The Honest Courtesan

One of the most fascinating aspects of “sex trafficking” hysteria is the bizarre competition I’ve dubbed “King of the Hill” after the boys’ game; each city and state boasts that it is one of the “top” or “leading” or “major” destinations, sources or “hubs” of sex trafficking in the United States.  Since there is absolutely no basis for any interstate comparison, such claims are totally bogus and intercity comparisons belong strictly to the realm of fantasy.  But virtually every “trafficking” fanatic speaking to every reporter, class or ladies’ club meeting will insist that whatever place he’s speaking in is “a major hotspot”, citing whatever authority sounds good (the FBI, DoJ and Homeland Security are favorites) and “explaining” that the high level of activity is due to the presence of interstate highways, proximity to some “sinful” place like New York or Atlanta, remoteness from other places (yes, really), or even (in a bizarrely 19^th-century touch) the presence of navigable waterways, presumably for the slave-ships to sail in upon.  Since many of the claims are (unsurprisingly) very vague, all words like “major” or “near the top” are counted as being claims for the top ten in states (first table), top twenty in cities (second table).  Don’t try to compare rankings of cities with that of the states in which they lie; you’ll hurt your brain.

States

Cities