Sofia – It’s 2005 in Tenerife, and then 21-year-old Sofia – originally from one of the poorest areas of the island – is told by a girl in a bar that she could earn €10,000 a week escorting in Ireland.
No spoken English or accommodation in Ireland was required, just a ticket to Dublin and the phone number of a contact who would collect her at the airport.
“When I arrived, a Brazilian guy was at the airport,” she says. “He didn’t say much. He just dropped me in a flat in the city centre where there were two other Spanish girls. That was my induction and training day right there.”
Sofia found that she was working for an escort agency run by a Brazilian firm. She had a profile on a popular online escorting web that was completely controlled by the agency. She explains: “Everything was organised by them and they kept half of my income in return. They answered calls and sent the clients to the flats.
“I was sent from one city to another every two weeks and didn’t have contact with anybody outside the organisation.”
Her earnings, after paying the organisation, were significantly less than she was told by the girl in the bar – who of course turned out to be a member of the agency – and after three months, she decided to stop working for them.
“I spent 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the apartment and started feeling anxious. I walked from room to room like a tiger in a cage. I smoked marijuana to relax and then later took cocaine to endure the job. Drugs were provided by the agency, so I ended up owing them money. Once I was able to communicate in English and had my debts paid, I left and never went back.”
Sofia continued in the industry as an independent escort until last year, when she began working for other agencies again – a consequence of the economic downturn and the arrival of more young women that has driven down prices by almost half.
“The last time I was working, more and more clients were demanding various services that I felt were unsafe and wouldn’t practice, but other girls were doing them. If other girls are doing it and clients are asking for it, then you are in a situation where you’ve got to think about it.”
Bruno – Bruno, 29, works as an independent gay male escort and also takes calls for other escorts. He speaks fluent English and holds Portuguese and Brazilian passports. He is in favour of independent escorting and also affirms that not all the agencies are tied to organised crime or take advantage of the escorts.
“I was working for an agency for one year and it was okay. Now I’m escorting independently and want to create my own website to advertise escort services in Portugal.”
Bruno is against street prostitution, which he describes as “disgusting”, and explains that there is a difference between a prostitute and an escort.
“What I offer in my profile is something other than sex. I’m an educated guy and consider myself as a professional of the entertainment industry. The internet is the perfect way to promote myself.”
Marissa – When 22-year-old Marissa found out that she could get a visa through an English language school and by paying an ‘extra’ €700 she could buy the minimum attendance required to renew it, she thought that her terrible time working for an escort agency would end.
“I thought that working independently would bring a better life, but it is the same. Although I don’t do call-outs, working at home alone is also very dangerous as attackers know we are afraid of going to the police.
“I’ve been attacked twice and so I decided to ask a friend to live with me and defend me if necessary, but I have to share my earnings with him.”
Last time she was attacked, a doctor told Marissa that she was only still alive thanks to her thick dreadlocks which cushioned the brutal impact of the motorbike helmet she was struck with my a customer before he fled with money and valuables from her apartment.
“I just want to make enough money that would guarantee me and my family a decent life back in Brazil,” she says. “I’ll leave Ireland as soon as I can to escape from this never-ending nightmare.”
