On 12Oct2017 1518, Andrea Vallance wrote:

Commercial brothel work. This is the classic large brothel run on a
commercial basis with someone in authority over the workers. Depending
on the legal framework, this can often be rife with abuse and
exploitation of workers. Similarly, organised crime is frequently
involved. However this work gives the workers the greatest protection
from clients.

Back when sex work was illegal in NZ, with the usual BS about it not being itself illegal, but you couldn't advertise or request payment, and couldn't support others with the income (supposedly to outlaw pimping, in practice a great excuse to take children away from sex-worker parents), I flatted with someone who was a driver/bouncer for 'masseurs' who also did some private work. The industry was full of organised crime, and the only protection girls often had when doing a private gig (back before cellphones were universal) was paying their driver a bit extra to stay parked outside (rather than coming back in an hour or two) to act as a deterrent.

More recently a flatmate worked in one of the brothels in town. Run by a dodgy couple of guys, one of whom liked to get 'free samples', she got into the game for the money, decided she liked the sex, the money, and the freedom to set her own hours and work as much or as little as she liked.

In case anyone is interested, the common model for a brothel like this is that the girls are 'independent contractors', and hire a room ($40/night in the case above). They then charge clients (at this place they're free to turn down people they don't like the look of) $250 for a one-hour session, half of which goes to the brothel. That's for straight sex. Anything extra is up for negotiation, and again half goes to the brothel, though at that place the girls often didn't mention extras and pocketed the money (most of the business was in cash).

My flatmate was going to move to a nicer place that had less dodgy owners but decided against it because it had a set pricing structure for extras and was much pushier about collecting its cut. I expect someone more sensitive to risk would consider that place a better one to work in - better management, better clients, better protection.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief
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