VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN / September 2002Williamson, Cluse-Tolar / PIMP-CONTROLLED PROSTITUTION Pimp-Controlled Prostitution Still an Integral Part of Street Life

Street-level prostitution is comprised of both pimp-controlled prostitution and independ-ent entrepreneurial prostitution. Although much of the more recent research has focused on the latter group, this work reports on a qualitative study designed to understand pimp-related violence to women involved in pimp-controlled prostitution. In addition, this work contributes to the understanding of the relationships between pimps and pros-titutes, the roles that each play, and the social rules of the business. Because these women constitute a significant number of those involved in street-level prostitution, more research is called for that focuses on pimp-controlled prostitution. A pimp is one who controls the actions and lives off the proceeds of one or more women who work the streets. Pimps call themselves “players ” and call their profession “the game. ” The context in which this subculture exists is called “the life ” (Milner & Milner, 1972). Social scientists of the 1960s and 1970s devoted a significant amount of research energies toward exposing and understanding pimp-controlled prostitution within street-level prostitutio