Reality Check: Inside the Sex Trade

[General Gonad]

Unwitting sex workers were sent by their agencies to men known for abuse for extra cash. Sometimes prostitutes were used simply to deliver cocaine or other drugs to people. Sex workers never received screenings for AIDS or sexually transmitted diseases and, on the contrary, were often pressured by both their agencies and clients to engage in risky sexual behaviors—again for more money. Prostitution ring leaders almost always "tried" a woman personally first before hiring her out for sex with others.

For several years, "Jennifer" worked for various so-called escort services in Northwest Florida. Now, she's one of the key witnesses in a major State Attorney-led investigation to put about 10 agencies in the region out of business and about 30 owners and operators behind bars.

Jennifer, who's real name has been changed for this story for her safety, recently came forward to the Independent News to discuss Northwest Florida's sex industry. It includes one mother-daughter operation, called Hidden Desires, that used a tool shed in their front yard on Palafox Street. It contained little more than a bed, TV and sex toys, to ply their trade.

During an hour-long conversation, Jennifer makes it clear that this is no Hollywood fairy tale, like "Pretty Woman."

"It's chaos. It's constant chaos," she says. "If you're not doing drugs, you're around people who are. People think you're living a glamorous life. There is no part about it that can possibly be seen as glamorous. It's sex with strangers. It's 24/7. It's dangerous. You can't maintain a regular, normal life."

....This really blew me away:

Health Risks

Jennifer, who admits having a sexually transmitted disease, also says sex workers' health is never a concern by the agencies or clients, who both pressure women not to use condoms and engage in risky sex acts.

"There's never any screening," she says. "It's hard for me not to laugh at that question about healthcare. Some girls never used any protection. You had to provide (healthcare) yourself."

Historically, sex workers have been blamed for transmitting AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. But it's difficult to determine precisely the incidence of AIDS infection among sex workers, or the prevalence of safer sex practices during sex transactions because they receive scant attention from both public health officials and researchers. Plus, the stigma and criminal actions attached to prostitution make reliable data hard to come by.

However, because a prostitute can typically have sex with 200 to 300 people a year and often engage in risky behavior, including drug use, they're thought to pose more of a health risk for AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

Some studies put AIDS among sex workers at the same national infection rate of other women—22 percent—with syphilis and hepatitis estimated at 25 to 50 percent and STDs, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and herpes as high as 95 percent.

Sex with a prostitute is the third most common way for American men to contract the AIDS virus, some research reports. However, recent studies suggest the risk of contracting AIDS from a sex worker is probably no greater than the risk from a girlfriend.

Click here for full article, which is a must read:

http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=2684


...it's tough to read but this is the reality that Stripper Lover was talking to me about.

GG

 

[Robert 21]

For several years, "Jennifer" worked for various so-called escort services in Northwest Florida. Now, she's one of the key witnesses in a major State Attorney-led investigation to put about 10 agencies in the region out of business and about 30 owners and operators behind bars.

Health Risks
Jennifer, who admits having a sexually transmitted disease, also says sex workers' health is never a concern by the agencies or clients, who both pressure women not to use condoms and engage in risky sex acts.

Click here for full article, which is a must read:

http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=2684


...it's tough to read but this is the reality that Stripper Lover was talking to me about.

GG

Hello General.......

The Article was a very good Read ......

I'm wondering How Jennifer became a "key witnesses" ?


Health Risks
"If ya gonna make Love.....Always wear a Glove"
"If you're with Another Lover....Always wear a Cover"
"If you're gonna Shag....Always wear a Bag"......

I found these @ the Bottom of the Article:

ESCORT SERVICE GLOSSARY

Bag — Condom.
Blue Steel — Viagra.
Cash and Dash — A rip-off. She shows up, takes your money, doesn't provide or might offer to "dance," and leaves.
CC — Roman numeral used for $200 fee.
Ellie — Law enforcement.
Get Comfortable — Get naked. For security reasons, a provider may ask a client to "get comfortable" or "make yourself comfortable" before a session, this means to get fully undressed.
Lot Lizard — A prostitute that works primarily in truck stop parking lots.
Spinner — A very petite provider.
White Knight — A poster who defends or "comes to the rescue" of a provider who has been reviewed poorly, regardless of whether the review is accurate.

 

[naughtylady]

It never ceases to amaze me that it is always the sex worker who is to blame for the spread of STIs and never the clients. Just who is infecting the SP? Just who is insisting on BB sexual practices? And who makes the laws that make the SPs ignorant and afraid to go for medical help? In a situation like this blaming the prostitute for the spread of disease is victim blaming IMHO.

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[CryWolf]

It never ceases to amaze me that it is always the sex worker who is to blame for the spread of STIs and never the clients. Just who is infecting the SP? Just who is insisting on BB sexual practices? And who makes the laws that make the SPs ignorant and afraid to go for medical help? In a situation like this blaming the prostitute for the spread of disease is victim blaming IMHO.

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

Good point NL. I know you are someone who is honest and speaks her mind. How do you cope with the fact that you can catch a disease from a client?

Feel free to take a pass on that question, if you don't feel comfortable answering it publicly.

Thanks.

 

[General Gonad]

Read the whole article from the link above...

This article exposes the ugly truths of the biz. The two other key sections are posted below:

SEX BUSINESS

Business records taken from one agency show it made between $20,000 and $29,000 in one month, claiming one-third of the earnings from its prostitutes, who typically charge anywhere from $150 to $600 an hour, authorities allege.

Some escort services developed sophisticated ways to collect the money. One required its prostitutes to make deposits into a bank account with the amount of cents deposited identifying the sex worker, so the agency could keep track, investigators found.

Pressure always existed to meet more clients, says Jennifer. The agencies strictly enforced one-hour time limits, calling on the 30- or 50-minute mark, to see if they were done and could meet another client for sex. During the lunchtime rush, some expected their prostitutes to have sex with at least five men in an hour, she says. Once scheduled, sex workers were given a time limit to meet with a john.

"You're always on days or nights," she says. "If you didn't take a call in five or 10 minutes, they'd say 'You're gone. You won't ever work again.'"

Jennifer says a prostitute could earn as much as $1,000 to $3,000 on a good day and between $7,000 and $10,000 in their busiest weeks during spring break, the summer tourist season and Christmastime.

"You're spending a lot of money and making a lot of money," she says. "You get addicted, like men get addicted to power. You have to make it, while you're younger."

Still, she says few seemed to spend the money wisely, including her.

"Where was the money going?" Jennifer says. "Some lived in modest homes but had all the electronics inside. You eat out a lot and have drug habits. If there was no drug habit and they lived modestly, I don't know where the money went."

ESCORTS' BENEFITS?

The prostitutes worked under constant threats and pressure and drugs were prevalent, Jennifer says.

"They pressure you to do illegal actions, things against your own beliefs," she says. "There was violence. There was drugs. People would call just for drugs. They'd say, 'Are you a party girl?' and pay the escort fee, just to get drugs.

"Some women who don't do drugs do this. That's bizarre to me. How do you do it without taking drugs?"

Still, she says she and other women preferred agencies to being independent because the escort service would do the advertising in the newspapers, phone books and Internet, set up appointments, so they wouldn't have to develop an emotional tie or repertoire with the men, handle the business side and provide a lot more "volume" or clients.

Despite those "advantages," Jennifer says the agencies failed to protect sex workers' safety or health.

She says some agencies did set up code words, so women could warn if they were in danger, like "Everything's great."

She says some of the local agencies at one time wanted to collaborate on known abusive clients, sharing their do not serve, or DNS, lists. But some owners refused and no action was taken.

"The agencies knew if someone was abusive and they wouldn't even warn girls," Jennifer says. "The business owners had a total lack of concern for your personal safety. They could have collaborated on this. But one owner did not want to do it. He said he was not concerned about safety. If someone was abusive, they could hold out for more money."

 

[naughtylady]

>>Ronnie, dumb and dangerous clients like swampshit are insisting on bareback sex. But the ladies should know better than engaging in bareback sex. No matter what the pressures, it isn`t worth your health.

If a client is stupid enough to insist on BB, often he is idiot enough to threaten physical harm or even slap or punch to get what he wants. For many, this is reason enough to give in; definate injury versus risk of infection.

Women working for agencies like the one described here don`t stay because they like the conditions! Drugs often are the only way to make their situation bearable.

Crywolf>>> I have had my hepatitus A and B vaccines (as all of you should have also). So far I have never had any STI. Probably because of my initial inspection before performing (I have been known to refuse and I already know that HIV is not transfered this way, just about anything else is treat/manageable) and my straight out refusal to offer BBsex. That coupled with a good dose of luck, since the occasional broken safe is a reality that we all have to live with. If I did catch something, I would have to stop working until I was cured.

Wouldn`t it be nice if there was some sort of reserve or insurance plan for working girls for whom sex work is their sole source of income, who get ill (wether STI or some other illness that keeps them from working for extended periods of time)? Anbody know how to organise something like this? I know I can buy insurance like this privately but the costs are very high. Some sort of group plan would be more affordable.... I am probably just dreaming...

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[CryWolf]

Probably because of my initial inspection before performing (I have been known to refuse and I already know that HIV is not transfered this way,

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

You are a source of information for us all. Please explain your ``initial inspection before ``, besides the bad smell from down there.

What other signs are you looking for?

 

[General Gonad]

If a client is stupid enough to insist on BB, often he is idiot enough to threaten physical harm or even slap or punch to get what he wants. For many, this is reason enough to give in; definate injury versus risk of infection.

Women working for agencies like the one described here don't stay because they like the conditions! Drugs often are the only way to make their situation bearable.

Ronnie,

Dumb and dangerous clients like swampshit should be taken care of the old fashion way. As far as drugs as a form of escapism, I do not doubt they're prevalent among ladies working in high volume agencies with unbearable conditions. It's too bad because drugs only exacerbate their problems.

GG

 

[General Gonad]

Some critical comments from Perb

I posted the article on Terb and Perb. On Perb, Hollybaby had this comment:

"Good grief. If she worked for a bad agency, it's her own fault, she should have quit. No one has to do drugs or work 24/7 and fuck whoever they get told to fuck.

If you're an indy you have the freedom to decide when to work, how much to charge, who to see, and where your money goes.

Sounds like a big sob story intended to push conservative morality on the public. I don't buy it."

Also on Perb, Avery wrote the following:

"The stats quoted in that article are ludicrous, and that calls everything else into question.

22 per cent HIV infection rate among women in the general population? Someone must have left out a decimal point. It might be 0.22 per cent in the USA. If you check out the Canadian HIV statistics, the total number of women diagnosed with HIV in the 20 year period from 1985 through 2004 is less than 9,000. If you do the math, and assume that those numbers apply to ages 15 to 60, that still works out to less than 1 per 1,000 in that age group, or 0.1 per cent.

If 22 per cent of the US population was HIV positive, the country would have gone bankrupt from the health care costs and would have an enormous labour shortage.

The article smacks of fear mongering and the promotion of some kind of repressive, religious based political agenda."

 

[naughtylady]

You are a source of information for us all. Please explain your ``initial inspection before ``, besides the bad smell from down there.

Milking to check for discharge:
gonorrhea: yellow-white discharge
chlamydia: watery white drip

warts: small painlkess bumps or hard round circle(s)
herpes: blisters
crabs/pubic lice: size of a pin head, check for signs of itching and scratching
scabies: reddish lines, sores, welts or blisters

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[General Gonad]

Are independents more prone to developing emotional ties?

The article above argues in favor of becoming an independent. But the SP also states the following:

"Still, she says she and other women preferred agencies to being independent because the escort service would do the advertising in the newspapers, phone books and Internet, set up appointments, so they wouldn't have to develop an emotional tie or repertoire with the men, handle the business side and provide a lot more "volume" or clients."

This would imply that you make more money working at a "high volume" agency and that you do not run the risk of developing emotional ties with your clients. It also explains why independents are more expensive than agency ladies since they pay advertising out of their own pockets and manage their appointments. Obviously, being an independent is a lot easier when you're doing this part time and not relying on it as your sole source of income.

GG

 

[General Gonad]

A 1997 interview with a Vancouver SP

This was done back in 1997 but the message is still relevant today.


Pleasure and Pain: Inside the Sex Trade

It's an up-and-down life for the city's sex-trade workers, four of whom talk about doing it for fun and money.

He's worked on oil rigs. fought forest fires, delivered pizzas and cooked meals for railway workers. But no job has been quite as much fun or challenging for Chase as his current one.

These days he's jumping out of cakes as birthday presents, and growling at people on popular North Shore streets while dressed in full leather.

"The client paid 300 bucks and found that absolutely titillating," says Chase.

It's all in a day's work for a West End-based male escort. "I've made a lot of people happy doing this," he says.

"I like what I do and I enjoy sex, so where's the problem?"

And it's not all about sex, either.

Chase is one of hundreds of people who work in Vancouver's sex trade industry, which in recent years is said to have crept indoors slightly, off the streets.

In interviews with four "rentables" -- two men, two women -- the West Ender has learned the pleasure, pain and business demands of this part of the city's sex trade industry.

Some do it for entertainment, most others for the money and for "a way out."

Others are in it for the pain (of others like Lady Cynthia, whose suite In a Vancouver apartment building is neighbored by another with a room redesigned as a dungeon -- all the leather, whips and chains of a heavy metal band's reunion tour.

"It's fantasy stuff, because the concept of what I do is that a mistress is unattainable," says Cynthia. "There's no sexual contact here."

Her barked orders, flowing blonde hair and ample cleavage tucked into a leather bustier is enough for clients to shell out $250 to $350 an hour, depending on the amount and type of degradation. Most others in the business make much less for their services.

But after less than two years in the domination business, Lady Cynthia says it's time to move on to another job, as outreach worker to get prostitutes off the streets of Vancouver. "I'd like to just have my little room where it's just for my enjoyment, and take the business out of it," she says. "Being in total control is attractive, not having to be somebody's toy and kiss someone's ass to make a couple hundred bucks. The shoe's on the other foot. It's worked out well for me, I'm just bored with it now."

The trade isn't just about fun, fantasy and taking money from sex crazed clients, though.

A high priced male escort, Rob wants to make his job "I like the term whore, or sex-care worker" less of a priority in his life. "If the phone rings now, I'll answer it if I can," he says over coffee at a Davie Street eatery.

For almost three years Rob has advertised for men, women and couples looking for a good time. The majority are married men looking for some sort of release, both emotional and physical.

Once, he had to hide on a balcony, clothes half on, when a client's wife came home early from shopping.

He doesn't like to be known as a hustler.

"I think these people get value for their money, so that's not hustling. On a typical date, I'll listen to someone but if he wants to go out for dinner and a movie, it's much tougher work. I have to charge more for that."

It's a good day at "the office" for Rob when he gets his job over with early in the morning, allowing him to have the rest of the day to himself. At most, he'll take two clients a day but usually stops at one.

"I just don't get too greedy about it, because you can get burned out."

If someone asks, Rob will tell what he does for a living, though photography is his "real" business. He's also been in a dozen high grade porno flicks filmed in Los Angeles.

"I honestly see this as a real job," says Rob. "I have no moral dilemmas with it. I'm selling time -- it's like selling tupperware. Sometimes you go into work, you don't get along with your boss, sometimes you call in sick. I never depend on this to pay the rent, If I stopped, I could live a similar lifestyle close, but not quite."

The phone is the most important tool in Michelle's business as a licensed social escort. A lot of people think the escort lines are a free phonesex service, she says. "I have to be tough in this position, and I don't take a lot of crap," she says. "It's really not enough to be beautiful doing this. Most of the business is done over the phone. You're selling something you believe in -- yourself."

Off and on for 10 years, Michelle has been an escort who sees three clients a day -- 9 a.m to 5 p.m. days, five days a week -- in a West End suite away from home, where her two children have no knowledge of the way she makes a living.

She's eager to get across the message that her line of work shouldn't be looked down upon the way it is by society.

"It's not as if we have no morals," says Michelle, a working name. "I don't even offer what most people think we offer. I can't speak for everyone (in the business), but that's the way I operate. A lot of the men I see are seeking companionship -- it's a massage, someone to talk to, something they can't tell their friends or even wives or girlfriends. It's not for me to judge people, which is why I find it unfortunate that we get judged so terribly. I don't drink or do drugs, I lead a normal life... I go to work during the day just like anybody else."

"I have to be tough in this position, and I don't take a lot of crap," says Michelle, her working name. "It's really not enough to be beautiful doing this. Most of the business is done over the phone. You're selling something you believe in -- yourself."


Michelle has a "five-year plan" -- enough time to look for another line of work.

"there's always things I'm doing other than this, in an attempt to get out of it," she says. "we're regular people, educated in some cases. I have children to support. To get a job in this city that's actually going to pay enough, it'd be ridiculous to find, and I've looked. I'm looking for subsidized daycare, too, and there's not a lot of that here. I'd probably have more of a chance to do something other than this if more (companies) offered it."

Back at the dungeon, Lady Cynthia has a young guy for a slave who takes care of the whips and chains and cleans her suite. It's a good life, she says, but she's bored and that's why she's hoping to get a job as outreach worker with Vancouver-based PACE, Prostitution Alternatives, Counselling and Education.

She's repulsed by her earlier life as a prostitute and agency escort. Prostitution takes a piece of your soul, says Cynthia.

"It took years of counselling to get through the demons that come with it. You lose all your self-esteem, feel that you don't fit in anywhere, and you wind up getting in too much drugs and alcohol. I got all the way up into it, and turned myself around. I wound up living in Kelowna, *this* close to marrying a multi-millionaire who I couldn't stand. He lived here (in Vancouver) and I lived in this great big mansion with two dogs, boat dock and tennis courts. I got really into coke because I was so unhappy, and thought about driving into oncoming traffic. I ended up just walking away from it all, including the $5,000 a month allowance. I walked into a recovery house, spent two years there and ended up getting into nursing."

When she had to care for her dying mother, Cynthia set up the dungeon to make extra money.

"the phone rang off the hook," she says. It still amazes me today, the people who want to serve you, the mistress. It's amazing how many people are into the scene. I just need some brain food now. It's been great to lie around and have slaves do everything, but it's boring now. I need to get on with life, keep going. My bills are paid."

Full link to the rest of the article:

http://www.walnet.org/csis/news/vancouver_97/westend-970731.html

 

[thevisitor]

one of the things that most people forget about the sex trade in the us is that all parts are illegal. they are a desperate under the radar class of people often in serious trouble. in many states what we would consider a drug riddled streetwalker on her last lap around the bowl is their escort or whatever. canada is a fairly safe place to be an escort outcall girl and the quality of people doing the job is much higher and with much less economic stress. most agencies wont hire or work with the <<sorry to say this>> crack ho type that is often seen in the us. the only part of the us with decent looking girls to work is in nevada where it is legal and regulated. much of canadas sex trade is done in a semilegal fashion by escorts fs strip clubs and fs massage places all with girls that mostly are aware of their situation careful with their actions and mostly clean. you dont see many people post her get sick from action because most girls here clean and careful.


sex trade dangerous business when pushed underground and the girls made to suffer under nasty pimps poor economic conditions and drug addiction. montreal has those girls see streetwalker section but most of us never deal with them never worry like that. in us everything illegal everyone hiding too much of business is girls already sick trying to make enough money for another rock not good for anyone.

 

[southoftheborder]

healthcare for escorts

Let me start by saying I am from the US and am also not much of a hobbyist. I was reading the posts abut lack of healthcare and while I understand that in the US where it is illegal this is a serious issue. However, in Canada, where I understand it to be legal (for outcall), and is thus regulated...don't the SP's have access to healthcare?

Am I totally nieve here? I love Canada with its relaxed attitude towards the "scene", is it also true towards providing important healthcare benefits?


Southoftheborder

 

[tonsecret]

Milking to check for discharge:
gonorrhea: yellow-white discharge
chlamydia: watery white drip

warts: small painlkess bumps or hard round circle(s)
herpes: blisters
crabs/pubic lice: size of a pin head, check for signs of itching and scratching
scabies: reddish lines, sores, welts or blisters

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

Yes, this is IF the guy has symptoms, which is the minority.

 

[naughtylady]

Am I totally nieve here? I love Canada with its relaxed attitude towards the "scene", is it also true towards providing important healthcare benefits?

Being a sex worker is so stigmatised that most will not admit it to their doctor which often means that it is not being considered when getting check ups.

Another problem is best illustrated with the following true story.

An SP I know went to the clinic at a hospital because of pain in her "women's parts". She had been to this hospital previously and was honest with them about her profession; thus it was in her file that she was a prostitute. When she told the doctor that the reason for this visit was that she was feeling pain he answered: "You don't feel pain, you don't feel anything down there, you are just a prostitute!" She felt shamed and humiliated. She was too shocked to react with anger right away. It took a lot of time(years) before she went to another doctor at another hospital to get her problem treated.

Yes all Canadians have access to free (OK we all pay for it with our income tax) health care. However, sex workers are so marginalised that some professionals do not treat them as human. After being insulted this way, few will stand up for their right to be treated with respect and dignity.

Also, many SW not have their health card and thus cannot get medical treatment.

Stella recently started offering an anonymous medical clinic where SPs can get heath care, STI testing, etc without a medicare card.

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[B1G]

Another problem is best illustrated with the following true story.
An SP I know went to the clinic at a hospital because of pain in her "women's parts". She had been to this hospital previously and was honest with them about her profession; thus it was in her file that she was a prostitute. When she told the doctor that the reason for this visit was that she was feeling pain he answered: "You don't feel pain, you don't feel anything down there, you are just a prostitute!" She felt shamed and humiliated. She was too shocked to react with anger right away. It took a lot of time(years) before she went to another doctor at another hospital to get her problem treated....

Disrespectful doctors and nurses should be unacceptable ! Unfortunatly it is reality for everyone. Even non-SP patients can be humiliated by some of them. I guess you have to 'roll up your sleeves' and find another doctor when this happens

 

[naughtylady]

Actually I have many doctors for clients.

This happened at a Catholic Hospital, while this should be no excuse...

Sadly, prostitutes (and overweight people) are two groups where prejudicial behaviour is still accepted.

I agree he should be brought up on charges of misconduct but do you blame her for not wanting to "come out" again?

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[B1G]

Actually I have many doctors for clients.

This happened at a Catholic Hospital, while this should be no excuse...

Sadly, prostitutes (and overweight people) are two groups where prejudicial behaviour is still accepted.

I agree he should be brought up on charges of misconduct but do you blame her for not wanting to "come out" again?

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

I can imagine it must be quite a ordeal... It takes all of my courage to ask my doctor to be tested for hiv, and I can always make something up when he asks why I think I my be at risk. For an SP to admit to her profession must not be easy. Yet I can understand why it's important for her to tell him.

 

[Kepler]

Complain!

When she told the doctor that the reason for this visit was that she was feeling pain he answered: "You don't feel pain, you don't feel anything down there, you are just a prostitute!" She felt shamed and humiliated.

For any SP reading this, I think that you should (after finding a new doctor), immediately write to these people to launch the complaint process:
Collège des médecins du Québec (Sorry, seems to be in French only as of now)

You probably can't sue for damages on such comments alone, but you can definitely get a reprimand put in the doctors' file.

Do this for yourself, and do it for the next woman whose life you may save (any doctor which ignores pain without proper follow-up is a danger to patients)