‘It’s fun and addictive’: Student escort reveals what it’s like in the sex industry

There are 18,000 people studying at Durham, and if one in 20 work in the sex industry, there are about 900 at our uni.

According to research by Swansea University, young girls and boys are working as prostitutes, escorts, strippers and webcammers.

Although the chances are slim that you know of someone who tells you they work in the sex industry, the secrecy and stigmas mean that many of us know very little about it at all.

Emma* is a student in the North East. She couldn’t tell us which uni she goes to or be photographed – such is the secret nature of what she does. She works for an escort agency run by a lady named Hannah.

She told The Tab: “I originally started this work because I’d been struggling with a minimum wage job.  I was working constantly and didn’t have time to get my assessments done. It got to a point where I had to choose between university and work.”

Not Emma

Encouraged by friends, Emma decided to give escorting a go and uses the money to fund her studies.

“It’s given me the opportunity to go on trips and buy materials that I could never afford before, which has really helped with getting my degree”.

A study by Swansea University, which involved over 6,000 young people, revealed that 57 per cent of students who work in the sex industry wish to fund higher education, while two-fifths aim to reduce debts at the end of their course.

98 per cent of escort jobs are sexual and go from £60 for half hour bookings up to £1000 for the night.

With the money rolling in, Emma found it hard to resist going shopping instead of studying. “It’s so easy to get carried away when you first start.  It really is unbelievable as you go from nothing to having all this money there.  You feel like you can do anything.  It definitely requires discipline”.

Working as an escort gives you the flexibility to choose your own hours and take a break when you need to, which is perfect for busy student life.

But it’s not all about the money – 60 per cent of student sex workers do so out of enjoyment, while 44 per cent claim sexual pleasure is their main motivation.

Emma can make up to £1,000 a night

Describing escorting as “fun” and addictive”, Emma admits that a lot of her work involves sex – but, interestingly, “it tends to be younger men up to the age of 45” rather than the stereotype of “dirty old businessmen”.

Emma has, however, also enjoyed non-sexual appointments with one of her regular clients “I’d get paid about a month’s average wage for one night.  All he’d do was take me for a meal then we’d watch a film and go to bed.  It was great – I actually became really close to him because it was just normal weekly routine.”

As well as being enjoyable, working as an escort can, according to Emma, be an empowering experience “I’ve noticed now that I get more male attention because I probably come across as more confident without realising.  On a night out I used to be quite shy and giggly around men but now I’m quite happy to go and talk to them”.

She also claims to feel more confident handling tricky situations with men “Before if a guy was trying to chat me up and I wasn’t interested I’d go along with it feeling awkward and not wanting to say no or be mean.  Doing this work for just a few months completely changed who I am – now I’m a lot more confident with men and I’m happy to say how I feel rather than trying to be polite all the time”.

‘I’ve not had one negative comment’

Given the money and empowerment, it’s no wonder that half of student escorts don’t like having to keep their work under wraps – but what’s with all the secrecy?

Emma has found people are more accepting of her work than she initially realised. “My friends are all really open-minded and I’ve not had one negative comment about what I do.

“If any girls out there see this and feel like they want to give it a go – just bloody do it.  Don’t let the stigma attached to it bother you.  If you explain what goes on people tend to accept it”.

After university, Emma says she might “do an odd day here and there” alongside her career .

Although previous boyfriends were “fascinated” by her work as an escort and “understood that there was no emotional attachment”, Emma won’t carry on with this job when she’s ready to settle down. “I’ll be very open with my partner about my past.”

*Emma’s identity has been changed and photos are not of her.