@jungletographytv, a social media page that focuses its content on Los Angeles, posted an Instagram reel of a driver filming at the intersection of Figueroa Street and Century Boulevard in Southeast Los Angeles. “Look at this shit,” he says as he pans to three women walking down Figueroa in broad daylight, wearing minimal clothing and six-inch heels. The driver then zooms in on a billboard across the street that reads, “Pimps Don’t Care. We Do.”, with a hotline number underneath.
@jungletographyTV’s Instagram reel at Figueroa Street and Century Boulevard.
Figueroa Street, or more colloquially referred to as the Blade, is a 50-block stretch in East L.A. that is infamous for its rampant sex trafficking. The women who walk these streets are known as “304s,” referring to “hoes” or promiscuously dressed women who solicit for sex. “304s” are more commonly referenced on social media to avoid videos being flagged or reported. @jungletographytv’s video isn’t a novelty. There are hundreds of videos online of a similar nature: degrading, dehumanizing, and mocking these women.
@whitewallstuntz_ posted a reel on Instagram of someone approaching a car at 2 am in Downtown L.A. He proceeds to ask the man sitting in the car if he needs anything, to which he responds, “A chick.” The person recording responds, “A 304?” and the two laugh, wishing each other a good night.
@whitewallstuntz_ Instagram reel at Downtown LA.
JayWalkin TV on YouTube has dozens of videos titled “The Streets of LA” in which he bikes down Figueroa Street and records women dressed in fishnets, high heels, and brightly colored wigs. One video amassed over 21 million views.
One of JayWalkin TV’s most viewed YouTube videos
Creators such as JayWalkin TV and @whitewallstuntz_ publicize L.A.’s crisis to the world. Their concise and digestible content allows their audience to gawk at the women who walk Figueroa while simultaneously exacerbating L.A.’s sex trafficking crisis by normalizing the conditions these women are subject to, thereby dehumanizing them. Not only does social media have the dangerous capacity to publicly display our sex trafficking crisis, but it is often the same way that women get involved in the first place.
In early Sep. 2024, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass launched “The Figueroa Corridor Human Trafficking Initiative,” specifically targeting sex traffickers along the 3.5-mile strip of Figueroa Street. “This area is also ground zero for human trafficking where children and women are exploited and abused each and every day,” Estrada said. In their press conference, they make multiple references to minors who are trafficked from group and foster homes.
The initiative made real progress when eleven members of a South L.A. gang were arrested and federally charged in a 31-count indictment that charged them with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking of minors. Arresting and federally charging this number of people is a huge milestone in trying to address our city’s sex trafficking crisis. However, the unprecedented use of social media to recruit women to prostitute themselves ends up keeping them in a vicious cycle of fear and violence.
“The Game” is what pimps refer to as sex trafficking. Pimps lure young girls, especially those who have financial or emotional struggles, with displays of money, jewelry, and attention. An L.A. County report, in collaboration with the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention research, found that pimps exploit young girls who lack security and stability. Girls who run away or are kicked out of their homes are especially vulnerable to pimps who can provide basic needs, such as food or shelter.
After building a relationship, they take the women, referred to as “wifeys,” to solicit sex to customers, or “Johns.” To demonstrate their obligatory loyalty, the women must turn over all their profits to their pimps. Pimps use the threat of physical violence and emotional abuse to subdue women, making it difficult for them to escape. Today, this coercive apparatus is facilitated through media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat.
According to the federal indictment, a defendant posted an advertisement on Instagram in which they were accepting applications to be sex workers. Another set of defendants posted a photo on Instagram displaying large amounts of cash with a caption implying it was from sex trafficking profits. The defendants attempt to professionalize their criminality by having “applications” and displaying sex trafficking as a steady and lucrative source of income.
Allegedly, in 2023, another defendant messaged a woman over Instagram and promised that if she came to work for them that she would make at least $25,000. Similarly, another defendant promised a young woman that if she worked for him for 30 days, she would be able to buy a car and a house. If she didn’t want to work for 30 days, he promised her $1,000 for every day that she worked. The defendant reaffirmed that she would “never want to leave him.”
Social media provides a form of hyperconnectivity between pimps and the women they seek to recruit, while offering the guise of credibility. When vulnerable young women see pimps flaunting their own profits from sex trafficking, it implies a financial security that they believe is possible for themselves. What is not advertised on social media is the violence that comes with playing “the Game.”
There are dozens of alleged instances in which the defendants have beaten women for not displaying enough loyalty or not turning enough profits. Moreover, emotional and verbal abuse are common between pimps and their women. In one alleged instance, a defendant threatened to hurt a woman’s family and doxxed the address where her family resides to intimidate her.
This social apparatus completely engulfs young women into the culture of working on the Blade, which makes intervention much harder.
Since 1979, Children of the Night has been helping adolescent girls and women who are exploited for prostitution. The organization has a comprehensive drop-in center, where young girls can come for food, shelter, or hygiene needs. Since its conception, volunteers have participated in street outreach programs. They walk down Figueroa trying to talk to young girls and plaster advertisements throughout the street with Children of the Night’s motto, “Pimps Don’t Care – We Do,” and a hotline number underneath.
Karla Vazquez is an outreach coordinator with Children of the Night and an L.A. native. She works closely with the LAPD and social workers to provide insight into the human trafficking crisis in our city. Vasquez has worked with girls who have been trafficked across the country and have ended up on Figueroa. Nine times out of ten, girls describe Figueroa as being the worst out of all the sex trafficking hotspots in the Country.
Vasquez has firsthand seen how social media has completely changed the dynamic between a pimp and the women they recruit. In the past, a pimp physically had to be near a woman to control and traffic her.
“They are connected 24/7; they don’t have to physically be there,” Vasquez explained. “They can send a dm, they can track their location through Snapchat.”
While this has made it difficult for a girl to disconnect from her pimp, social media has aided in spreading the message and resources provided by Children of the Night. Founder Dr. Lois Lee has a podcast where she highlights the stories of women who were formerly in Children of the Night programs to demonstrate the possibilities of leaving the streets.
In Episode 6, Dr. Lee speaks to Victoria, a woman who was in the Children of the Night program. Victoria described how parental neglect made her vulnerable to the men who exploited her. At 13, she left the streets for Children of the Night, where she received shelter and an education. Now, Victoria has a family and is pursuing a degree in Business Management.
In addition to the podcast, Vasquez mentioned online critics of Children of the Night. Specifically, people have posted videos mocking the billboard with their slogan and the hotline number. Despite these efforts, Vasquez believes that their posts have had the opposite effect.
“Those billboards have been there since the 80s, but social media now blasts it to the world,” Vasquez said. “[It] is letting people know that number is out there for you to call.”
Today, there is a dangerous culture of complacency surrounding sex work in L.A. When pimps advertise for sex workers or flaunt their earnings on social media, it makes working on the blade seem like a viable career for young and struggling women, while masking the physical violence that comes with it.
While Children of the Night’s advocacy work has exploded through the use of social media, it is seemingly overshadowed by online trolls. Interactions with content creators, such as @whitewallstuntz or JayWalkin TV, signal that some believe our crisis in L.A. is tolerable, maybe even amusing.
Featured Image Source: Children of the Night Billboard
