The impact of the recession on women in the sex trade.
When hit with tough times, women in the sex trade struggle with social stigmas associated with their industry as they attempt to redefine how they do business.
Lady Alexis*, 59, has a pristine condo in Scarborough, a home she has been able to afford with her current job as an escort.
Alexis started working fulltime as an escort four years ago because as a maid, she did not make enough to fund her child’s university education. Recently, women in the sex trade have been having financial difficulties related to the recession; this has led some women to change how they do business.
"With the economic climate the way it is, things have slowed down. It’s gotten to the point where I feel like I have to work seven days a week to be able to make what I used to make in five,” says Alexis.
Although Alexis has seen a decrease in business, in the past few months, she has managed to stay afloat because of her repeat clientele. “They’re my bread and butter,” she says. “You don’t know what a day is going to be like. So when you build up a reputation, that’s what makes a huge difference,” she says.
Alexis believes she secures her repeat customers by offering specialty services and by treating her clients with respect. “That’s the reason why I don’t think I’ve been hurt as much as I would think as someone whose objective is to get the guy in and out as quick as they can,” says Alexis, “everybody needs tender love and care.”
With the importance of repeat clients, some women in the industry have been finding ways to keep their customers happy. Enigma*, a mother of two, has been an escort for almost four years. While she feels also believes that repeat customers are important, she finds that to keep competitive she has decided to offer services that are unique to the industry such as tantric coaching. “I teach men sexual communication skills; how to communicate with women through touching,” she says.
When Enigma started as an escort, she felt she was having difficulties with increasing her customer list; a problem that has continued with the economic crisis. Recently, however, Enigma has found a surge of business, which she relates to her specialty services which help men, especially business men, find the source of their stress and reduce it through sensual massages. With the financial crisis “people get more selective,” she says, and “my massage techniques provide stress release, and this is what men are looking for.” Enigma insists clients pay the full fee, to keep clients happy, she negotiates with her time.
“I will only leave you when I feel you are fully satisfied,” says Enigma.
Lauren Summerhill*, a Toronto-based international escort has also been struggling with the recession in the United States. Summerhill travels to the U.S. around five to six days a month to meet men. Her services are limited to only an exclusive list of clientele which can afford her flights and high prices for weekend visits. “My life is invested in American men doing well,” she says.
With the current state of the economic market, Summerhill has been receiving fewer callers and has considered dropping her prices to make them more affordable but is hesitant. Since the recession started, she says, the already small pool of high-priced women escorts has shrunk, making her want to hang on. While she still has not been receiving new callers, she believes that if she continues to wait, men who are drawn to exclusive high-cost escorts will have fewer choices. Currently, Summerhill has five repeat clients, one of whom she’s known for eight years. And while she says they are not struggling for money, they also are not eager to be splurging on weekend visits. “If you like someone, and develop a sincere friendship, you find it hard to cut them when they can’t pay,” she says.
Summerhill started working as an escort at the age of 18 and has been in the business for the past eight years. Her devout Catholic family does not know how she maintains her lavish lifestyle, and due to the social stigma surrounding the sex trade coupled with its illegal nature, she prefers not to use her real name. “We’re perceived as a third class society, and we know it,” says Summerhill.
Organizations like Maggie’s, a group run by and for sex trade workers that provides assistance to sex workers in an effort to “live and work with safety and dignity,” are trying to change the stigmas by advocating to decriminalize provisions in the Criminal Code related to the sex industry. A Charter launched in March of 2007 led by Alan Young, a law professor from Osgood Hall Law School, is currently seeking the constitutional invalidation of sections in the Criminal Code related to owning, attending, or working at brothels, the solicitation of sex, and other offences related to prostitution.
“The criminal law is a barrier to sex workers' access to human, health, and labour rights, and as such we support the decriminalization of prostitution-related offenses,” says Elya Durisin, a spokeswoman fromMaggie’s, and these sections of the Criminal Code “push sex workers into seclusion and force them to work in areas that are unsafe.”
Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), a sex trade advocacy group, publishes lists of questionable and potentially dangerous clients on their website, in the hopes to increase the safety of women in the sex trade. Regardless of the outcome of the decriminalization case, which will be announced by the Ontario Supreme Court of Canada next October, appeals could potentially push a final decision for years.
“I think it’s important to change people’s perception; we’re not drug addicts,” says Summerhill. Regardless of the economic situation, Summerhill, Alexis, and Enigma will continue to weather the financial downturn for a career they enjoy and one they hope will earn its respect.
* sources wished not to be indentified, their escort names have been provided instead.
"With the economic climate the way it is, things have slowed down. It’s gotten to the point where I feel like I have to work seven days a week to be able to make what I used to make in five,” says Alexis. 