{"id":74,"date":"2014-08-07T11:08:36","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T10:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamesnunns.bujournalism.info\/?p=74"},"modified":"2014-08-07T11:08:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-07T10:08:36","slug":"i-needed-money-so-i-became-a-prostitute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mammj2014.buprojects.uk\/JamesNunns\/i-needed-money-so-i-became-a-prostitute\/","title":{"rendered":"I needed money – so I became a prostitute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claire is reluctant to speak about her family life but mentions an abusive father and a distant mother. She had left the family home at the age of 16 and at the age of 24 decided to step into a whole new world by packing up and moving to Bournemouth.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a big step for the couple who had only been together for 8 months – her boyfriend, Jake, left her after just two weeks in England, taking all her money with him.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the two years that followed, Claire fell into a life of prostitution. This is her story.<\/em><\/p>\n

We were young and in love. We wanted to see the world together – at least that was the plan. \u00a0I was so angry when he left, I couldn’t believe that he would just leave without saying a word and leave me so stranded. He hadn’t shown any signs of being unhappy and to this day I have no idea what made him do it.<\/p>\n

I had no money but found work in a bar quite quickly\u00a0– I didn’t have time to dwell on being left. I focussed on getting by and making sure I had money to eat. I began drinking a lot and sleeping with anyone who showed the slightest interest in me, life wasn’t bad but looking back I was obviously depressed. I’ve always had a high sex drive and would go a little crazy if I didn’t have sex at least 4 times a week. Needing sex and money I decided to try and have sex for money.<\/p>\n

I had to be quiet about what I was doing, I didn’t want the people I worked with knowing – I thought I’d lose my job.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a quick move into prostitution. It took me around 3 weeks to find a man who would pay. The biggest problem was I simply didn’t know what I was doing: the kind of man to approach, how to approach them, what to charge or if I should get into their car, take them home or go to a hotel? I just assumed men would be throwing their money at me straight away, that it would be easy. I was very naive and ignorant to the realities of being a prostitute.<\/p>\n

I eventually found clients who were willing to pay – this came after lots of internet research and discovering communities of ‘Doggers’, people who like to meet others for sex in public. The first few times I had sex for money it just felt like a normal hookup – except they paid.<\/p>\n

My Charges: Handjob \u00a320. Oral with condom \u00a330. Oral without condom \u00a350. Sex with condom \u00a3100. Sex without condom \u00a3150. Anal with condom \u00a3250. Anal without condom \u00a3400.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I would work in the bar a few hours a day and then I would go looking for clients. It became a routine\u00a0and\u00a0I’d saw between 10 and 15 men a week – this was after 8 months.\u00a0and I built up some regular clients, probably 70% of the men I saw were repeat customers. I think they enjoyed the familiarity and grew more comfortable with me the more we met. I had a mix of clients: some older probably around 50. Usually they were in town for business and would show up in a suit with a briefcase – some wore wedding rings but I never talked personally with a client. It was just sex and money for me – I wasn’t dating them.<\/p>\n

I was quite happy with what I was doing. The only times I got nervous was around new customers – I wasn’t in to anything kinky so I would say no to them – some men don’t like rejection, especially from a whore. It was rare but occasionally a new client would over step the boundaries and would get aggressive. I was only hit once but it left me terrified and I stopped working for a month.<\/p>\n

After I returned to work I was more careful in choosing my new clients. I couldn’t just not have new clients I still needed them because my regulars weren’t always in town and I still needed to pay the bills.<\/p>\n

I’d take clients to where\u00a0they were staying – but more than once I would have to be snuck in to their rooms. Most hotels won’t look twice at a man bringing a woman back to his room but they soon get suspicious if you keep going to the same hotel night after night with different men.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I worked for close to\u00a0two years and stopped in 2011. The police were becoming a problem and had scared away lots of clients so it was harder to make a good living. It was easy to leave that life behind but it was a lot harder for me to stop drinking. I received help from \u00a0Bournemouth Alcohol and Drug User Forum to stop drinking and it’s something that remains a daily struggle.<\/p>\n

My life is good now. I have a steady office job and I’m in a happy relationship, it’s quite new and he doesn’t know about my past – I don’t know if I will tell him.<\/p>\n

Once I had decided to leave the trade I found plenty of help when I went looking for it but there needs to be a more done to\u00a0approach women on the streets. You don’t speak with the other women but you get to know who’s on what and where they tend to work from. A lot are on heavy drugs and the pimps control them – these girls don’t have the strength to go for help, they need it to come to them.<\/p>\n

I strongly believe that prostitution needs to be legalized, not in a free for all way that makes people think there will be 30 prostitutes on every street, no, in a controlled way. I like the idea of having a safe area that has security – where the pimps are gone and the women are their own bosses. Help them off drugs and have regular health checks. Most don’t want to be in this industry – but it can be a last resort and they need help.<\/p>\n

I don’t trust any council to be able to enforce it and keep the women safe. Politicians\u00a0don’t understand the women’s situations and the issues they have to deal with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As told to James Nunns in Bournemouth. The interviewee has been granted anonymity, and the interview has been lightly edited for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always had a high sex drive and would go stir crazy if I didn’t have sex at least 4 times a week, it was this and a need to find some more money that helped me make the decision to start offering myself for money.<\/p>\n

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