You needn’t look any further than the Netherlands to see how much local escort’s sex workers suffer. It is hailed as a “progressive” society where sex work is so respected that “it’s legal there,” but in reality, it’s not. As aptly stated in “Legal Views on Sex Work in the local escorts sex work is not glorified but rather tolerated In this model, many workers are still “banished” from the industry, pushing their work further underground,
They take higher risks to survive
The laws regarding the local escorts and how they are performed are some of the strangest and strictest. The law requires that any place where local escort’s sex work takes place must have a “brothel,” so workers are prohibited from renting a place, be it a hotel room or a dungeon to play in. This means that local escorts’ sex workers are automatically put on the defensive, as they are now demanding not only the price but also the location of their clients. As you can imagine, this results in the loss of a large portion of their working-class clients and, therefore, a large portion of their income. One way around this issue is to have clients meet them in their homes, but this deprives the employee of a strong layer of security since if something goes wrong, it is much easier to notify hotel staff than to reject it. People you don’t have to look any further than the Netherlands to see how local escorts sex workers are being victimized.
Often, employees find that a more rigorous screening process could mitigate some of this risk. Still, clients concerned about their privacy are so put off that they reject the booking altogether. Again, this would eliminate many clients who live in shared housing or with elderly family members who are providing care.
So, what are the other options? There is only one: local escort sex work.
Standing or sitting in floor-to-ceiling windows, inviting passersby to purchase their services. I won’t mention it here because I’m against it), but this method can be uncomfortable for workers not used to being exposed or interacting with people who are not actively seeking their services. It can be even more difficult for workers with disabilities who communicate in different ways. When working with local escorts and sex workers, new problems arise. One of the biggest problems is the saturation of the service range in the area, which means you have to lower your prices significantly. Often, the fees are much lower than the workers are comfortable providing services for, but it is impossible to “justify” them. How do you argue to your customers that your services are worth a price many people will be happy with?
This can lead to unpleasant and demanding situations for survival workers. If we stick to our guns, we might find one or two customers willing to pay, but it is not enough to cover Amsterdam’s astronomically high rents and living costs forever. We often have to compromise and give up the working conditions that gave us satisfaction when we entered the industry to survive in late capitalism.
As always in capitalism, it’s the people that matter
Gays, disabled people, etc., who bear the brunt of the working conditions. They might survive by taking more “fun” bookings if they had savings. Still, with no savings and overly punitive laws, workers are forced into the working conditions offered at The Windows, even if they find this way of working challenging.