New Study Shows Trends of Sex Buyers: White Married Men Fit Demo

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nearly 380,000 men in the state have bought sex in the past year, that's according to a new report released by the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach Engagement Center.

The study, Mapping the Demand: Sex Buyers in Minnesota, was released earlier this week. It gives an in-depth look into who is buying sex in Minnesota, where are they buying it, how are they buying it and what sexual acts buyers are looking to get.

Lauren Martin is the Director of Research at the UROC as well as the lead author on the report. She says her team interviewed over 150 experts for the study.

"About half of those stakeholders were criminal justice professionals and then about half were social service providers. And these are people that have first hand knowledge about people who purchase sex or people who work directly with victims of sex trafficking."

Along with interviewing professionals the team also researched print media coverage from 1995-2014.

Through researching, the team discovered that 30-50 year-old, white, married, middle-upper class men are buying sex the most in Minnesota. And their careers range from businessmen, doctors, lawyers, judges, police officers, pastors and several other occupations.

Martin says who is buying sex wasn't really the most interesting find but rather where men are buying sex.

"Really purchasing sex for the most of the people we heard about is anchored around the work day, that to and from work and over the lunch hour."

She also says sex buyers typically go out of their way to buy sex, usually 30-60 miles from their hometown.

"That tells us a lot about what's going on in the marketplace, because that travel is really about protecting anonymity. It's showing that sex buyers are going out of their way to not be discovered."

Christina Melander is a Research Fellow who worked on Martin's team. She says as the research was being conducted she didn't expect age to play such a critical role.

"We found that most sex buyers were looking for a young adult woman, between the ages of 18 and 21. But of this primary marketplace there's a lot of sex buyers willing to have sex with a minor. On the side from that, there is a sub-section of sex buyers who do look for juveniles but that's really different from this larger pool of sex buyers."

The report also found the type of sex act a buyer wants such as sex without a condom or being able to be violent during sex, can cost more money.

With the release of the study, Martin says she hopes it will help professionals and the community have a better understanding of those who are victims of sex trafficking.

"Understanding what people are looking for in the marketplace and who is in the marketplace, helps us visualize and have a better understanding of the overall marketplace, so we can better serve victims of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation."

If you want to read the full report click the link below.