As many as 11,700 mostly underage girls fall victim to sex trafficking in San Diego County each year in an $810 million industry run largely by gang members, according to preliminary research released at the University of San Diego on Monday.

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, the three-year study offers a thorough look at one of the most understudied aspects of human trafficking in the nation: the relationship of street gangs as facilitators of sex trafficking.

Researchers from USD and Point Loma Nazarene University hope the findings will call attention to the severity of the problem, and spark new interest among educators, law enforcement, the Legislature and social service providers in halting the underground economy.

“It’s a hard issue to talk about, a really hard issue to talk about — that we actually have human trafficking going on in our community,” said San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who attended Monday’s study release and called on Sacramento to “step up on this issue.”


Jacob, along with members of local law enforcement, school officials and nonprofits, have been working to address the problem of sex trafficking in recent years. They said the study, “Measuring the Nature and Extent of Gang Involvement in Sex Trafficking in San Diego,” has revealed just how widespread and organized the problem has become.

The report also shows how the county is unprepared to handle the problem when it comes to offering emergency shelters and services for victims.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, who helped establish a task force to address human trafficking earlier this year, wants to make sure men involved in sex trafficking know they will be prosecuted. She also wants to make it easier for victims to report the crimes.

“Fear is what prevents victims from reporting,” Dumanis said Monday. “If a victim is robbed they call 9-1-1, but if a victim is sex-trafficked, they are less likely to make that call.”


The research includes an analysis of data collected from hundreds of current and former gang members, school officials, law enforcement agencies, and victim service providers. In all, data was collected from some 1,205 individuals, making it one of the largest, most comprehensive human trafficking case studies in the nation.

“The most striking finding has to be the scale,” said principle researcher Ami Carpenter of USD.

Researchers met with 140 school administrators and staff from 20 schools from all reaches of the county — from the northern suburbs, inner-city San Diego, East County and the South Bay. All confirmed that sex trafficking recruitment was occurring on their campuses.

Although the thriving underground industry is most prevalent in ten ZIP codes, girls from poor, middle class and affluent families are recruited into prostitution throughout the county, researchers said. Among the generic “hot spots” where or how girls are recruited: social media, by boyfriends, at parties, trolley and bus stops, malls and neighborhood parks near schools, and churches. Specifically, researchers identified El Cajon Boulevard and an area in National City as recruitment zones.


The report confirms what many have learned case by case about who are the most likely to fall victim to sex trafficking: those who are neglected or abused at home, runaways, homeless, those who identify (or are questioning) as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender; and those who suffer from mental illness.

Researchers also dispel myths about sex trafficking when it comes to the victims and ringleaders.

Some 80 percent of sex-trafficking victims were born in the U.S., 12 percent were born in Mexico, and the rest in other countries, the study found.

“In public consciousness, pimping is associated with African-American gangs,” said Jamie Gates, co-researcher and professor with Point Loma Nazarene. “In our research, (pimping) is evenly split between African-American, Hispanic and white gangs.”


What’s more, the report breaks down three main types of pimp, or sex facilitators:

The “vicious-violent pimp,” (3 percent) who uses physical and psychological abuse to force high financial quotas, and who prey on vulnerable minors.

The traditional pimp (representing about 34 percent of those interviewed in the sample), who manages up to 10 individuals and keeps virtually all money made in sex encounters.

The “protector/business partners,” (63 percent) who say they are approached or recruited by women for protection in exchange for an even split of profits — with whites making up 52 percent of the population in this model.

Researchers did not interview or study trends among the “johns,” or the men who keep the sex-trafficking in high demand in San Diego.

Why is San Diego such a mecca for sex-trafficking? Carpenter and Gates believe there are several factors: San Diego’s proximity to the Mexican border, large military population, and its destination for tourists and conference participants.

The report is under peer review. Researchers expect to release more details from their findings next month. The study does not reveal the schools and neighborhoods with the largest problems, but researchers have shared the information with educators and community leaders.


Among other findings: