This is the traditional image of prostitution. However, with age of the internet comes an evolution of how the oldest profession in the world flies under the radar of police intervention, a profession which already faces a high degree of difficulty in effective curbing through legal means.
The guy and the girl are not going to tell you the truth, and unless you catch someone in the act, there's usually very little to go on, in which case we can't do anything. On the positive end of the spectrum, there is an increased element of safety. While, of course, a woman must physically meet with the client, there is a much smaller opportunity for police intervention and much less risk brought upon the prostitute in comparison to wandering crime-ridden streets at late hours of the night.
A parallel can be made to the online drug trafficking site "Silk Road," which has made recent news with the ongoing trial of founder Ross Ulbricht. The service represented a positive to the drug user of not having to prowl dark avenues or deal with fearsome drug dealers. The internet, in a sense, provides a level of accessibility to the user or purveyor of illegal services or substances by providing an often false sense of security and anonymity. The officer went on to explain that this traditional interpretation of prostitution, the street walker, attracts a specific type of person.
That's really the root of all of the problems when it comes to almost all crime. Drugs are a magnet for prostitutes, and vice versa. From this understanding of the traditional prostitute comes the negative end of the spectrum of internet prostitution. The most common interpretation of a pimp is the idea of a man who provides protection to prostitutes in exchange for a cut for their money. While, fundamentally, this may be a portion of the pimp's role, the truth of matter is the entirety of his role is effectively to create the prostitute as a form of his own property.
With the average age of entrance into prostitution being 12, according to the U. Department of Justice, there is a sad reality found in the world of prostitution that the prostitute is often treated like less of a human being and more akin to a commodity.
