Lap dancing the debt away

by Genea Saunders

With graduate employment prospects growing gloomier each day and university fees topping £9,000 from next year, it is no surprise that some students are turning to a slightly less orthodox job to support their studies.

As an industry that pays well, offers flexible hours that can easily be played down as ‘bar’ or ‘PA’ work and with plenty of clients and job opportunities, a career in the sex industry – be it escorting, pole-dancing or stripping – seems to be the ultimate part-time vocation for a growing number of students and graduates.

A study conducted at the University of Westminster revealed that 60 per cent of sex workers in Leeds are in full-time education, and a 2010 study carried out by the University of Leeds discovered that out of more than 200 lap dancers, one in three were working to fund their education.

With tuition fees increasing, this number can only be expected to rise.

Escorting

Remy, 20, a student at London College of Fashion (LCF), is an escort:  “At first I began escorting for extra money to buy Christmas presents as I had just been sacked from a previous job. With Christmas fast approaching, I needed income. It was never meant to be a permanent job, but a year on after applying to the ad on the back of a newspaper, I’m still here. It’s the easiest money.”

With her long, bright pink acrylic nails, faux-fur coat, and immaculate make-up, Remy told Arts London News that for the past year she has been working for a local escorting agency in addition to studying for a styling and fashion course at the college. 

Clients can book her company for an hourly fee of £150. During this time they are free to enjoy her closeness.

Other extras, such as massages, oral sex and intercourse, have to be consented by her before being reported back to the company for extra payment. Any extras are down to the girl but most don’t reveal them to their agency so that they can keep the full wage,” she says. 

She is articulate and neither sounds, nor appears like one might imagine a stereotypical ‘sex worker’; rather just like a normal female student.

“I work 3-4 days most weeks. I call and let my boss know when I’m available. My driver collects me in the evening. I’m not ashamed of what I do, but it’s not something that my mum would approve of. My friends all know and seem perfectly fine with it though.

“On a bad week I can earn up to £200 once the company has deducted their 50 per cent, but on a good week I can earn up to £700.

"I don’t have sex with the clients, I just allow them to touch me, and vice versa. Sometimes it’s actually quite unbelievable what people will pay for. A man once asked me to finger his bum,” she laughs hysterically.  

After composing herself, she explains: “Doing this job I’m able to choose which days I want to work and what days I want to study. In a crazy way it works for me better than a ‘normal job’. And now I’m just accustomed to having money. I’m living a lifestyle I normally wouldn’t be able to afford.”

Even though Remy is clearly using the escorting just as a present wage slip, other students and graduates that turn to ‘alternative careers’ can find themselves stuck.

The enticingly ‘easy’ lump sums of money provide a privileged, glamorous and hedonistic lifestyle that would be unaffordable on most graduates’ incomes. Furthermore, it is not a job that many would choose to include on their CV, creating a suspicious three-year gap in experience to show any potential employer.

Seemingly fine with the service she provides, Remy says that to her, there is no emotional connection, it is merely just another way of paying the bills.

Stripping

John Specht, UK Vice President for gentleman’s club Spearmint Rhino, also suggested last month that female students should consider working in strip clubs to help fund their university fees, proclaiming: “If the girls are looking to do this type of entertainment and make good money in a safe, fun environment – and enjoy their work – then why not?”

Posters outside the entrance to Spearmint Rhino on Tottenham Court Road in London, entice hard-up students to consider stripping, and even some free publications you can pick up outside the various University of the Arts SU bars contain classified ads: “Become escorts or dancers: Earn extra cash, potential high earnings, hours to suit you, be your own boss.”

It is no surprise that this sort of work is tempting to some students and graduates because, instead of making the National Minimum Wage of £4.98 an hour – if you are between 18 and 20 – or £6.08 an hour – if you are 21 and over – you are able to get a job in the sex industry and earn up to 10 times that, possibly leaving university debt free. 

Anna, 24, a recent graduate from LCF, knows all about living debt free and claims that working at a gentlemen’s club is the best part-time job any student could want: “After graduating from university with my degree, I thought I was set for the world. But, like many grads leaving university, the reality was much different.

I found myself with a huge debt of £15,000, and no job and so was forced to seek a quick money earner fast. I decided to try lap-dancing as I’ve always been interested in dance.

For me I was just adding another dimension to it by taking off my clothes – and I love it. There are not many jobs that allow you to make great friends, get dressed in sexy outfits, flex your muscles and keep fit.

But, of course, best of all, there are even fewer jobs where you can earn £400 in tips each week.” Happily, she concludes: “I’d say I’m living a great life at the moment, and that’s exactly what it is, just for the moment. I do plan on one day putting my degree to good use, but for now I love what I do and see no reason to change it.”

Massage Parlours

Unfazed by the old stigma attached to working in the sex industry, the women we spoke to seem unafraid to use their sexuality to make financial ends meet and get them through their studies, but there are those who have a much less positive story to tell.

Demi, 21, a hair and make-up student, is an ex front-of-house girl who quit her job as a receptionist in a massage parlor after a bad experience with a client. 

“Working in a massage parlour was not seen as the ideal job,” she says. “Some nights I’d get old, dirty men making sleazy, sexual comments that would often make me feel sick.

But it was to be expected – you learn how to handle them. The money was good and I could get commission for promoting the girls.

But one night I decided to take a much-needed break and went to lie down in a vacant room upstairs.” Finding it hard to continue, she goes on to say a client mistook her for a ‘masseuse’, which ultimately made her decide to never return to work again.

“I never wanted to be put in that situation,” she says. “It was sad because I enjoyed my job. I’m not ashamed to have worked in the sex industry, taking bookings for sex or selling sex toys, as I was providing a service at the end of the day, but I never want to compromise my safety, not even for £150 a night.

Unfortunately, according to my manager, those things were all part of the job and were to be expected, even as a receptionist!”

Risks

So while there are those employed in the sex industry that are happily content with their flexible short-term career path, there is no doubt that for many young women, like Demi, it is quite another story.

Can money made in this way ever really be regarded as ‘easy’ when taking into account all of the risks involved?

There is an undeniably darker side and it is not uncommon for dancers in strip clubs to be asked for ‘extras’ in return for further payment.

Unfortunately, unlike the highly glamourised Secret Diary of a Call Girl, the clientele are not usually handsome and polite men who treat the women like princesses.

There are also many tales of extortion, with strip clubs charging girls anything between £20 to £100 just to get into their club to work,  which leaves some workers with less money than when they started, especially after on-the-spot fines for menial reasons such as being late to their shift or chewing gum.

Similarly, agencies can take large cuts from their escorts’ wages and fail to vet clients fully, leaving them in potentially dangerous situations with no way out.

“Sex work is not for everyone,” says Del Campbell speaking on behalf of the Terrence Higgins Trust – the leading HIV and sexual health charity in the UK. 

“We give a lot of advice about safety, telling people where you are going, who you are with and most importantly, remembering that you have the right to say no to anything you do not feel comfortable doing, and the right to report any crimes committed against you,” he continues.

Many dancers and escorts use their work as a strategy; they dance, or escort, to continue their education, or supplement a low income until they find themselves on the career ladder they really want.

But there is no doubt that such work has the potential to leave a very lasting emotional effect on the girls involved.

Building and maintaining intimate relationships can be problematic, with few potential partners thrilled to discover that their potential boyfriend or girlfriend had previously been dancing or escorting for money.

“There has been a rise in students selling sex, especially migrant workers on a student visa,” says Campbell. “And while we don’t advise people not to enter the sex industry, we would like to see a reduction in stigma and for people to understand that through lack of choice, coercion and poor self esteem, it can have a negative impact on their relationships.”

Sex and the City: The facts and figures:

• In 2010 there were an estimated 300 lap-dancing clubs in the UK.
• Recent academic research on lap-dancing revealed that out of 300 lap-dancers, 87 per cent had at least completed a further education course, and one in four had undergraduate degrees.
• Fifty-six per cent of students surveyed by Student Comment and News (SCAN) suggested that shows such as Secret Diary of a Call Girl have glamorised the sex industry.
• Another study by the University of Westminster found that one in 25 students have turned to prostitution to pay for fees and living expenses.
• A recent study by Keele University, Staffordshire, revealed that 38 per cent of students claimed they used escort work to fund their education.
• In UK brothels, which are often disguised as massage parlours, 85 per ce