As people walk in and out of the dimly lit space, they might be surprised to know the hotel next door had 11 cases of prostitution during a recent six-month period. From April 1 through Sept.
Experts say the prostitutes come from varied backgrounds:. They can be local residents, out-of-town sex workers or even victims of human trafficking forced to engage in the illicit activity.
But no matter who the prostitutes are, police know where to look. Most prostitution occurs at a handful of locations in Henrico County, the data analysis showed.
Ten addresses accounted for prostitution cases β more than half of the incidents. All the addresses are hotels:. One fifth of the reported incidents β a total of 40 cases β occurred on West Broad Street. Authorities say there is a link between prostitution and human trafficking.
So the Henrico County Police Department has created a six-member task force to combat the two problems. In society, there are two versions of human trafficking, she said. The first version is what you might see on television: children kidnapped and forced into shipping containers, or a huddled mass of immigrant workers crammed into a beat-up van.
