Someone sent me a link to the work of a photographer, Sasha Achilli. It is called Working Girls Central London. I think it is a very fair representation of what it is like for sex workers in Soho. Unlike the work of a different photographer that I came across years ago that said things which aren't true.
In the photo essay it says that one sex worker saved enough money to buy a tapas bar in Spain, where she is now.
The photo essay also says that one sex worker in Soho is in her sixties. She is now a 'Madame' but on certain days has sex with 'loyal clients'. Some people use the word 'madam' which is the female equivalent of 'pimp'. Sasha Achilli uses the word 'Madame'. There are no pimps in Soho though, so I always use the word 'maid'. This is the word that was always used when I visited the Soho walk up flats.
The photo essay also says that many sex workers do not enjoy their job. Some do though. Most knew when they came to the UK that they would be sex workers. That suggests that some were deceived, but it could also mean that they tried different jobs in the UK. Only then did they decide to try sex work. Some have tried a 'normal job' but most haven't.
It gives the impression that they don't get many customers. Sometimes they wait hours. Television, the internet and the phone occupy their time. They can spend over 12 hours a day in the flat, but we know from other forms of work that migrants often choose to earn as much as possible in as little time as possible so they can return to their home countries earlier.
There will be some Soho sex workers who will be much busier than that. Some will have 20 customers each day, maybe more.
I have only seen costumes hanging in the window, as in one of the photographs, at 70A Berwick Street. I wonder if 'Petra' is Lisa. The only other Czech one I met was Laura/Katy at 1 Bateman Street and 70A Berwick Street. Laura made a couple of porn movies.
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