Journal on Policy and Complex Systems
observation : a line plot with the number of prostituted children over time and a line plot that shows the number of purchases in each time step .
Details
Initialization . To manage computational load during the simulation , we created a 1:10 scale representation of the population .
Children . Approximately 300-500 children are commercially sexually exploited each year in King County ( Briner , 2016 ). Assuming 380 sexually exploited children , the simulation is initialized with 38 children , with the variable act ( the number of commercial sex transactions ) set to 0 . Each child has an initial desired sale of 1456 , which is based on the daily sale quota set by the pimp in Seattle . The cost of online sex purchase is $ 125- $ 150 / 30 minutes and $ 175- $ 200 / hour and pimps set quota ranges $ 500- $ 800 for each girl on a daily basis in Seattle ( Dank et al ., 2014 ). Based on the quota set by the pimps in Seattle , the commercial sex transaction is assumed to be four per day , with a price of $ 200 per customer .
Buyers . There are 20,000-27,000 sex buyers in King County ( Satterberg , 2014 ; Underwood , 2016 ). According to another study , 47 % of buyers proceeded with their sex purchase even when they were given cues that the prostituted person was underage ( The Schapiro Group , 2010 ). We assume that 47 % ( 12,690 individuals ) of ( 27,000 ) buyers in King County proceed with their purchase of sex even when they are given cues that the seller is underage . Thus , each CSEC run is initialized with 1,269 buyers randomly located on the grid . Each buyer ’ s purchase variable is initialized at zero and increments each time the buyer makes a purchase . Purchase thresholds for buyers are based on Monto and Milrod ’ s ( 2013 , p . 802 ) survey data of buyers . This data presents the number of times that buyers purchased sex with a prostitute during the previous year . Buyers marked yellow have a purchase threshold of 0 . Buyers marked brown have a purchase threshold of 1 . Buyers marked blue have a purchase threshold of 10 . Buyers marked grey have a purchase threshold of 104 ( twice per week ). Buyers marked white have a purchase threshold of 156 ( three times per week ).
Police . One police department is located on the grid . In reality , there are many police departments , sometimes with different policies and sting arrangements . However , the number of police departments plays no role in model dynamics , so there is no need for more than one .
Traffickers . One trafficker is located randomly on the grid . In reality , there are typically many traffickers controlling a small number of children each . However , the number of traffickers plays no role in model dynamics , so there is no need for more than one .
Input Data . The model execution allows for simulations with two intervention options : a ) targeting demand ( arresting and prosecuting buyers ) and b ) targeting supply ( arresting and prosecuting prostituted persons , including children ). CSEC can be run for a year in which King County law enforcement targeted supply ( 2009 ) and a year in
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