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Mare magazine on student escorts
On 9 June, Mare magazine published an article on student escorts working part-time in the erotic industry. It also features one of Society Service's high-class escorts, who is a student at the time.
Prostitution as a side job: sometimes they are someone else
Students do not only work as bartenders or postmen. Some offer their bodies and get a lot out of it. Mare took a tour of the pink sector.
My fellow students all work about twenty hours a week to finance their studies. In one evening I earn as much as they earn in a whole month. During the exam period, I can easily take a few weeks off to concentrate on my studies; after that, I am no longer broke. I am also very flexible in my work. If I go out in the evening, I let them know that I am no longer available and therefore cannot be booked.
This was written by a 22-year-old law student from Leiden. The question was whether his job as a call girl was difficult to reconcile with his Master's degree. She works for the escort agency Society Service in Rotterdam, which according to owner Marike van der Velden (26) is the most expensive in the Netherlands. Appointments start at seven hundred euros. An overnight stay soon adds up to two thousand euros.
If you make higher education more expensive, more students will accept part-time work in prostitution. This was claimed a few years ago by the French newspaper Le Figaro, reporting that one in 57 students in this country works in the so-called 'relaxation industry'. The main reason was the rising cost of accommodation. Students are mainly proposing themselves through the Internet.
The soundness of the research is a comment on this figure of 40,000 students prostituting themselves. Since this profession is carried out in secret, it is difficult to make a correct assessment. Moreover, the term 'student' is often misused because it suggests youth and intelligence.
A 2006 study conducted by Kingston University in London on 130 students found that the number of students working as strippers, erotic dancers or escorts has increased by 50% since 2000. The fact that tuition fees have increased from one thousand to three thousand pounds over the same period was considered a possible cause.
There is no data on the study of prostitutes in the Netherlands.
Metje Blaak, formerly active in the sector and press officer of the prostitutes' interest group De Rode Draad, knows of no specific study on the subject. In any case, the phenomenon is - I almost dare not say it - as old as time. When I worked myself, in the 1970s, female students were already active. It's more of an interaction: one year they do it, the next year they don't. If tuition fees rise, you think there will be an increase in students swallowed up on the pavement. Everything that happens in the economy affects this sector. If more women become unemployed or if it becomes more expensive to go to university, they will start doing this work more quickly'.
According to Blaak, this does not mean that prostitution is comparable to any part-time job. Some girls think it is easy money. A little back and hop, poop. But it affects your psychological situation'. Incidentally, she points out that she often meets psychology students in practice. These are often foreign students who come here to study politics. And then they alternate for a while. Often to see what the human psyche is like'. Blaak has doubts about the group that goes first to work and then to study. It is dangerous. You don't earn bad money, you get used to the luxury. I rarely see them start studying. Girls who are already studying when they start working in the red light district usually persevere'.
Exact numbers cannot be given, but Van der Velden reports that two students from Leiden work for her as 'escorts'. It is not possible to interview them directly. However, questions can be asked by e-mail. The law student talking to Mare prefers to keep her secondary income a secret: 'My best friend knows, but nobody else does. As far as I am concerned, it is a private matter that does not concern anyone. Once a week I am someone else, then I am a luxury call girl spending a romantic evening with an interesting businessman. For a while I am no longer the student who had a glass of wine in society the night before'.
He is not afraid to meet an acquaintance or perhaps a lecturer during working hours. I always find out some details about the client beforehand, including the name. As an escort, I can simply convey my preferences in terms of age and nationality. That way there are no surprises for me".
Van der Velden's escort agency is doing well. The turnover of the agency, founded in 2006, amounts to almost one million euro. This is mainly due to the entrepreneurial talent of the owner. His press releases about the deflowering service (from 950 euros, also with two bisexual women for a fee), special offers during the World Cup and the tripling of the number of Muslim clients during Ramadan are enthusiastically received by the domestic and foreign media. The Erasmus University graduate can be booked through the Speakers Academy to give lectures on her field. She works with about 30 women, half of whom are studying or pursuing doctorates. When you work with more women, you lose the thread and you don't know how everyone fits in. Some colleagues work twice a month, others twice a week. They usually do it for one or two years. At the beginning he tried to hire men as well. But both supply and demand proved too difficult to organise.
The social service recruits mainly through the media. When we wanted to place an ad in the Erasmus University newspaper, we were rejected. Shortly afterwards we were interviewed by the same newspaper. We received fifty applications. We even hired some of them. Van der Velden says that in the application process he mainly looks at motivation. Those who expect to spend every weekend on a boat in Dubai, I will help them realise their dream. These are mainly foreign businessmen in their 30s and 50s who are looking for an evening of erotic company. In between, there are occasional trips abroad, but they are rare. A week with an escort costs 10,000 euro plus expenses. It's not for everyone'.
And what happens if their employees end up with a client they don't like? In ten per cent of cases you don't have a click, you have to create one. That requires a lot from you. You have to overcome it. But the ladies know that they are always on their side when their intuition tells them to go. Of course, this is not a dating service. You are not allowed to walk away if someone is a little overweight. However, if they behave disrespectfully, they can leave at any time. And I do not match a woman in her twenties with a man over fifty. It is not a good match.
Many of his classmates have just finished their studies, while Van der Velden is already the head of a company in an industry that cannot be described as ordinary. Never any problems? My closest friends all know about it. But I have lost some people because of it. And I don't tell my dentist, for example. When I was looking for a telecommunications provider, nine out of ten companies said they would not work with me. I can forget about applying for a bank loan. Setting up an office is not easy. Then it doesn't matter that I work legally, have all the necessary licences and pay taxes properly. And yes, my parents were shocked when I told them. But they were not angry.
The anonymous law student also has to deal with prejudices about her work. She is keen to point out that she and her colleagues are very careful about hygiene and sexual safety and regularly undergo tests. Very different from the average student who has sex with a new guy every year without a condom.
When asked if she considers her job as an escort a job or a special experience, the law student replies: "Both. Everyone looks for a side job that suits them. Something you are good at and enjoy. But at the end of the day, everyone works because they earn money. For me it is no different".
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