326 - Extent, Trends, and Perpetrators of Prostitution-Related Homicide in the United States

Devon D. Brewer, Jonathan A. Dudek, John J. Potterat, Stephen Q. Muth, John M. Roberts Jr., and Donald E. Woodhouse

main idea

women involved in prostitution experienced an exceptionally high risk of homicide, and their killers were usually clients rather than pimp

key research questions

1. Extent: How common are prostitution-related homicides in the United States?

2. Trends: How have prostitution-related homicides changed over time?

3. Perpetrators: Who commits prostitution-related homicides?

4. Data accuracy: How accurately do official statistics capture these homicides?

hypotheses

• Prostitution-related homicides might account for a substantial proportion of female homicides.

• Clients and pimps might both be responsible for killing women involved in prostitution.

• Different homicide data sources might reveal similar patterns despite differences in how cases were recorded.

• Serial killers might account for a considerable proportion of prostitute homicides.

research methods

conducted a quantitative, descriptive study using secondary data analysis.

Capture–recapture analysis

statistical technique used to estimate the size of a population when researchers cannot observe or identify every member of that population.

In this study, the researchers compared two sources:

• The FBI's NCAVC sample.

• The national media sample.

key finding 1 - Prostitution-related homicide was more common than official records suggested

estimated that 2.7% of all female homicide victims in the United States between 1982 and 2000 were involved in prostitution.

key finding 2 - Official homicide records missed many cases

The researchers found substantial underreporting and underidentification across the nine data sources.

• The proportion of female homicide victims identified as prostitutes varied considerably between datasets, ranging from 0.3% to 7.2% in the general homicide samples.

key finding 3 - Clients were the primary perpetrators of prostitute homicides

Across the different datasets, clients committed approximately 57% to 100% of prostitute homicides in which the perpetrator's relationship to the victim was known.

finding 4 - Different groups tended to kill different groups

Victim	Most common perpetrator	General pattern
Prostitutes	Clients	Clients were the main perpetrators of prostitute homicides.
Clients	Prostitutes	Many client homicides involved robbery, theft, or disputes over the exchange of sex for money or drugs.
Pimps	Other pimps	These homicides often involved retaliation and disputes over prostitution-related business.

key finding 5 - Serial killers accounted for a substantial proportion of prostitute homicides

serial perpetrators accounted for approximately 35% of prostitute homicide victims between 1982 and 2000.

key finding 6 - Recorded homicides increased during the late 1980s and early 1990s

The general increase appeared across multiple datasets, suggesting that the trend was not simply the result of changes in media attention.

• They proposed that the rise of crack cocaine use might have contributed to increased violence during this period.

key finding 7 - Pimp homicides followed a different historical pattern

the small number of observed pimp homicides occurred predominantly before the late 1980s.

finding 8 - Most perpetrators acted alone

The proportion committed by lone perpetrators ranged from 82% to 96% across the relevant datasets.

key finding 9 - The researchers identified practical implications for police investigations

researchers argued that police should improve how they identify, document, and investigate prostitution-related homicides.

Their recommendations included:

• Improving the identification of victims involved in prostitution.

• Recognizing that clients may be the primary suspects in prostitute homicides.

• Examining cases across different jurisdictions, especially when victims' bodies are discovered far from where they were last seen.

Under-ascertainment

Official homicide records missed many prostitution-related murders, meaning the actual number was likely higher than recorded.