Why I Became A Sex Worker: People Share Their Stories

Sex work is becoming more and more acceptable in society based on the feminist view that women are in charge of their own bodies. Sex work in a good situation can have great pay and many women turn to it to supplement their incomes. You may know a sex worker and not even know it. Though some women choose to do sex work, others do not. There are varying ways that women have gotten into the sex work industry. These are accounts of individuals on why they became a sex worker: people share their stories.

Young and desperate. Sometimes sex work comes from desperation. Some sex workers are young and have nothing left to give. Skylar, a young sex worker told New York Mag, “I was about 15. My foster mother was giving me $5 a day, just enough to get to and from school, not to get lunch.”

Make some cash doing what they like. Diana Hemingway told the Daily Dot, “I started out as a transsexual dominatrix thinking I would not even offer a “sexual” experience. I was just going to make a little extra money from activities I’d already enjoyed as a member of the kink community.”

To support them in school. “I was in my early 20s, teaching undergrads in the morning, taking graduate classes in the afternoon, and selling nighttime webcam sex shows on a site that regularly featured professional porn stars like Jenna Jameson,” Charlotte Shane told Alternet.

Addiction. An anonymous woman tells The Guardian, “In the beginning of my crack addiction I always swore to myself and to anyone who brought up the subject that I would never sell sex for money. Unfortunately, I was very naive and uninformed about the progression of addiction and I did not yet know what desperation felt like.”

Good outweighs the bad. Valentine, a writer on XOjane writes, “The economic reality is that sex work is the best (and sometimes only) option for me. It’s certainly not always the best choice for my mental health, but neither is poverty.”

Career progression. One sex worker told The Guardian that it started as something else: “I had been a dancer for three years, but had started to hate going to the clubs. I enjoyed the sensuality and intimacy of the job, but hated the crowds, noise and cigarette smoke. The ad stressed that the sessions would be dancing only.”

Practical reasons. MissCashFirst, a reddit user shares, “Had an appointment today where my client asked me ‘Be honest, did you get into this job because you love connecting with people? or because your a nympho?’ And this guy was genuinely surprised when i told him my only motivations were money and a flexible schedule.”

It’s comfortable money for a student. LamiaK, a reddit user says, “I’m a student in my final year right now so don’t really have the time to do another job on top of it. I just try to be careful with my money, I have savings to fall back on too.”

Limited options. Celine Bisette told XOjane, “I started working as an escort when I was 19. I was in my second year of college and struggling to make ends meet. I knew I didn’t want to take out student loans, but I didn’t really know what else to do.”

Forced. Jillian Mourning, a sex worker advocate explained to XOjane, “My manager and two other men entered my hotel room in the middle of the night. I had no clue what time it was, but often in modeling you get up at the crack of dawn (or before) for hair and makeup. I trusted this man so much I never dreamed what was in my immediate future.” She was set up in a scam by being told that she was getting a modeling contract, and her manager forced her into sex work using blackmail and rape.

Manipulated into trafficking. “When I ran away, I was a walking target for traffickers and predators who look for damaged children: I had been abused, I was depressed and was in desperate need of help. It didn’t take long for traffickers to find me,” Barbara Amaya told the Richmond Justice Initiative, a non-profit for sex workers. Human traffickers target runaways that might be vulnerable.

Confidence booster. Chelsea Lane, a fake name, told New York Mag, “The first several months of me escorting was like, ‘I relish their worshipping my body.’ It’s amazing.” She says that she had never previously felt like a sexually appealing person until she started sex work.

Doubling a normal salary. Reagan, another sex worker who spoke with New York Mag explained, “I do this part time, and I double my salary as a paralegal.” For many, the money is fast and easy and can significantly add to their income.

Influenced by the media. Anna, a 22-year-old New Yorker, told New York mag, “I listened to Dan Savage’s podcast in high school, and I remember him talking about sex work and sugar babies. So that’s how I got the idea. If I hadn’t been listening to those podcasts, I wouldn’t have started. They exposed me to a lot of stuff and kind of made me more comfortable with sex in general.” The normalization of sex work in the media gives some people the idea.

Interest in sexuality. “Kitty” an anonymous sex worker told Yesandyes.org, “Personally I saw sex work as an opportunity to be a hands on sex therapist, actively working with people to explore their bodies. I tend to work with people who have disabilities or trauma histories, but I also get couples who are curious about threesomes, women curious about same-sex desire, and people who want to explore a fetish or a fantasy but unsure how to go about it.”

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