Revealing victimization and sexual exploitation through content analysis of online sexual service ads in Spain: a mixed-methods study

Victimization in the context of paid sexual services encompasses forced prostitution, exploitation of minors, and individuals with neurodiversity, often tied to human trafficking or other illicit practices. This association notwithstanding, evidence suggests a significant risk of victimization for providers of paid sexual services even in non-exploitative scenarios. Online advertisements provide a plethora of unstructured data on this phenomenon, commonly used by law enforcement for intelligence. Yet, empirical evidence on the association of ad content with victimization risk factors is still scarce. This paper aims to analyse the content of pair sexual contact ads on various internet platforms in Spain to understand supply characteristics and detect risks. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, the study examines ad content for indicators of sexual exploitation and victimization risk. These data are triangulated with data from two focus groups comprising both providers of paid sexual services and relevant professionals. The findings confirm some convergence of victimization and sexual exploitation risk factors in online paid sex ads and underscore the practical implications for law enforcement and prevention and care professionals to prevent victimization. • Online ads offer insights into risks for individuals in paid sexual services. • This study identifies linguistic and content-based indicators of victimization. • Findings support improved detection of sexual exploitation in online spaces. • The research aids law enforcement in identifying exploitation risk factors.