Prostitutes wait for clients in the Merced neighborhood in Mexico City. The pimps of the town of Tenancingo have sent hundreds of unsuspecting Mexican women into virtual bondage to work as prostitutes in the allies near Mexico City's La Merced marketplace or as far as Queens, NY.
Tenancingo, Mexico, widely considered the sex trafficking capital of the world, is the single largest source of sex slaves sent to the US, according to the US State Department. Before they are trafficked to the US, women and girls as young as 14 are routinely kidnapped from villages surrounding Tenancingo by men who trick, threaten, and even seduce them into working for the illicit sex trade.
The phenomenon likely started when agricultural work became scarce, forcing men to find other ways to make money. A street in Tenancingo, Mexico leads up to the town's main attraction — the church. These grand homes actually aid pimps in recruiting prostitutes, who are usually from rural villages where such grandeur does not exist, according to the BBC. What many of the town's residents fail to realize, however, is that the prostitutes are not willing participants.
Tenancingo pimps are masters of manipulation — trafficking clans which are really just informal organizations led by families send their most handsome men, often called "romeos," to pick up young women at bus stops or in parks. They pretend to be wealthy salesmen and seduce the women into following them. One woman told the NY Daily News that she was held captive for two months by her "boyfriend" in Tenancingo after going there to "meet his family.
A view of Tenancingo from the cathedral in the city's center. While some women are coerced, others are kidnapped and have no choice at all. One Mexican woman, Miranda, tells Fusion that she was forced into prostitution at 14 after accepting a ride home from a "friendly" man named "Rudolfo" who she met in the park. He took her to his home in Tenancingo where he beat and raped her. A feeling of helplessness is instilled in victims to prevent them from trying to escape.
