#11825. Why are You Here? Modeling Illicit Massage Business Location Characteristics with Machine Learning

July 2026publication date
Proposal available till 22-05-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Anthropology;
Law;
Demography;
Sociology and Political Science;
Transportation;
Places in the authors’ list:
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Abstract:
Illicit massage businesses are a venue for sex and labor trafficking. Though many of their locations are made publicly available through online advertising, little is known about why they choose to locate where they do. In this work, we use inferential modeling to better understand the spatial distribution of illicit massage businesses. Based on addresses web-scraped weekly from online advertisements over 6 months, we modeled illicit massage business prevalence at the census tract and county levels. We used publicly available data to characterize census tracts and counties, finding that the region in which they are located, distance to international airports, rent and income levels, racial composition, and religious presence all had significant relationships to illicit massage business presence. Illicit massage businesses operating with unethical labor practices and/or forced sexual services are not in line with just, peaceful, and inclusive societal goals, and the burdens of this industry disproportionately fall on women. While we emphasize that not all illicit massage businesses are settings of human trafficking, better understanding this industry is a key step toward better regulating it and protecting those harmed within it.
Keywords:
Illicit massage business; inferential modeling; spatial attributes

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