I would think that most of those stats are referring to ladies on the street.
Please take my following perspective and bad grammar respectfully-
I am a former escort and will honestly say I hated it most of the time. It isn't for everybody, and certaintly wasn't for me. A former "friend" had convinced me that she was 'happy' and living this great lifestyle where she didnt have to really work. This friend would flash around all this money she had to do wonderful superficial things I thought seemed pretty great at the time. Soo I tried it and got trapped by the money... money- the real reason 100% of us do it.
It was a never ending cycle for myself. Basically sleep with someone who is your fathers age or older all day, dealing with some extremely rude individuals who treat you like you are the scum of the earth (some clients were nice though)..the list goes on. After my wonderful day of sleeping with men twice my age, I'd go spend all the money away on stupid things (including drugs and alcohol) because I'd feel so bad about what I was doing with yourself. My work ethic went to shit, my self esteem went to the bottom & I destroyed relationships with friends and family because I was ashamed and paranoid of them finding out.
I will say that I met some great friends and had some great clients though. I have worked independently and through agencies.. I will say that most of the ladies I had come across had issues with sexual abuse (as well as myself), poor relationships with men, strong problems with drugs and alcohol (even in an advertised "drug free agency" I had worked for) and mental health issues- depression.
I do know there are a small percentage of ladies who say they do truly love their job and I don't doubt them.
Please don't tear me apart on here. I am sure there are some ladies who will agree with my situation, but would never post that on here because that would be bad advertising.
After seperating myself from that lovely friend who introduced me to a world of shit(my own opinion of course), I was able to eventually get out for good. I'm working in the real world, back to being myself, and finally in a loving relationship...couldn't ask for anything else.
Wow, this is one of the better reads on this subject that I have ever seen. It isn't laced with some Doctor Ruth-like overkill about the toll it takes on women, and it doesn't outright blame the men for the whole problem, like society as a whole loves to do. (in reality, "society" as a whole IS to blame, because 'society' condones the perpetuation of the abuse cycle before enacting "double jeopardy" on abuse victims by then deciding that doing the work for which societal flaws uniquely qualified them to do, is largely illegal in practical terms)
live.and.learn is an authentic person who communicates effectively and tells it like it is, while leaving out things that just wouldn't enhance the honest story. I'd never before figured-out the perspective of the everyday working girl spending a "day... sleeping with men twice (her) age", although there are so many clients and girls out there that it just may average out to that more often than not.
live.and.learn is just amazing for having both lived that life and told her story in a way that cuts to the crux of the matter, and shares what her outlook is really like. In many ways I credit the anonymity of the internet for allowing live.and.learn to post as she did. As for those critiquing her reasons for being on this site, it makes perfect sense that she would hover around what she has known... and that may go double if that loving partner of hers doesn't happen to know all of these details about her past.
Nothing about what live.and.learn offers here surprises me, yet I will still continue to justify my own participation given the vast social imbalance of available sexual interaction between men and women. Furthermore, the newly legal young women who populate the lower age range of the industry continue to come of age every day, and most of the time (at least in my circles) it is they themselves who draw upon their past "qualifications" for this line of work when opting to advertise their services in various locations.
I'd be really proud of our society if miraculously it would put an end to all child abuse and victimization and if as a result the world's oldest profession were to disappear (as might rebounds when basketball is perfected). That is really the only path toward eradicating prostitution as a whole, and perhaps everybody reading would agree on how incredibly improbable that would be. Until such a time, what frame of mind should I implement to conclude that it would be high and mighty of me to abstain from any sexual contact at all even though there are willing young working girls perfectly agreeable to fuck me for a price?
As prostitution probably represents the free-est market on earth, and as the girls tend to price themselves all over the board, almost arbitrarily, then isn't it natural that the fees generally balance the trade in the near term? They named the fee - I didn't - so with that I am perfectly willing to pay their asking price and truly enjoy their company.
Thanks, live.and.learn, for a great post !!!