a girl that's just out here on her own, and either 138 00:07:44,630 --> 00:07:50,410 attack her or try to coerce her into coming into their family. 139 00:07:51,070 --> 00:07:54,470 Renegades really don't make it very long out in a place like this because of the 140 00:07:54,470 --> 00:07:55,770 brutality of the pimp also. 141 00:07:56,330 --> 00:07:57,470 You were in the life. 142 00:07:57,730 --> 00:08:00,570 I was. When I started out here, I was 12 years old. 143 00:08:01,450 --> 00:08:02,950 Did you ever have a pimp? 144 00:08:03,290 --> 00:08:04,290 Yes, I did. 145 00:08:04,510 --> 00:08:06,350 What were your feelings for the pimp? 146 00:08:06,750 --> 00:08:09,630 It felt good for someone to tell me that I was a pretty girl. 147 00:08:09,910 --> 00:08:12,250 You didn't view him in a negative way? Not at all. 148 00:08:13,130 --> 00:08:14,130 Even when... 149 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:19,300 I was out there with an umbrella and it's storming, raining and I'm freezing 150 00:08:19,300 --> 00:08:23,740 I'm hungry and I have to wait until I get my quota to go and get a hamburger. 151 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,880 I still couldn't wait to put that money in his hand because I knew I was going 152 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:29,880 to be praised. 153 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:32,780 How do you see him now? 154 00:08:33,460 --> 00:08:35,860 I see him now as a parasite. 155 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:39,200 It's like a plague almost. 156 00:08:51,340 --> 00:08:56,320 Kim and her colleagues work out of Santa Maria Hostel, a shelter offering 157 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,120 treatment to women with drug problems. 158 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:06,020 Among them are a number of ex -prostitutes, some of whom have had 159 00:09:06,020 --> 00:09:07,020 past. 160 00:09:07,540 --> 00:09:09,560 Are you working with Cops D? 161 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,260 Yes. Are you taking your medication that's prescribed? 162 00:09:12,620 --> 00:09:13,620 No. 163 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,600 One of the newest arrivals was 18 -year -old Savannah. 164 00:09:17,140 --> 00:09:19,620 She was doing a one -month review of her progress. 165 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:21,580 with counsellor Tonya Granger. 166 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,260 It's not just the drugs and alcohol that drives you, and I think you know that. 167 00:09:25,460 --> 00:09:28,260 Your validation comes from all them folks that want you. 168 00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:32,860 All them johns, all them pimps that are out there fighting for you because 169 00:09:32,860 --> 00:09:36,040 you're worth a ton of money to them. And that's where that attention -seeking 170 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:37,440 comes in, right? 171 00:09:37,940 --> 00:09:40,500 What was the lifestyle that you were in before you were here? 172 00:09:40,940 --> 00:09:41,940 I was feeling myself. 173 00:09:43,700 --> 00:09:46,400 The fast life of being in that life. 174 00:09:47,050 --> 00:09:51,950 It was exciting to me. I always had something to do. I always had money. I 175 00:09:51,950 --> 00:09:57,450 always had clothes. I had someone who was obsessed with me. Was that your 176 00:09:57,910 --> 00:09:58,910 Yes. 177 00:10:00,190 --> 00:10:02,070 You felt he was obsessed with you? 178 00:10:02,510 --> 00:10:04,570 It seemed to you that he was obsessed with you? Not obsessed. 179 00:10:04,910 --> 00:10:05,910 Yeah, obsessed. 180 00:10:06,070 --> 00:10:07,070 In what way? 181 00:10:09,210 --> 00:10:12,710 He would show me more attention than my wife at the time. 182 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,320 Your wife. So it was his girlfriend, not his girlfriend, it was his other girl 183 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,940 that he had, but it was called my wife, so I called her my wife. 184 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,160 You have to kind of understand what the human trafficking family looks like. 185 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:31,360 A pimp's success is directly related to his top female, because a woman is the 186 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,700 only one that's going to be able to deal with a room full of women. And so that 187 00:10:35,700 --> 00:10:37,200 would be the wife. 188 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,340 And so if it's his wife, it's her wife. 189 00:10:40,780 --> 00:10:45,140 The pimp seemed more interested in you than in the wife? 190 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,440 Yeah, because I could make more money for him. 191 00:10:48,340 --> 00:10:49,480 And I knew that. 192 00:10:55,540 --> 00:11:00,780 There were two pimps in Savannah's life, the most recent one who she still felt 193 00:11:00,780 --> 00:11:01,780 attached to. 194 00:11:02,580 --> 00:11:07,500 And then there was the man who'd first recruited her, aged 16, whose street 195 00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:08,720 was Rico Pimping. 196 00:11:09,750 --> 00:11:13,790 Only weeks earlier, she'd taken the brave step of testifying against Rico in 197 00:11:13,790 --> 00:11:14,790 court. 198 00:11:14,950 --> 00:11:16,710 He'd been given 35 years. 199 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:23,630 I was curious how he'd got her into the lifestyle. 200 00:11:24,110 --> 00:11:26,330 How did that go down? You were at a party. 201 00:11:26,610 --> 00:11:32,690 We were at a party getting high, and all I remember is coming out of the high 202 00:11:32,690 --> 00:11:34,990 being driven to a hotel. 203 00:11:35,290 --> 00:11:37,150 You were out of it, you were intoxicated. 204 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:39,920 You found yourself being taken to a hotel. 205 00:11:40,180 --> 00:11:41,180 Then what? 206 00:11:41,740 --> 00:11:44,280 Rico explained to me what I was going to be doing. 207 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:51,260 And at the time, to me it sounded better than what my life was. 208 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,980 He explained to me that I'd be getting cars and a house and all the clothes I 209 00:11:55,980 --> 00:11:59,660 wanted and that I didn't have to ever be sad again or be hurt. 210 00:12:01,140 --> 00:12:04,100 So it gave me kind of like a fantasy lifestyle. 211 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,340 At the time, I was okay with it. 212 00:12:08,660 --> 00:12:09,680 A sales pitch? 213 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:11,040 Yeah. 214 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:17,020 Then how soon after that did you turn your first trick? 215 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:20,660 Within an hour. 216 00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:22,640 Really? Mm -hmm. 217 00:12:22,900 --> 00:12:24,020 So what happened? 218 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:28,540 He explained to me that the pictures he took were going to be posted on Backpage 219 00:12:28,540 --> 00:12:33,600 and that... Backpage .com. So he took pictures there and then? Mm -hmm. Of you 220 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:34,600 naked? Yeah. 221 00:12:34,830 --> 00:12:37,250 And he said soon after that that I'd be getting phone calls. 222 00:12:38,870 --> 00:12:40,590 So the calls came in straight away? 223 00:12:41,190 --> 00:12:42,190 Mm -hmm. 224 00:12:42,310 --> 00:12:43,910 So do you remember the first one? 225 00:12:44,650 --> 00:12:46,290 I don't. Was it that night? 226 00:12:46,770 --> 00:12:52,250 Yes. I had five or six that night. 227 00:12:53,690 --> 00:12:57,350 How did the physical side of it seem to you? I mean, did it seem disgusting? 228 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:05,180 At the time, I was not a virgin, but had been with only one person. So in our 229 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:10,140 cell, I was degrading myself in a way to have to do the job, which only made me 230 00:13:10,140 --> 00:13:11,140 do more drugs. 231 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:16,500 How did you come to leave Rico Pimping? I was already reported as a runaway, so 232 00:13:16,500 --> 00:13:21,520 the cops were looking for me. So I do believe that I made contact with one of 233 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:27,560 the officers that he was posing as a trick, and he came and he got me and 234 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:28,459 me up. 235 00:13:28,460 --> 00:13:31,780 Would you testify against your most recent pimp? 236 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:34,400 Right now, no. 237 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:40,760 He did traffic you, though. 238 00:13:43,700 --> 00:13:45,760 In a sense, it's the textbook definition. 239 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:52,280 Because he was moving you around the country, pimping you out. 240 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,820 You still have feelings for this guy? 241 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:02,460 No. A little bit, but no. 242 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:10,100 It makes me sick how much he can control me. 243 00:14:11,940 --> 00:14:14,720 And I fall for it every time. 244 00:14:20,590 --> 00:14:25,610 Today, Texas' Attorney General announced the arrest of the CEO of Backpage .com, 245 00:14:25,810 --> 00:14:29,710 calling the website a, quote, grotesque form of modern -day slavery. 246 00:14:30,130 --> 00:14:34,730 In the week of my arrival, authorities had attempted to crack down on Backpage. 247 00:14:35,450 --> 00:14:38,450 It was said that many of the ads there were placed by pimps. 248 00:14:40,870 --> 00:14:45,350 Increasingly, authorities view prostitutes less as criminals and more 249 00:14:45,350 --> 00:14:46,350 of their traffickers. 250 00:14:47,070 --> 00:14:49,130 Now, you see, y 'all are clear to go when you're ready. 251 00:14:50,060 --> 00:14:54,760 At street level, to get a sense of what local law enforcement was doing, I was 252 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,040 out with the Harris County Sheriff's Office for a sting operation. 253 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,780 Okay, one of the undercovers is a female, and that's going to be her right 254 00:15:02,780 --> 00:15:07,580 there. Undercover officers would be attempting to bust the working women by 255 00:15:07,580 --> 00:15:08,580 posing as customers. 256 00:15:09,780 --> 00:15:14,880 I would be listening in with Sergeant Chapper and Lieutenant Diaz. 257 00:15:18,570 --> 00:15:19,890 Is it a typical morning? 258 00:15:20,630 --> 00:15:22,170 I mean, does this happen every morning? 259 00:15:22,370 --> 00:15:23,430 Oh, yeah. Every day. 260 00:15:23,790 --> 00:15:27,930 The last time we did an operation in this area, literally right at daybreak, 261 00:15:27,930 --> 00:15:29,790 counted eight before our operation even started. 262 00:15:30,930 --> 00:15:35,710 We try to speak to them, get their cooperation, and work on identifying the 263 00:15:35,710 --> 00:15:36,710 pimp. 264 00:15:37,430 --> 00:15:40,970 This guy's walking close to our area. He may see the camera. 265 00:15:45,210 --> 00:15:46,850 There's another one that's going to be... 266 00:15:47,740 --> 00:15:51,220 Black female, shorts, pink socks, and a black jacket. 267 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:56,760 You all right? 268 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:00,900 Wherever you want. To heaven. 269 00:16:01,620 --> 00:16:02,620 To my dreams. 270 00:16:03,140 --> 00:16:06,860 Am I 271 00:16:06,860 --> 00:16:13,240 behind him now? 272 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:16,440 Did she just get out of the car? 273 00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:19,910 You got out? She got out. 274 00:16:22,470 --> 00:16:24,870 No deal on that one. No deal. She twigged. 275 00:16:25,990 --> 00:16:26,990 How did she know? 276 00:16:27,290 --> 00:16:30,590 I mean, these girls, they're out here and they do it all the time, all the 277 00:16:30,910 --> 00:16:34,970 And, I mean, unfortunately, they start knowing that there's parameters of what 278 00:16:34,970 --> 00:16:37,890 an undercover police officer can and can't do. 279 00:16:38,950 --> 00:16:39,950 Hey, guy. 280 00:16:41,110 --> 00:16:42,550 Hey, bring your ass over here. 281 00:16:43,330 --> 00:16:44,289 What's up? 282 00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:45,290 Get in. 283 00:17:06,190 --> 00:17:11,650 Once the deal is done and a prostitute is in the undercover car, a patrol cop 284 00:17:11,650 --> 00:17:12,650 swoops in. 285 00:17:15,790 --> 00:17:21,990 The women who were arrested would be sent straight to jail. 286 00:17:22,609 --> 00:17:25,290 Repeat offenders could be looking at up to two years. 287 00:17:26,750 --> 00:17:29,830 But it was hard not to feel that the real culprits were getting away. 288 00:17:31,390 --> 00:17:36,050 You made quite a few busts this morning. None of them were either trafficked or 289 00:17:36,050 --> 00:17:39,230 willing to say that they were trafficked, right? What do you think is 290 00:17:39,230 --> 00:17:44,710 in the way of women bringing their traffickers to justice? 291 00:17:46,290 --> 00:17:49,230 Most of them are likely going to fear the repercussions of it. 292 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,840 In order to cooperate with us, that means that they have to stand against 293 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,500 Some simply don't want to be labeled as a snitch, and others are going to fear 294 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:00,740 the physical harm that they're going to suffer from that. 295 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:02,220 And some sense of loyalty? 296 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,420 Absolutely. Absolutely there's a sense of loyalty and protection. 297 00:18:15,460 --> 00:18:19,400 My half hour is 150, and my hour is 200. 298 00:18:20,220 --> 00:18:23,300 I'd meet you at an hourly room for in -call, or I can come to you for $200. 299 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,280 There's a hotel called The Pearl. You can meet me there. I can send you the 300 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:27,280 address if you want. 301 00:18:28,380 --> 00:18:29,440 I was with Nikki. 302 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,680 All right, sweetie. 303 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:34,320 All right, I'll send you the information. 304 00:18:35,780 --> 00:18:36,780 All right, bye. 305 00:18:37,180 --> 00:18:38,180 How old was he? 306 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,000 50. 307 00:18:40,620 --> 00:18:45,180 You could get, like, 100 to 200 calls a day, and, like, probably only 10 of them 308 00:18:45,180 --> 00:18:47,020 were legit. The rest of the people were playing games. 309 00:18:47,790 --> 00:18:50,670 So it's kind of frustrating sometimes, especially, like, when you're trying to 310 00:18:50,670 --> 00:18:53,570 make money and people are just playing on the phone, like... 311 00:18:53,570 --> 00:19:00,670 Who 312 00:19:00,670 --> 00:19:06,370 is just calling? 313 00:19:06,730 --> 00:19:07,730 Hi, Daddy. 314 00:19:08,430 --> 00:19:09,850 I can't answer right now, though. 315 00:19:12,950 --> 00:19:16,310 It'll make me, like, really fucked up. Like, I can't, um... 316 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,120 Because I don't have what he wants, so he's not going to be pleasant about it. 317 00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:29,020 You okay, Nikki? 318 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:30,960 Yeah, I'm good. 319 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:36,900 I just don't like him being mad at me, I guess. 320 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,140 Why is he mad at you? 321 00:19:39,500 --> 00:19:46,220 Because I didn't achieve my quota because I was not focused on... 322 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:47,520 What I was supposed to be doing. 323 00:19:50,540 --> 00:19:53,620 Oh, it's cold. 324 00:19:54,540 --> 00:19:56,640 How long have you been doing this kind of work? 325 00:19:57,740 --> 00:20:00,780 A little over a year and a half, I think. 326 00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:02,020 Not that long. 327 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:03,280 What did you do before? 328 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:05,600 You had a square job. 329 00:20:05,940 --> 00:20:08,700 Yeah, I worked at Kohl's Warehouse in the packaging department. 330 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:10,200 I don't like regular jobs. 331 00:20:11,620 --> 00:20:14,360 I mean, I used to be married. Where did you grow up? 332 00:20:15,010 --> 00:20:16,010 Cincinnati, Ohio. 333 00:20:16,470 --> 00:20:18,390 You got married in Ohio as well? 334 00:20:18,610 --> 00:20:23,110 Mm -hmm. But you had led a relatively square life, right? 335 00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:28,470 For the first, you know, 30 years or so. 336 00:20:29,250 --> 00:20:30,250 35 years. 337 00:20:30,950 --> 00:20:34,110 And then to get into sex work, that's a big step. 338 00:20:34,450 --> 00:20:37,450 And I'm just trying to get a... I was having sex before that. I was just doing 339 00:20:37,450 --> 00:20:38,189 it for free. 340 00:20:38,190 --> 00:20:39,190 Right. 341 00:20:39,330 --> 00:20:40,330 But you... 342 00:20:40,380 --> 00:20:45,680 No, I bank up on it. No, you bank up on it. I still enjoyed sex before, but it's 343 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:49,040 more exciting when you get money for it. How did that happen? I'm wondering how 344 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:50,120 that transition happened. 345 00:20:50,900 --> 00:20:54,980 A friend of mine was posting on there and she was telling me about it and 346 00:20:54,980 --> 00:20:58,680 telling me what kind of money she was making. So I just was like, let's give 347 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,040 a shot, you know, see what happens. 348 00:21:00,420 --> 00:21:02,220 Had your marriage already ended at that point? 349 00:21:02,460 --> 00:21:06,180 Yeah. Because it's quite a big step to go from... Why do you think that? 350 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:07,319 It's simple. 351 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:08,780 I posted it now and I got a room. 352 00:21:09,550 --> 00:21:10,770 And I screamed my cause. 353 00:21:12,110 --> 00:21:14,210 And then what made you come down to Houston? 354 00:21:14,510 --> 00:21:15,670 Because Houston's like that. 355 00:21:17,730 --> 00:21:21,510 The track, isn't it? It's the biggest fucking track in America. 356 00:21:21,870 --> 00:21:24,470 And how quickly did you meet? 357 00:21:25,390 --> 00:21:27,290 Same day, within 24 hours. 358 00:21:27,710 --> 00:21:28,710 Your pimp. 359 00:21:28,910 --> 00:21:31,310 What was his pitch? 360 00:21:32,770 --> 00:21:33,970 Trouble doesn't have a pitch. 361 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,700 I don't think you understand, like, I would never go against what he says. You 362 00:21:42,700 --> 00:21:48,020 know what I'm saying? Like, I respect him a lot, and I make a lot of 363 00:21:48,020 --> 00:21:48,919 for that man. 364 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,140 You don't really fully understand until you go through some of the things that 365 00:21:52,140 --> 00:21:55,580 I've gone through, and he's rode with me. He's staked my ass a few times. 366 00:21:55,620 --> 00:21:59,520 Without him, I would have probably been really bad off, you know? 367 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,840 Physically, do you mean, like, from dangerous situations? 368 00:22:06,540 --> 00:22:07,540 And mentally. 369 00:22:08,460 --> 00:22:12,380 Like, some of the stuff that you go through can really, like, mess with your 370 00:22:12,380 --> 00:22:17,860 head, you know? Like, make you doubt yourself, and that's who molded me 371 00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:23,440 into a real fucking solid -esque female, like... It sounds like what you're 372 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:24,700 saying is he gives you focus. 373 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:26,760 He gives me everything. 374 00:22:27,180 --> 00:22:29,860 I don't associate with anybody other than him. 375 00:22:31,540 --> 00:22:32,540 Other than clients. 376 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:36,240 You must be quite a special person. 377 00:22:47,150 --> 00:22:48,690 Have you had enough to eat, by the way? 378 00:22:49,730 --> 00:22:51,070 I haven't eaten in like two days. 379 00:22:51,450 --> 00:22:52,910 I think you have a little more to eat. 380 00:22:54,470 --> 00:22:57,930 Preoccupied. What is preoccupying you? 381 00:23:01,210 --> 00:23:07,250 Somebody in my family passed away a few days ago, and 382 00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:12,670 it's kind of been on my mind that I couldn't go to the funeral and stuff. 383 00:23:15,850 --> 00:23:16,850 It just sucks, you know? 384 00:23:17,610 --> 00:23:23,370 Because I have to, like, keep my composure. I can't, like, show that I'm 385 00:23:23,370 --> 00:23:26,190 gotta be, like, this peppy, happy little person for my clients, right? 386 00:23:32,010 --> 00:23:33,010 Fuck. 387 00:23:34,890 --> 00:23:36,130 I think I lost the money. 388 00:23:37,550 --> 00:23:39,010 Maybe it's in the car, I don't know. 389 00:23:42,850 --> 00:23:46,730 At the end of our lunch... Nikki made the awful discovery that her previous 390 00:23:46,730 --> 00:23:48,270 night's takings were missing. 391 00:23:48,650 --> 00:23:51,410 I'm going to freak out, man. He's going to kick my ass. 392 00:23:53,870 --> 00:23:56,270 How the fuck did I lose $250 fucking dollars? 393 00:23:56,870 --> 00:24:00,010 He's going to think I'm fucking playing with him and I'm like, I was fucking off 394 00:24:00,010 --> 00:24:02,450 all night or something. He's going to be like, how the fuck you was out all 395 00:24:02,450 --> 00:24:04,450 night and ain't got no money? That's fucking ridiculous. 396 00:24:05,130 --> 00:24:09,170 This dude doesn't just smack you around. He'll beat the shit out of you. 397 00:24:09,670 --> 00:24:11,470 Her sense of fear was palpable. 398 00:24:12,730 --> 00:24:13,730 Her dependence. 399 00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:16,440 and vulnerability suddenly laid bare. 400 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,980 Having heard so much about pimps, I felt I should speak to one. 401 00:24:36,140 --> 00:24:39,400 Human trafficking convictions carry long prison terms. 402 00:24:39,740 --> 00:24:42,700 Men in the lifestyle are understandably wary of publicity. 403 00:24:44,780 --> 00:24:50,740 But I had a lead on Shedrick Smith, convicted in 2009 of compelling 404 00:24:50,740 --> 00:24:55,360 by a minor and now serving a 42 -year term in Amarillo, Texas. 405 00:24:55,820 --> 00:24:56,820 How are you doing? 406 00:24:57,140 --> 00:24:58,160 Nice to meet you. 407 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,500 His pimp name had been fancy. 408 00:25:00,940 --> 00:25:01,919 How's it going? 409 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:03,140 I'm all right. How are you doing? 410 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:09,780 I was made to understand that you had been and perhaps still are a pimp. 411 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,700 Yes, sir. Would that be correct? 412 00:25:12,330 --> 00:25:18,570 Well, half of it is. I was a pimp, but I'm incarcerated now, so I'm no longer 413 00:25:18,570 --> 00:25:24,230 pimping. The case that got you incarcerated involved a girl age 15. 414 00:25:24,470 --> 00:25:28,390 Right. Who in the court documents is identified as LD. 415 00:25:28,790 --> 00:25:35,150 Right. Do you not see that a minor or a child is not appropriate, 416 00:25:35,570 --> 00:25:38,970 you know, that it's wrong for them to be working in that way? It's totally 417 00:25:38,970 --> 00:25:44,250 wrong. It's totally wrong. If I'd have knew she was 15, I would have never even 418 00:25:44,250 --> 00:25:46,530 got involved with her. 419 00:25:47,770 --> 00:25:50,990 So you're alleging that you didn't realize she was 15? 420 00:25:51,210 --> 00:25:53,050 I didn't know. She didn't tell me she was 15. 421 00:25:53,810 --> 00:25:56,270 To be honest with you, she told me she was 17. 422 00:25:58,130 --> 00:26:04,170 In the account that she gives, she was more or less recruited by someone called 423 00:26:04,170 --> 00:26:05,290 La Princess Moore. 424 00:26:05,820 --> 00:26:07,080 Well, she wasn't recruited. 425 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,960 She was discovered on the house stroll. 426 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,640 A house stroll is a street where women sell pussy at. 427 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,280 She was drafted into your entourage. 428 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,580 No, she wasn't drafted. She chose to come with the princess. 429 00:26:20,980 --> 00:26:22,940 You put them on Backpage, is that right? 430 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:24,860 Backpage, yes, that's correct. 431 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:30,680 In her account, she said there were times she was with you when she wanted 432 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,600 stop working. 433 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:36,200 And you would pressure her and say, you haven't made enough money yet. 434 00:26:36,500 --> 00:26:41,900 Well, if you read the documents correctly, this chick was only with me 435 00:26:41,900 --> 00:26:48,120 days. So that's hardly enough time for us to even really get acquainted. 436 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:49,600 You know what I'm saying? 437 00:26:49,980 --> 00:26:53,240 Seven days, I couldn't have been too horrible in seven days. 438 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,740 Do you think it's a good deal for the women? 439 00:26:58,180 --> 00:26:59,320 Yeah, it was a good deal. 440 00:26:59,740 --> 00:27:00,740 In what way? 441 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:03,940 Because I'm a good provider. I'm a good manager. 442 00:27:05,020 --> 00:27:08,700 And as you see it, she's making that choice for what reason? 443 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:10,220 Because she wants to. 444 00:27:10,460 --> 00:27:12,520 But what makes her want to? 445 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:14,360 Some women are just hoes. 446 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,380 You know, they're just prostitutes, and that's all they're going to be. It's 447 00:27:18,380 --> 00:27:23,600 like a race car driver. He get a rush when he's going 200 miles an hour. 448 00:27:23,820 --> 00:27:29,000 They get a rush when they go up in the room and can manipulate a man out of... 449 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:33,160 Sell my $800, $1 ,000, $2 ,000, $3 ,000. They get a rush out of that. 450 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:36,120 Did they have to give all the money to you? 451 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:38,600 Of course I'm getting all the money. 452 00:27:40,540 --> 00:27:41,740 Why do you say of course? 453 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:44,680 I mean, that's just how the game goes. 454 00:27:46,140 --> 00:27:47,900 I'm the manager. 455 00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:50,220 It's my company. 456 00:27:50,620 --> 00:27:54,980 And if they leave, you give them some money back or not? 457 00:27:55,660 --> 00:27:57,040 Yeah, I give them some money back. 458 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:58,079 How much? 459 00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,080 Nothing. 460 00:28:07,370 --> 00:28:11,650 Do you see why other people on the outside would view pimps as predators? 461 00:28:12,410 --> 00:28:13,810 Yeah, because they're ignorant. 462 00:28:15,530 --> 00:28:17,090 Meaning they lack knowledge. 463 00:28:18,250 --> 00:28:20,370 She want a family, a team. 464 00:28:21,190 --> 00:28:24,970 So she choose to come over here and mess with Fancy. 465 00:28:25,770 --> 00:28:27,690 And be a part of Fancy's family. 466 00:28:30,630 --> 00:28:32,090 It's an emotional thing. 467 00:28:33,710 --> 00:28:35,550 You think it's emotional? 468 00:28:41,290 --> 00:28:42,530 You know, you could be right. 469 00:28:43,010 --> 00:28:44,650 She might want a father figure. 470 00:28:47,230 --> 00:28:48,810 It's like a little cult almost. 471 00:28:51,470 --> 00:28:52,470 Is that what it is? 472 00:28:57,050 --> 00:28:58,050 Kind of. 473 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,520 Several weeks had passed, and at Santa Maria there had been changes. 474 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,920 Savannah had been going in and out of recovery. 475 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,040 During one relapse, she'd gone back to her pimp. 476 00:29:38,340 --> 00:29:42,020 It was also being said that while in treatment, she'd been prostituting. 477 00:29:42,860 --> 00:29:43,860 Are you Jack? 478 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,400 And there were two new faces, ex -roommates of Savannah's, who were said 479 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,480 romantically linked, Danisha and Jack's. 480 00:29:52,140 --> 00:29:54,620 So I understand Savannah's one. 481 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:55,859 Yes. 482 00:29:55,860 --> 00:29:59,260 She left yesterday like she snuck out the gate. What was that about? 483 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:01,040 She's not done. 484 00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:03,480 She's not done. She relapsed in her mind. 485 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:06,420 Do you think she was turning tricks while she was here? 486 00:30:06,700 --> 00:30:08,200 Yes. Of course she was. 487 00:30:08,460 --> 00:30:09,319 She was. 488 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:10,299 She was. 489 00:30:10,300 --> 00:30:11,300 The whole time. 490 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,820 Are you serious? Yes. When she was on her side. 491 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,300 Yes, that's what she does. The transitional part. 492 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,440 Wow. That's quite a shock. 493 00:30:19,980 --> 00:30:20,859 Is it? 494 00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:24,040 Why? Because when I was talking to her... 495 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,220 She seemed very authentic in her desire for recovery. 496 00:30:27,740 --> 00:30:31,800 She's been talking to this guy from her past, but she told me he used to beat 497 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:32,800 her and stuff. 498 00:30:33,140 --> 00:30:40,060 But I can't, one thing I don't do is, I'm not a hypocrite, because just as 499 00:30:40,060 --> 00:30:44,220 as she's talking to him, I still talk to the same guy that hit me so hard in my 500 00:30:44,220 --> 00:30:48,860 face one time that it looked like I had an extra something growing from me in 501 00:30:48,860 --> 00:30:50,300 the lifestyle that we live. 502 00:30:51,820 --> 00:30:55,300 It's like we... I don't know, do we find comfort in that? 503 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:01,200 I'm never going to say that it's good to let a man hit me, but that's just 504 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:02,340 something that I like. 505 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:06,840 All right. 506 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,640 Denisha's pimp, T -Money, had been her boyfriend. 507 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,940 Under his influence, she'd first prostituted. 508 00:31:14,780 --> 00:31:17,840 In her room, she had his letters from jail. 509 00:31:18,220 --> 00:31:20,880 OK, this one is from... 510 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:22,440 This month. 511 00:31:22,620 --> 00:31:26,960 It says, hey, baby, I've been going crazy and stressing like hell since 512 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:28,260 been out of touch, baby. 513 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:33,420 Since I've been in love with you, I can't stand to go without seeing nor 514 00:31:33,420 --> 00:31:34,299 from you. 515 00:31:34,300 --> 00:31:37,580 I'm so ready to see you, baby. It don't make no damn sense. 516 00:31:37,940 --> 00:31:40,480 This is going to be the happiest day of my life right now. 517 00:31:40,980 --> 00:31:44,040 So what I'm struck by is very affectionate, isn't it? It is. 518 00:31:45,220 --> 00:31:47,080 Was that the sort of relationship you had? 519 00:31:47,540 --> 00:31:48,419 We did. 520 00:31:48,420 --> 00:31:49,580 What was in it for you? 521 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:55,620 I guess just him. 522 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,520 Him needing me. 523 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,060 You liked giving him your money? 524 00:32:03,220 --> 00:32:08,460 I would watch other females that were doing the same thing I was doing, and 525 00:32:08,460 --> 00:32:14,720 would be happy to pass the cash off to their daddy or their pimp. They would be 526 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:19,740 happy. So I just figured it was what I was supposed to do. 527 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,860 Even though when we came to Houston, it kind of got worse. 528 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:25,080 It got bad. 529 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:26,400 In what way? 530 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,880 Because that's when all the physical abuse started happening. 531 00:32:30,340 --> 00:32:34,200 When we were outside, you said that you quite liked that. 532 00:32:36,020 --> 00:32:41,120 I like roughness. I like to be roughed up. In general? In general. 533 00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:44,040 In sex or just in general? 534 00:32:44,260 --> 00:32:47,360 Like if I get in trouble with my boyfriend and he hit me. 535 00:32:48,190 --> 00:32:51,450 That's like a turn -on to me. I don't know why. Don't ask me. 536 00:32:51,690 --> 00:32:56,970 But with T, it was too much. It was beyond what I like, my limitations. 537 00:32:57,270 --> 00:33:00,930 Like, I had boundaries to it. Did that not make you want to leave even more? 538 00:33:01,150 --> 00:33:01,849 It did. 539 00:33:01,850 --> 00:33:02,850 It did. 540 00:33:02,890 --> 00:33:06,130 I was afraid. Like, he's a dangerous man. 541 00:33:06,890 --> 00:33:09,450 Hang on, but you're still saying you love this guy. 542 00:33:10,570 --> 00:33:11,489 I know. 543 00:33:11,490 --> 00:33:12,490 It's complicated. 544 00:33:13,110 --> 00:33:15,130 You're right to him as well, don't you? I do. 545 00:33:15,630 --> 00:33:16,630 And what do you say? 546 00:33:16,730 --> 00:33:20,170 I'm not here for you anymore. I can't be that woman you want. 547 00:33:20,690 --> 00:33:21,830 I can't be her. 548 00:33:22,070 --> 00:33:23,230 You said that to him? Yes. 549 00:33:24,590 --> 00:33:26,490 That's not what I'm getting from his letters. 550 00:33:26,770 --> 00:33:31,510 This is from the third of, like, I think, wait. Is that a recent one? 551 00:33:33,230 --> 00:33:38,650 Stop doing me like that, because I'm starting to think you up to some with 552 00:33:38,650 --> 00:33:43,810 bullshit. I mean, Dan sat there and wrote me a whole letter about, I don't 553 00:33:43,810 --> 00:33:44,810 with you. 554 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,980 I love you so much, baby. I miss you too much, and I'm most definitely not 555 00:33:49,980 --> 00:33:54,360 trying to lose you for none, nor cut you out, so stop with that talk. 556 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:55,700 You're mine. 557 00:33:57,060 --> 00:33:58,060 You're mine. 558 00:33:58,180 --> 00:34:00,380 He wants to make you his wife? 559 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:01,760 Yeah. 560 00:34:02,980 --> 00:34:04,240 I don't want to marry him. 561 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,300 That's not the man God intended for me to be with. 562 00:34:16,429 --> 00:34:19,590 We knew what the rules of the lifestyle was. 563 00:34:20,550 --> 00:34:23,630 It's amazing how we follow the rules of the game. 564 00:34:24,670 --> 00:34:26,969 But people got to understand the word game. 565 00:34:27,650 --> 00:34:29,810 Games are made to lose. 566 00:34:30,310 --> 00:34:33,409 You do not win the game every time. 567 00:34:34,170 --> 00:34:38,790 So we were gambling and throwing the dice with our life at every turn. 568 00:34:39,989 --> 00:34:41,650 Every car we got in. 569 00:34:42,530 --> 00:34:44,469 Even if you were on back page. 570 00:34:45,340 --> 00:34:47,020 Or you were doing phone sex. 571 00:34:48,159 --> 00:34:50,300 Where did it get us? 572 00:34:50,699 --> 00:34:52,760 What did you end up having to show for? 573 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:08,400 Hello. How are you doing? 574 00:35:08,940 --> 00:35:09,940 Nice to see you. 575 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,860 A few days after she disappeared, Savannah was back. 576 00:35:14,140 --> 00:35:15,320 to pick up some of her things. 577 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:17,160 You sure you don't want to stay? 578 00:35:18,220 --> 00:35:19,220 I'm positive. 579 00:35:20,700 --> 00:35:21,700 You know I love you, yes? 580 00:35:22,100 --> 00:35:24,260 Yeah. And we're going to fight no matter what. 581 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:26,480 But I don't want you to die. 582 00:35:27,700 --> 00:35:28,700 So I'm here. 583 00:35:30,140 --> 00:35:31,140 Oh, man. 584 00:35:31,980 --> 00:35:35,100 I know exactly what she's going to go do. 585 00:35:36,220 --> 00:35:37,380 She's going to go trick. 586 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:38,860 She's going to go ho again. 587 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,280 She's going to go you. She's already, I mean, she looked messed up when she came 588 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:43,280 in. 589 00:35:45,190 --> 00:35:46,370 I'm scared for her. 590 00:35:48,150 --> 00:35:51,430 Because of her case or just because it's a high -risk lifestyle? 591 00:35:51,890 --> 00:35:55,850 It's a high -risk lifestyle and then the case. 592 00:35:59,870 --> 00:36:04,010 Savannah had signed up as an outpatient in the programme, but there was some 593 00:36:04,010 --> 00:36:05,710 doubt as to whether she'd follow through. 594 00:36:06,210 --> 00:36:10,870 And either way, being on the outside put her at risk of reprisals from her first 595 00:36:10,870 --> 00:36:12,710 pimp, whom she testified against. 596 00:36:13,550 --> 00:36:14,710 Why are you leaving? 597 00:36:15,910 --> 00:36:17,330 I'm tired of being here. 598 00:36:17,730 --> 00:36:20,150 So you were turning tricks while you were here? 599 00:36:21,430 --> 00:36:25,010 When I got on the hot side, yes. And while I've been in treatment, yes. 600 00:36:25,610 --> 00:36:27,190 Not as much as I was. 601 00:36:27,850 --> 00:36:31,650 I'd go and pass like they are now, going to the bus stop. I just wouldn't go to 602 00:36:31,650 --> 00:36:34,150 the meeting and go work and then... Go work where? 603 00:36:35,070 --> 00:36:36,070 Right here. 604 00:36:36,370 --> 00:36:37,370 How? 605 00:36:37,930 --> 00:36:38,930 Just walk. 606 00:36:39,150 --> 00:36:40,930 Wait until somebody comes pick you up. 607 00:36:41,390 --> 00:36:42,390 Someone you know? 608 00:36:42,590 --> 00:36:45,250 No. Some random person rolls down the window. 609 00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:50,910 Have you been in touch with your pimp? 610 00:36:51,810 --> 00:36:53,510 No, I lost all connection. 611 00:36:53,890 --> 00:36:55,910 I did go back to him. 612 00:36:56,330 --> 00:37:00,610 The reason some women are with pimps is for protection. 613 00:37:01,630 --> 00:37:06,230 I started getting scared that the one that got locked up was going to find me. 614 00:37:06,230 --> 00:37:07,770 was there for about three days. 615 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:13,560 Him and his other girl that he had there were constantly fighting, and I have 616 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,080 bad PTSD, so when people start yelling around me, I start shaking. 617 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:21,000 So I told him, I can't do this, I need you to buy me a bus ticket home. 618 00:37:21,940 --> 00:37:28,620 Are you worried about your safety, given the case and your role? 619 00:37:28,900 --> 00:37:33,640 He sent death threats out to all the females that testified, but at the same 620 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:34,640 time... 621 00:37:36,850 --> 00:37:40,410 Me testifying, I got my power back that he took from me. 622 00:37:41,130 --> 00:37:45,710 And so by me being scared for the rest of my life that he might find me, he 623 00:37:45,710 --> 00:37:50,050 might do something to me, that's him also having my power. 624 00:37:55,330 --> 00:37:56,330 Good luck. 625 00:37:56,390 --> 00:37:57,390 Thank you. 626 00:38:03,420 --> 00:38:06,940 Successful recovery at Santa Maria often takes numerous attempts. 627 00:38:08,540 --> 00:38:13,500 In spite of all the training and support, the ties of the old life do not 628 00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:14,500 easily. 629 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:20,920 The boredom of months of therapy and limited options in the square world 630 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:22,620 many to go back to what they know. 631 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:31,820 is the thing that we work on in treatment. We work on your bio, psycho, 632 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:36,580 We start with you biologically, we deal with you psychologically, and then we 633 00:38:36,580 --> 00:38:37,900 address you sociologically. 634 00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:42,440 It was Thursday night, and Councillor Tonya was teaching her weekly family 635 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:48,640 class. Now, I don't know how many of y 'all dropped your family member off to 636 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:53,600 treatment, and I don't know if you remember what she looked like when she 637 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,300 here, right? 638 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,680 OK, but she has a very distinct walk. 639 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:01,820 Let me show you that I'm coming to treatment. Walk. 640 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:03,400 All right? 641 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,800 What's dragging behind me is my plastic bag of clothes my mama gave me. Among 642 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,700 those in the audience were Denisha and a male visitor. 643 00:39:15,380 --> 00:39:16,780 Keith. Keith. Louis. 644 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:20,440 Nice to meet you. How are you doing? Good. How are you and Denisha connected? 645 00:39:21,180 --> 00:39:23,680 I've known Denisha about six months. 646 00:39:24,170 --> 00:39:27,950 Roughly six months now. I left my wife a year and a half ago, and I've been 647 00:39:27,950 --> 00:39:28,950 living in a hotel. 648 00:39:29,170 --> 00:39:30,570 Because I'm a local truck driver. 649 00:39:30,890 --> 00:39:32,950 And I met her at the hotel I was staying at. 650 00:39:33,330 --> 00:39:38,810 When I found out that, you know, she was sort of prostituting, I found her 651 00:39:38,810 --> 00:39:40,710 attractive, so I became one of her clients. 652 00:39:41,230 --> 00:39:44,950 Had you used the services of a professional sex worker before? 653 00:39:45,610 --> 00:39:48,210 No. Because I was married for 13 years. 654 00:39:48,510 --> 00:39:51,810 And you were faithful to your wife? Totally. Was she with... 655 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:56,280 A... I was not. 656 00:39:57,700 --> 00:39:58,820 It was after that. 657 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,500 No, he's about to say a pimp? Yes. 658 00:40:01,740 --> 00:40:05,520 No, not at all. I would never fool a girl to hit a pimp. Why is that? 659 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:08,260 Pimps are too aggressive and too dangerous. 660 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:10,000 They'll set you up, rob you. 661 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:11,520 Can't be trust. 662 00:40:11,660 --> 00:40:13,860 If you would beat up a woman, how can I trust you? 663 00:40:15,340 --> 00:40:19,600 So, Keith, you knew that Denisha used to have a pimp? No. No. You didn't know 664 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:20,600 that? 665 00:40:21,190 --> 00:40:23,470 That's news to you. Mm -hmm. Are you surprised? 666 00:40:24,610 --> 00:40:25,610 Not really. 667 00:40:27,110 --> 00:40:28,110 Not really. 668 00:40:32,190 --> 00:40:35,850 Good thing she don't have one no more. No. Because then it's not healthy for, 669 00:40:35,930 --> 00:40:36,448 you know. 670 00:40:36,450 --> 00:40:37,450 I know. Yeah. 671 00:40:37,690 --> 00:40:38,690 I'm done. 672 00:40:38,730 --> 00:40:39,990 Right. Right. 673 00:40:43,170 --> 00:40:45,170 How did you feel about the relationship? 674 00:40:46,290 --> 00:40:47,790 Was it even a relationship? 675 00:40:48,470 --> 00:40:49,470 I would say no. 676 00:40:50,250 --> 00:40:55,330 What was it? Because we barely knew each other. It was just like a casual 677 00:40:55,330 --> 00:41:00,050 encounter, you know, a casual hookup. Over how many? Two or three times a 678 00:41:00,230 --> 00:41:01,230 For how long? 679 00:41:01,570 --> 00:41:05,570 Oh, that probably went on for about three weeks to a month. Yeah. 680 00:41:06,170 --> 00:41:08,390 And then? And then she got arrested. 681 00:41:09,030 --> 00:41:13,370 You enjoyed it. That's why you were paying for it. Mm -hmm. And did you 682 00:41:13,370 --> 00:41:14,370 it? 683 00:41:15,190 --> 00:41:16,310 Yeah, I did. 684 00:41:16,690 --> 00:41:18,310 Do you have to say that or? 685 00:41:19,340 --> 00:41:21,580 I did. I really did. I didn't show him. 686 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:23,600 I might have didn't tell him. 687 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:27,620 But in my head, I was like, oh, my God, this is the best. 688 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:29,600 You're right. 689 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:30,840 I'm serious. 690 00:41:31,180 --> 00:41:32,058 You're right. 691 00:41:32,060 --> 00:41:34,600 Do you have trouble believing that? 692 00:41:36,980 --> 00:41:38,280 Not really. A little bit. 693 00:41:38,740 --> 00:41:40,220 Sometimes you second guess. 694 00:41:40,500 --> 00:41:41,820 I take a word for it. 695 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:45,880 Yeah. But I'll be honest. I don't know whether to believe it or not. 696 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:47,320 Right. 697 00:41:48,780 --> 00:41:52,240 I'll give it a benefit of the doubt. Because it could be part of a hustle, 698 00:41:52,460 --> 00:41:56,260 right? It's not, though. I mean, I don't look for satisfaction, but if it's 699 00:41:56,260 --> 00:42:00,320 good, it's good. I just don't let it show or let it be known. Right, strictly 700 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,840 business. So what's your relationship now, then? 701 00:42:03,060 --> 00:42:04,019 Just good friends. 702 00:42:04,020 --> 00:42:04,779 Just friends? 703 00:42:04,780 --> 00:42:05,238 Mm -hmm. 704 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:07,460 But would you like it to be something more, Keith? 705 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:10,580 You know, I really don't even think about that. 706 00:42:10,860 --> 00:42:12,580 Do you still bring her little gifts? 707 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:16,760 Mm -hmm. I come every week, give her $30, you know, to keep in her pocket. 708 00:42:18,750 --> 00:42:20,670 Today I brought her all kinds of toiletries. 709 00:42:20,910 --> 00:42:24,150 I mean, is it possible you're still being hustled a little bit? 710 00:42:24,690 --> 00:42:26,170 How dare you? Probably not. 711 00:42:26,690 --> 00:42:27,850 You didn't like that? 712 00:42:28,070 --> 00:42:29,310 No. Why not? 713 00:42:29,630 --> 00:42:31,770 Because that's not what's going on. 714 00:42:32,250 --> 00:42:34,870 She calls me at least every other day. Denisha calls you every other day? 715 00:42:34,970 --> 00:42:37,450 Sometimes two, three days in a row. To what? 716 00:42:37,790 --> 00:42:40,310 Just conversate. Have somebody to talk to. 717 00:42:40,510 --> 00:42:42,090 So you like him? I do. 718 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:48,060 For a stranger that I met in my hustle to still stand by my side, 719 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:53,020 I wish it was more people like him in this world. 720 00:42:53,820 --> 00:42:56,720 Thank you for that. That was quite heartwarming. You're welcome. 721 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:58,440 Thank y 'all. 722 00:42:58,980 --> 00:42:59,980 You good, baby? 723 00:43:00,380 --> 00:43:01,860 You're good, darling. You're good. 724 00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:21,240 It was the early hours of the morning, and I was back on Bissonette. 725 00:43:25,500 --> 00:43:29,260 Nicky was on shift, under the ever -watchful eye of her pimp. 726 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:51,940 I don't really look at myself like I'm drop -dead gorgeous, but I know I'm not 727 00:43:51,940 --> 00:43:54,040 ugly. I think you look great. 728 00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:58,240 He said I look like a rock star today. I was like, what? You do. He's like, now 729 00:43:58,240 --> 00:43:59,260 go get some rock star money. 730 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:00,520 See, 731 00:44:00,740 --> 00:44:04,920 another thing about a pimp, they have to motivate you and keep you feeling good 732 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:08,080 about yourself because if they're ragging on you all the time and making 733 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:10,160 feel like shit, then that's how you're going to feel. 734 00:44:10,420 --> 00:44:11,420 Are we good to go? 735 00:44:11,580 --> 00:44:16,360 Yeah. You know, before when we spoke to you and you became distraught, do you 736 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:17,360 remember? 737 00:44:18,060 --> 00:44:20,040 You were upset because you'd lost some money. 738 00:44:21,300 --> 00:44:25,200 And you started... I was honest with him about that. You got into a tiff. Do you 739 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,840 remember? Yeah, because there's consequences to my actions. You know 740 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:31,800 mean? You were really upset and you seemed scared. 741 00:44:32,780 --> 00:44:38,500 I mean, nobody likes being punished. Nobody likes being in trouble. Is that 742 00:44:38,500 --> 00:44:39,439 it was about? 743 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:43,200 I mean, I was texting him, talking shit the other night. He pulled up and picked 744 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:44,200 me up and punched me in the mouth. 745 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,200 Because I was disrespectful, you know what I mean? Like, they take that shit 746 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:52,220 seriously. Would you be able to read out some text to get a flavor of how he 747 00:44:52,220 --> 00:44:53,220 talked to you? 748 00:44:54,180 --> 00:45:00,300 And how you talked to each other? Because you just said you were being 749 00:45:00,300 --> 00:45:02,560 disrespectful. 750 00:45:05,540 --> 00:45:09,000 The first message I have, it says, I'm your little Italian soldier. He said, 751 00:45:09,060 --> 00:45:10,060 fucking right, bitch. 752 00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:12,340 And then I was on the track. 753 00:45:12,750 --> 00:45:15,910 And I was walking and talking to somebody and he drove by and he texted 754 00:45:15,910 --> 00:45:18,530 said, this is your first warning. Stop talking, bitch, and get active. 755 00:45:18,810 --> 00:45:19,830 I said, I am, daddy. 756 00:45:20,590 --> 00:45:22,230 He said, get picked up. 757 00:45:22,510 --> 00:45:25,070 I'm getting pissed because I was out there for like three or four hours. 758 00:45:25,750 --> 00:45:29,510 I said, I do good when I'm in good spirit, not a hot mess. You feel me? He 759 00:45:29,670 --> 00:45:30,670 yes, bitch. 760 00:45:31,290 --> 00:45:32,970 Was that after he punched you? 761 00:45:33,230 --> 00:45:37,590 Mm -hmm. So you're putting a marker down saying that you don't appreciate him 762 00:45:37,590 --> 00:45:39,130 putting his hands on you, right? 763 00:45:39,450 --> 00:45:40,530 Mm -hmm. He knows that, though. 764 00:45:40,970 --> 00:45:45,570 You said you've only been doing this a year and a half, but you feel okay with 765 00:45:45,570 --> 00:45:52,510 it. I love what I do. I accept it. I'm not ashamed of it. Like, I feel 766 00:45:52,510 --> 00:45:54,930 like in some aspects, I help people. 767 00:45:55,350 --> 00:45:57,550 I mean, pleasure is good. 768 00:45:58,050 --> 00:46:01,810 Who don't like to have sex? Like, come on. I mean, I hear you. 769 00:46:02,330 --> 00:46:06,390 And at the same time, you know, I've been talking to other women involved in 770 00:46:06,390 --> 00:46:08,570 work, and almost two are one. 771 00:46:09,939 --> 00:46:15,360 But the pimp thing is not good, that the pimps are... It depends on the way you 772 00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:17,940 look at it, though. ...hereditary and parasitic. 773 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:19,640 It just depends on who you're with. 774 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:21,640 He makes me a better person. 775 00:46:21,900 --> 00:46:23,520 How is he making you better? 776 00:46:24,060 --> 00:46:26,140 I'm smarter, I'm stronger. 777 00:46:26,660 --> 00:46:28,180 And he takes all the money. 778 00:46:29,220 --> 00:46:30,760 He doesn't take it, I hand it to him. 779 00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:33,940 But if I want anything, I just ask him. 780 00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:36,340 You wouldn't rather have your own money? 781 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,420 I don't know. I'm really bad with money. I'm not a financial person. 782 00:46:41,180 --> 00:46:44,280 Like before I was married, my husband did all that stuff. 783 00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:49,580 But it seems quite precarious. If he's got all your money, in a year or six 784 00:46:49,580 --> 00:46:54,480 months or ten years, see if something happens, right? And you have a falling 785 00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:58,260 out. And then you leave. And what do you have to show for it? 786 00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:05,120 Not much. 787 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:11,100 There's no part of you that wants to get away from him. 788 00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:14,000 Uh -uh. 789 00:47:15,460 --> 00:47:17,300 Not even a little bit. Really? 790 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:19,240 I'm devoted and dedicated. 791 00:47:27,360 --> 00:47:32,820 I left, convinced of the wrongness of Nicky's choices, but also baffled as to 792 00:47:32,820 --> 00:47:33,820 how to break through. 793 00:47:35,210 --> 00:47:38,870 By now I'd realized that for all the women I'd met who'd been trafficked and 794 00:47:38,870 --> 00:47:44,070 pimped, there was a pull deeper than the money or the drama, or in some cases 795 00:47:44,070 --> 00:47:48,110 the drugs, a need to feel valued and to show love. 796 00:47:50,670 --> 00:47:55,270 In a role of providing professional intimacy, it struck me that the women 797 00:47:55,270 --> 00:47:59,090 also at the mercy of their own feelings when it came to their pimps. 798 00:48:02,270 --> 00:48:03,890 Perhaps none more so. 799 00:48:04,240 --> 00:48:10,960 than Dinesha, caught between her roommate Jax, her old pimp, and Ki. 800 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:14,640 You know, it was nice meeting Ki. 801 00:48:14,940 --> 00:48:16,880 Was it? What are your feelings for him? 802 00:48:18,700 --> 00:48:25,440 I mean, I appreciate him and I... I got love for 803 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:26,440 him. 804 00:48:27,310 --> 00:48:32,590 I wouldn't necessarily say that I could right now at this point see myself in a 805 00:48:32,590 --> 00:48:33,590 relationship with anybody. 806 00:48:34,210 --> 00:48:37,030 You seem to be in relationships with three people. 807 00:48:37,450 --> 00:48:38,450 Who? 808 00:48:39,590 --> 00:48:44,030 I am not in a relationship with anybody. Of a sort. Well, there's Keith. 809 00:48:45,630 --> 00:48:49,130 There's also your old pimp who's in prison. 810 00:48:49,370 --> 00:48:51,450 Okay. And then there's Jack. Okay. 811 00:48:52,720 --> 00:48:55,700 I'm not in a relationship with Jack. Jack is like my best friend. 812 00:48:56,060 --> 00:48:57,740 Which one are you most attracted to? 813 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:01,480 You want me to be honey? 814 00:49:03,140 --> 00:49:04,160 The one in jail. 815 00:49:07,680 --> 00:49:08,680 Yeah. 816 00:49:10,260 --> 00:49:12,660 He's the one who's treated you worst, I suppose. 817 00:49:13,060 --> 00:49:17,100 Yeah. And he pimped you out, right? If that's not the right term. 818 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:19,520 He put you out on the track, right? 819 00:49:20,620 --> 00:49:22,240 And he was physical with you? 820 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:27,120 Yes. What has he got that you don't get in the other two relationships? 821 00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:34,760 When Keith talks to me, Keith talks to me about always wanting to have sex. 822 00:49:35,140 --> 00:49:40,320 I can't wait till you can leave so I can come and get you and take you out to 823 00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:43,580 eat and, you know, do this and do that. 824 00:49:44,080 --> 00:49:46,720 But with T, what does he talk to you about? 825 00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:48,700 He loves me and... 826 00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:53,720 He don't want to lose me. He want me to be a part of his life. No, I'm his life. 827 00:49:54,380 --> 00:49:55,980 You had a physical relationship. 828 00:49:56,500 --> 00:49:57,500 Yes. 829 00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:00,800 But it's more emotional now with him. 830 00:50:01,140 --> 00:50:03,300 Do you think that's true of pimps in general? 831 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:06,280 Well, 832 00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:12,440 that they can push your buttons emotionally, and part of their control 833 00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:14,440 is that... 834 00:50:19,620 --> 00:50:22,260 You can't manipulate them sexually. 835 00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:25,120 I can, though. I have. 836 00:50:25,580 --> 00:50:26,299 With T? 837 00:50:26,300 --> 00:50:29,940 Yes. He likes the way I do things in bed. 838 00:50:30,560 --> 00:50:31,560 T does? 839 00:50:31,620 --> 00:50:35,440 Yes. There's not a day we didn't sleep in a bed together that we didn't have 840 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:36,980 sex. You and T? 841 00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:38,280 Yeah. 842 00:50:39,340 --> 00:50:43,340 When you look into your heart and you see that there's a part of you that 843 00:50:43,340 --> 00:50:44,340 that, right? 844 00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:49,060 Or wanted it. Wanted it. What is it, do you think? Is it just a sort of an 845 00:50:49,060 --> 00:50:55,020 emotional, you know, it's a sense of pleasure that you get in providing for 846 00:50:55,020 --> 00:50:57,200 someone and taking care of business? 847 00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:00,780 It is, because it makes me feel like I'm in control. 848 00:51:01,260 --> 00:51:06,860 You can see how, looking at it another way, it's almost a kind of 849 00:51:06,860 --> 00:51:11,940 servitude, you know, a kind of... Being submissive. Mm -hmm. 850 00:51:12,180 --> 00:51:13,180 Yeah. 851 00:51:14,060 --> 00:51:20,020 If you know my background, me growing up, I always had to be submissive. 852 00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:22,920 I started being molested at the age of three. 853 00:51:25,940 --> 00:51:32,080 No, no, I don't want to. I don't want to. If you tell you're going to be in 854 00:51:32,080 --> 00:51:35,160 trouble or I'm going to kill you, put fear in me. 855 00:51:36,240 --> 00:51:37,240 Who did it? 856 00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:39,760 A lot of people. 857 00:51:40,420 --> 00:51:41,540 A lot of people. 858 00:51:42,990 --> 00:51:44,310 My mom even knows. 859 00:51:44,630 --> 00:51:46,450 It was two of her boyfriends. 860 00:51:48,410 --> 00:51:52,270 I hate for people to try to judge me about my lifestyle. 861 00:51:52,790 --> 00:51:58,190 I really do, because no one knows what I've been through. No one knows where I 862 00:51:58,190 --> 00:51:59,190 come from. 863 00:52:00,790 --> 00:52:05,630 And I just thought that the person that I loved was the one who was going to 864 00:52:05,630 --> 00:52:10,190 save me, rescue me from all of the feelings and the emotions that I endured 865 00:52:10,190 --> 00:52:11,190 inside of me. 866 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:18,800 But now when I sit and I explain it to you guys, in my head it's like, no, 867 00:52:19,140 --> 00:52:20,580 that's not what was happening. 868 00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:22,040 You mean with tea? 869 00:52:22,260 --> 00:52:23,680 Yeah, I was being used. 870 00:52:24,060 --> 00:52:25,500 I'm being used by Keith. 871 00:52:25,860 --> 00:52:28,160 I'm just being used. 872 00:52:29,020 --> 00:52:33,900 I don't know if that's true, you know. I mean, I hope that's not what you think 873 00:52:33,900 --> 00:52:34,900 I've been saying. 874 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:36,460 I think, um... 875 00:52:38,670 --> 00:52:44,130 You know, relationships are complicated, and I think your relationships with 876 00:52:44,130 --> 00:52:51,130 Keith and T and Jax, they're all two -way streets, and in your 877 00:52:51,130 --> 00:52:53,810 own way you have been powerful in those relationships. 878 00:53:10,890 --> 00:53:14,530 With my time in Houston nearly up, I had one last appointment. 879 00:53:17,050 --> 00:53:18,050 How's it going? 880 00:53:18,350 --> 00:53:19,350 It's going good. 881 00:53:20,570 --> 00:53:23,130 Savannah was now back on her own in the world. 882 00:53:27,250 --> 00:53:29,170 We'd arranged to meet for coffee. 883 00:53:31,170 --> 00:53:36,810 So the sense I have from Santa Maria is that you're at risk out here of relapse 884 00:53:36,810 --> 00:53:39,270 into drugs and relapse into sex work. 885 00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:43,400 How does that sit with you, that image? Is that accurate? Is it there? 886 00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:46,440 No, I am in recovery. 887 00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:49,720 And I do care about my recovery. 888 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:52,820 I felt like I was going nowhere in Santa Maria. 889 00:53:54,840 --> 00:53:55,840 But out here? 890 00:53:56,840 --> 00:53:59,060 Where do you feel you're going out here? 891 00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:02,320 I'm getting a job. 892 00:54:04,340 --> 00:54:05,380 I'm going to start working. 893 00:54:05,740 --> 00:54:06,740 Where? 894 00:54:07,140 --> 00:54:09,060 I'm going to go apply for applications tomorrow. 895 00:54:09,560 --> 00:54:10,580 What kind of job? 896 00:54:10,980 --> 00:54:11,919 Any job. 897 00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:16,680 Subway, applying to a bunch of different places, front desk, clerk, and the 898 00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:22,420 going back to the life. I mean, maybe in another person's eyes that would be 899 00:54:22,420 --> 00:54:26,380 relaxing, but I never promised that I wouldn't go back and do it. 900 00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:33,560 What is it that is making you think a little bit like it's still an option? 901 00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:36,200 I don't have a job. 902 00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:38,700 And it's easy. 903 00:54:39,420 --> 00:54:40,420 It's easy. 904 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:43,200 Is it a little bit exciting? 905 00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:51,380 Mm -hmm. Oh, it absolutely is. The rush, it's like another addiction. It really 906 00:54:51,380 --> 00:54:56,280 is. Do you think there's a way of doing the sex work in a healthy way? 907 00:54:57,840 --> 00:55:01,040 I don't know. There's a part of me that just completely wants to just stop it 908 00:55:01,040 --> 00:55:04,960 because I know that I'm better than that and that that's not what I need to be 909 00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:05,960 doing with my life. 910 00:55:07,530 --> 00:55:11,190 I could absolutely be doing a whole bunch of other things, but then another 911 00:55:11,190 --> 00:55:16,570 of me is like, for some reason doesn't want to let that go. 912 00:55:17,370 --> 00:55:18,370 Why? 913 00:55:19,670 --> 00:55:23,770 A big part of me is scared that I'm not going to be successful, that I'm going 914 00:55:23,770 --> 00:55:29,810 to fail somewhere, and that I might as well just stick to doing this 915 00:55:29,810 --> 00:55:36,150 instead of go and fail. But at the same time, I just, I don't know. 916 00:55:38,730 --> 00:55:41,110 Do you think you'd ever get back with a pimp? 917 00:55:41,870 --> 00:55:42,870 Mm -mm. 918 00:55:44,050 --> 00:55:45,050 No, I don't. 919 00:55:46,710 --> 00:55:53,350 No longer will I allow a man to tell me what to do or 920 00:55:53,350 --> 00:56:00,270 to disrespect me or to hit me or I give my 921 00:56:00,270 --> 00:56:01,270 money to them. 922 00:56:02,810 --> 00:56:05,370 I will no longer allow that. 923 00:56:24,010 --> 00:56:26,310 Because I know when I was out here, I didn't think there was any hope. 924 00:56:26,530 --> 00:56:30,610 I thought the older I got, because I was out here for 21 years. 925 00:56:31,330 --> 00:56:37,770 I had a baby over on the 40th and a half. It may be that as long as there 926 00:56:37,770 --> 00:56:42,310 extremes of vulnerability, coerced prostitution will be with us. 927 00:56:42,970 --> 00:56:45,070 Thank you all for coming to see me. Bye, baby. 928 00:56:45,850 --> 00:56:51,070 In Houston, I'd seen women from backgrounds of abuse meeting the most 929 00:56:51,070 --> 00:56:52,070 human need. 930 00:56:52,520 --> 00:56:55,180 by seeking out what they knew best. You have a vision. 931 00:56:55,740 --> 00:56:57,880 You just can't see it because it's too dark out here. 932 00:56:58,900 --> 00:57:00,760 Cruelty that felt comfortable. 933 00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:05,420 What time do I need to pick you up Monday? 934 00:57:05,900 --> 00:57:09,860 It had struck me as both bizarre and deeply understandable. 935 00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:15,140 But it was also true that a few were finding their way back to the light. 936 00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:17,440 Got her. 937 00:57:17,500 --> 00:57:18,500 I love you. 938 00:57:18,820 --> 00:57:19,820 You're going to be fine.