Sex Pays for School: advice for students in the sex trade Amy Chung, Excalibur (York University) TORONTO industry is often portrayed to be a lucra- (CUP)—The _ sex-trade tive-but-shady pursued by people from the “wrong side of the tracks.” However, times have changed and business, many students are turning to escort agen- cies and street prostitution as a way to finance their education. One 22-year-old computer science stu- dent turned to escorting as a way to get out of debt. “It’s not what people may think. The money is good and it’s pretty fun,’ he says. After working in retail part-time, Tommy was dissatisfied with the wages he was making and finally turned to escort- ing. “One day, I was flipping through Now Magazine (an alternative weekly paper in Toronto) and saw these self-advertise- ments and I thought, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ What I make in a day now is like one pay- cheque I earned in retail.” Valerie Scott, the co-ordinator of Sex Professionals of Canada, a_ political organization fighting for the decriminal- ization of prostitution, observes the growing trend of student sex workers over the years. “In the last few years, I have met a lot of student sex workers who escort or prostitute themselves on the street so they can pay for their education,” says Scott. However, there are other reasons why young people turn to the sex trade. “Some people go into the sex trade because they need to, want to, have to, or they’re forced to do it,’ says Dan Lavoie, an advocate for sex trade workers and edi- torial assistant at X/ra, a lesbian and gay newspaper. Lavoie began street prostitution at age 13, and says that as a result, he had to grow up fast. However, he says he made his decision partly because he needed to 16 | GHNEPPPESS \ do it, but also because of the intrigue of the underworld. “At one point, I was addicted to drugs, living on and off the streets. Since I didn’t have the option like most kids to seek funds from my parents, I turned to street prostitution,” says Lavoie. “Although I have a deep fascination with culture and subculture, I was well aware of what I was getting myself into.” However, Lavoie advises students that it is a choice and they should look at all options before getting into this business. With high tuition fees and additional debts that students accrue, part-time min- imum-wage jobs are often not good enough anymore. “Over the past few years, I have observed an increase in student sex work- from a “bad call or date.” “Sometimes, female escorts ate victim to bad calls/dates and have been assaulted by their client and the agencies will not help them because their biggest fear is being placed under investigation by police. Now, you are helpless because the agency will withhold the client contact information from you so you cannot report them,” says Scott. Scott advises sex-trade workers to go with their intuition to ward off potential bad clients. “Trust your gut feelings because that’s all you can rely on. A few agencies are good because they let you speak to the client so you can get a feel of who they are,” says Scott. Although prostitution is legal, solicit- With high tuition fees and additional debts that students accrue, part-time minimum-wage jobs are often not good enough anymore. ers because of the high tuition fees,” says Scott. “These girls can get a job as a bar- tender or a waitress, and sure, you get tips, but the hours are dramatically decreased when working in prostitution and it gives you more time to study.” If students do look into the escorting industry, Scott suggests they work inde- pendently as opposed to working for an agency because of commission cuts. “The escort agency used to receive 25 percent of the commission, but now it has increased to 65 percent and this does not include paying your driver. So, if your agreement is $200 for a date, you’re going home with $80,” says Scott. She encourages women to work inde- pendently, not only because of the drastic commission split, but also for their safety. “Women may feel that affiliating themselves with an agency would be safer because there’s a driver waiting for you, but it’s not [safer] because the driver may have to drive another girl after they drop you off.” Another important reason why escorts should be independent is to protect them ing is not. Therefore, Scott advises that people who want to be in this business must be careful about the legal issues. “Advertise in a publication, call on a landline and agree to meet your client at a hotel which he rents, because if he does- n't, then you have to cover the tab, which [can] then be considered a ‘common a bawdy house.’ If you’re caught by police, and convicted you may face two years in prison and unlimited fines.” Scott speaks of one woman who came into her office and spoke about how the police stripped her of everything she owned, “They froze her account and assets. They arrived at her apartment with a moving van and took everything, even the kitchen cabinets,” says Scott. Scott also suggests sex workers get their money up front, so everything is set- tled before anything begins. “I had a bad date where the guy just refused to pay me and I took him to small-claims court and won. Sometimes, women are not likely to report these instances because they’re afraid to be prosecuted and they’re outing themselves because the courts [are] public,” she says. “Nothing is inherently dangerous about this business. It’s the way we’re forced to work that makes it dangerous,” Scott insists. “If prostitution was decrim- inalized, like it is in Australia and South Wales, there would be fewer bad dates occurring and the escort agencies would be more likely to protect their workers.” “Compared with other jobs, sex work pays quite well for the amount of time you spend. It’s a great job for students because you work on your own schedule,” says Scott. According to Scott, most of the clients are normal people and the shady portray- al sex workers receive is mostly untrue. Lavoie agrees. “Tt’s not what the media portrays it to be. They need to stop the negative por- trayals,” says Lavoie. november = 3/2008