I don’t know about the intricacies of these communities. I do know that several years ago I attended the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence annual event where professionals in the field come together to commune with and educate each other. The keynote speaker was a researcher on prostitution in a particular native American demographic. By the end of her presentation I wanted to vomit. The rates of sex trafficking, coercion and physical abuse were obscenely high, with a significant percentage of the women showing evidence that they had suffered traumatic brain injuries in the last year and that they would leave if they could but felt they were trapped. Many had been abducted right off the streets, or prostituted by their own parents. There were women who had been arrested for prostitution as young as thirteen years old. Authorities were arresting children for being raped.
It seemed to me that most of the trafficking was being done by white men trafficking native girls to white clients.
I have forgotten the details but never forgot the big picture. Still haunts me when I’m trying to sleep. I have a big old pile of fucked up things I’ve learned that come to mind at the worst possible moments, and this is on the pile. I’ve never thought about sex work the same way since.