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#REDIRECT [[Procuring (prostitution)]]
{{Other uses}}
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{{Infobox occupation
{{R with Wikidata item|Q11679511}}
| name= Pimp
| image= [[File:The White Slave statue.jpg|250px]]
| caption= Statue of a young 19th-century [[prostitution|prostitute]] with her pimp
| official_names=
<!------------Details------------------->
| type= Criminal
| activity_sector=
| competencies=
| formation=
| employment_field= [[Brothel]]s, [[prostitution]], [[street prostitution]]
| related_occupation= Prostitute, [[gigolo]], [[mama-san]], [[madam]]
}}
A '''pimp''' is an [[Agent (law)|agent]] for [[prostitution|prostitutes]] who collects part of their [[income|earnings]]. This act is called [[procuring (prostitution)|procuring]] or [[Procuring (prostitution)|Pandering]]. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing, and possibly monopolizing, a location where she may engage clients. A woman who runs a [[brothel]] is known as a [[madam]] rather than a pimp.
Like prostitution, the legality of certain actions of a madam or a pimp vary from one region to the next. Pimps may punish johns for physical abuse or failure to pay, advertise services to potential clients without alerting police, and enforce exclusive rights to 'turf' where their prostitutes may advertise and operate with less competition.<ref name="Figueroa">{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/13/local/me-figueroa13|title=L.A. seeks to thwart sex trade on Figueroa|last=Zahniser|first=David|date=May 13, 2008|publisher=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref> In the many places where prostitution is outlawed, sex workers have decreased incentive to report abuse for fear of [[self-incrimination]], and increased motivation to seek any physical protection from clients and law enforcement that a pimp might provide.
The pimp-prostitute relationship can be abusive and possessive, with the pimp/madam using techniques such as psychological intimidation, manipulation, starvation, [[rape]] and/or gang rape, beating, confinement, threats of violence toward the victim’s family, forced drug use and the shame from these acts.<ref name="55facts">{{cite web|url=http://facts.randomhistory.com/human-trafficking-facts.html|title=55 Little Known Facts About... Human Trafficking|publisher=Random History|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref><ref name="SoMonstrous">{{cite book|last=Skinner|first=E. Benjamin|title=A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery|publisher=Free Press|date=2008|isbn=978-0-7432-9007-4|url=http://books.google.com/books/about/A_crime_so_monstrous.html?id=-47aorGBguMC}}</ref> Pimps can be arrested and charged with pandering and are legally known as procurers.<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pandering</ref>
== Legal status ==
Procuring, pandering and [[brothel]]s are [[legal]] in the [[Netherlands]], [[Germany]], [[Greece]], [[New Zealand]], most of [[Prostitution in Australia|Australia]] and parts of [[Spain]] and [[Prostitution in Nevada|Nevada]] among others. They are forbidden in most other countries.
== Decriminalization ==
In 2009, [[UN Secretary-General]] [[Ban Ki-moon]] urged all countries remove bans on prostitution and homosexual sex, because "such laws constitute major barriers to reaching key populations with HIV services". In 2012, the UN AIDS commission convened by Ban Ki-moon and backed by [[UNDP]] and [[UNAIDS]] reached the same conclusions, also recommending decriminalization of [[brothel]]s and procuring. <ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4128420.html Decriminalisation integral to the fight against HIV], Michael Kirby & Michael Wong, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 13 JULY 2012</ref><ref>[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/un-commission-calls-legalizing-prostitution-worldwide U.N. Commission Calls for Legalizing Prostitution Worldwide], Amanda Swysgood, CNS News, July 23, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/2/aids-used-as-reason-to-legalize-prostitutes/ AIDS used as reason to legalize prostitutes], Cheryl Wetzstein, [[The Washington Times]], August 2, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.hivlawcommission.org/resources/report/FinalReport-Risks,Rights&Health-EN.pdf Risks, Rights & Health], GLOBAL COMMISSION ON HIV AND THE LAW, UNDP, HIV/AIDS Group, , July 2012, page 43 ("Recommendation"): "Repeal laws that prohibit consenting adults to buy or sell sex, as well as laws that otherwise prohibit commercial sex, such as laws against “immoral” earnings, “living of the earnings” of prostitution and brothel-keeping."</ref>
==Etymology==
The word ''pimp'' first appeared in English in 1607 in a [[Thomas Middleton]] play entitled ''[[Your Five Gallants]].'' It is believed to have stemmed from the French infinitive ''pimper'' meaning to dress up elegantly and from the present participle ''pimpant'' meaning alluring in dress seductive. ''Pimp'' used as a verb, meaning to act as a pimp, first appeared in 1636 in Massinger's book, ''The Bashful Lover''.<ref name="slate"/> In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term was commonly used to refer to [[informant|informers]].<ref>[http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/viewdetails.aspx?PrimarySourceId=1004 Smithsonian Source<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> A pimp can also mean "a despicable person".<ref>"Webster's College Dictionary", Random House, 2001</ref> The term can also be applied to a person who is considered a [[:wikt:ladies' man|ladies' man]].<ref name="slate">
[[Jesse Sheidlower]]: [http://www.slate.com/id/2184211/ A History of Pimping. What the word meant and what it means now.] [[Slate.com]], February 11, 2008</ref>
The verb "pimping" came up in the early 17th century.<ref name="slate"/> Rapper [[Nelly]] tried to redefine the word "pimp" by saying that it is an [[acronym]] for "positive, intellectual, motivated person." He created a [[college scholarship]] with the name "P.I.M.P. Juice Scholarship". Dawn Turner Trice of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' argues that there is "something truly unsettling, to say the least, about attaching such a vile word to a scholarship" and expresses concern about the glamorization of the term.<ref>Trice, Dawn Turner. [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-04-27/news/0504270140_1_rap-word-frat "Scholarship is soured by unsavory name"], ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', April 27, 2005.</ref>
In the first years of the 21st century, a new meaning of the word has emerged in the form of a transitive verb ''pimp'', which means "to decorate" or "to [[wiktionary : gussy up|gussy up]]" (compare ''[[primping|primp]]'', especially in Scottish usage). This new definition was made popular by ''[[Pimp My Ride]]'', an MTV television show.<ref name="slate"/> Although this new definition paid homage to [[hip-hop]] culture and its connection to street culture, it has now entered common, even mainstream commercial, use.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2007/09/20/NEWS-PimpMyFeetVerb-F.rtf.aspx | title= Feet pimping | date=September 20, 2007 | accessdate=September 26, 2007 |publisher=[[The Hook (newspaper)|The Hook weekly]]}}</ref>
In medical contexts, the verb means "to ask (a student) a question for the purpose of testing his knowledge".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brancati|first=Frederick L.|title=The Art of Pimping|journal=JAMA|date=July 7, 1989|volume=262|issue=1|pages=89|url=http://www.neonatology.org/pearls/pimping.html}}</ref> In the US military, the verb can be used to express a superior reminding a subordinate of a task that the subordinate forgot to accomplish.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
== Business of pimping ==
{{criminal law}}
Pimping is sometimes operated like a business.<ref name="reallyreallypimping">[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/really_really_pimpin_in_da_south/ Really Really Pimpin' in Da South], [[Rotten Tomatoes]]</ref> The pimp may have a [[bottom girl]] who serves as office manager, keeping the pimp apprised of law-enforcement activity and collecting money from the prostitutes.<ref name="pipkins">[http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200214306.pdf U.S. v. Pipkins], 378 F.3d 1281, (11th Cir. 2004).</ref> Pimps recognize a [[hierarchy]] among themselves. The least respected, or newer pimps, are the "popcorn pimps" and "wannabes". A pimp who uses violence and intimidation to control his prostitutes is called a "Jonas pimp", while those who use psychological trickery to deceive younger prostitutes into becoming hooked into the system are called "finesse pimps". An important part of the business is obtaining and maintaining a selection of prostitutes. Losing one's prostitute to another pimp is known as being "peeled". Informing a pimp that one of his prostitutes has switched pimps is a professional courtesy, and any attempt to respond to this courtesy with violence will quickly get the violent pimp labeled a "Gorilla" or "Godzilla". Prostitutes who move between pimps often are labeled as a "Choosey Susie". In addition, a prostitute may "bounce" from pimp to pimp without paying the "pimp moving" tax.<ref>
Western Michigan University, ''The Pimping Game'', http://www.wmich.edu/destinys-end/pimping%20game.htm</ref>
A large percentage of pimps in the United States are also documented gang members, which causes concerns for police agencies in jurisdictions where prostitution is a significant problem. Pimping rivals narcotic sales as a major source of funding for many gangs, this is particularly true with African American gangs. Gangs need money to survive, and money equates to power and respect. While selling drugs may be lucrative for a gang, this activity often carries significant risk as stiff legal penalties and harsh mandatory minimum sentencing laws exist. However, with pimping, gang members still make money while the prostitutes themselves bear the majority of the risk. Pimping has several benefits to the gang that the pimp belongs to. These benefits include it helps the gang recruit new members because the gang has women available for sex and the money brought in by prostitution allows gang members to buy cars, clothes and weapons, all of which help to recruit younger members into the gang by increasing the reputation of the gang in the local gang subculture. The presence of gangs (and weapons and drugs) is a virtual guarantee when prostitutes are present, which is why many law enforcement agencies advocate taking an aggressive stance against prostitutes. Many vice units work to ascertain if the prostitute they have arrested has a pimp, and if so they pressure them to provide information about their pimp and the gang involved. This information can then be used to go after the more serious and violent offenders. <ref name="Prostitution & Gangs">{{cite news|last=O'Deane|first=Matthew|title=Prostitution & Gangs. Techniques for going after violent offenders|url=http://www.lawofficer.com/article/prostitution-gangs|date=September 24, 2010}}</ref>
The pimp business has an internal structure – built around violence – for dealing with rule breakers. For example, pimps have been known to employ a "pimp stick", which is two coat hangers wrapped together, in order to subdue unruly prostitutes.<ref name="pipkins"/> A variation is a "pimp cane", used for similar purposes.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} Another punishment for disobedient prostitutes is to "trunk" them, where the pimp locks the prostitute in the trunk of a car. Although prostitutes are supposedly free to move between pimps, this movement sometimes leads to violence. For example, a prostitute could be punished for merely looking at another pimp; this is considered "reckless eyeballing".<ref name="pipkins"/> Violence is also used on customers, for example if the customer attempts to evade payment or becomes unruly with a prostitute.
=== Use of tattoos ===
Many pimps tattoo prostitutes as a mark of "ownership".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/us/27runaways.html?pagewanted=all|title=RUNNING IN THE SHADOWS; For Runaways on the Street, Sex Buys Survival|last=Urbina|first=Ian|date=27 October 2009|work=The New York Times|page=1|accessdate=20 November 2010}}</ref><ref>http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=humtrafconf2</ref> The tattoo will often be the pimp's street or even his likeness. The mark might be as discreet as ankle tattoo, or blatant as a neck tattoo, or large scale font across the prostitute's lower back, thigh, chest, or buttocks.<ref>No Way Out, Teen Girl Sell Bodies in Seattle, http://www.seattlepi.com/local/368594_prostitution27.html</ref>
=== Internet effect ===
Since the Internet became widely available, it has become the preferred medium for prostitution. Prostitutes increasingly use websites to solicit sexual encounters. In turn, pimps have used these sites to broker their women.<ref name="blog.wired.com">Wired, http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/02/pimping.html</ref>
However, the use of the Internet for prostitution as well as other changes in the sex industry have resulted in the [[disintermediation]] of prostitution, allowing prostitutes to deal with clients directly. This has rendered pimps largely superfluous, at least in the United States. In 2011, ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' reported that of 11 pimps working out of New York's midtown Manhattan in 1999, all were out of work within four years.<ref name="Wired 2011">{{cite news|last=Venkatesh|first=Sudhir|title=Features Inside the Mad Science of 7 Renegade Researchers Start Prison Economics: How Fish and Coffee Become Cash Play Q&A: Photog's Descent Into the Underworld 19.02 How Tech Tools Transformed New York's Sex Trade|url=http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_sextrade/all/1|accessdate=26 February 2011|newspaper=Wired|date=January 31, 2011}}</ref>
== Loverboy ==
'''Loverboy''' is slang for young men (boys) who lure underage girls into prostitution.<ref>http://stoploverboys.nu/en/</ref> It is a significant problem in many countries including the [[Netherlands]]<ref name="skynews">{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15682402|title=Dutch Girls Groomed By 'Loverboy' Pimps |last=Rossi|first=Alex|date=August 13, 2010|publisher=Sky News|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref><ref name="tswi-loverboys">http://www.rnw.nl/english/radioshow/loverboys</ref> and it is estimated there are 1,500 victims a year.<ref name="spiegel-Krahe">{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,705104,00.html|title=Schoolgirls Controlled by Loverboys|last=Krahe|first=Dialika|date=07/09/2010|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref> One of the factors is that immigrant groups of boys leverage their sexual sophistication over the largely conservative [[Protestant]] Christian population.<ref name="RNW">{{cite web|url=http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/loverboy-pimps-what%E2%80%99s-love-got-do-it|title='Loverboy' pimps: what’s love got to do with it?|last=Fisher|first=Tim|date=31 May 2011|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref> Even though loverboys use kidnapping, gang rape and other coercive and intimidating techniques on their victims politician Jamila Yahyaoui notes {{as of|2009|lc=on}}, only 5 cases lead to convictions.<ref name="Guardian-Crisafis">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/18/loverboy-child-prostitution-netherlands|title='Loverboys' child prostitution scandal back in Dutch spotlight|last=Crisafis|first=Angelique|date=18 August 2009 |publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref> Because of the young age, fear and emotional dependence of the girls and the vagueness of what exactly happened, many times loverboys and their associates can only be charged with having sex with a minor and get short sentences.<ref name="spiegel-Krahe"/> The socialist party [[ROOD]] wants police to remove obstacles to girls reporting abuse and to not lose contact, while some municipalities are educating front line workers to better identify victims.<ref name="Dutch-police">{{cite web|url=http://www.expatica.com/nl/family/Partners/Victims-of-_loverboys_-not-taken-seriously-by-Dutch-police_14254.html|title=Victims of 'loverboys' not taken seriously by Dutch police|last=van der Horst|first=Loretta|date=29/06/2009|publisher=Radio Netherlands|accessdate=2 October 2011}}</ref>
== Notable pimps ==
*[[Fillmore Slim]]
*[[Iceberg Slim]]
*[[Don "Magic" Juan]]
== See also ==
* ''[[American Pimp]]'', a 1999 documentary by the [[Hughes Brothers]] consisting of first person interviews with people involved in the pimping [[lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]] in the U.S.
* [[Pimp tenure]], a form of feudal land tenure
* [[Procuring (prostitution)]]
== References ==
{{Barelinks|date=December 2012}}
{{Reflist|33em}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/e05021552.pdf U.S. DOJ guide to street prostitution]
* [http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=127 Pimp Anthropology], radio show from ''[[This American Life]]'' featuring an interview with a former pimp.
* Jody Raphael and Brenda Myers-Powell, [http://newsroom.depaul.edu/PDF/FAMILY_LAW_CENTER_REPORT-final.pdf From Victims to Victimizers: Interviews with 25 Ex-Pimps in Chicago], ''The Family Law Center Report'', September 2010
[[Category:Pimps and madams| Pimp]]
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