Edges Magazine Issue 31 - Working Girls

EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 31

November 2002

	Working Girls
	Hi, my name is Paula. I’ve been working the streets for around ten months now. I’m twenty-one. I started to work the streets to get my drugs. I didn’t like doing it but it got to me needing it more and more and I ended up doing it every night. The money was good and it was an easy way to get my drugs. You can earn £150 to £200, even more, per night. You get treated nice. I’ve never had any bad clients. They’ve all been really nice and treat me well. I don’t like doing it but it feeds my drug habit. The average price of what a client pays is around £20. If it’s a regular then they try to get it down to £15. I wouldn’t class myself as a prostitute but as a working girl because the word prostitute sounds dirty and you think, ‘look at the state of that!’. I never thought I’d become a working girl but I’ve had to. When I was sixteen and doing drugs I was knocking around with this guy. I didn’t have anything and I asked him if I could have a bed and it started from there. Everytime he would come back with drugs I’d have a bit but when he couldn’t get any I’d have to go out and get it. That’s when I became a working girl. If I was earning a £150 a night I would be feeding his habit as well as my own. With the £150 I would spend £100 on Crack and the rest on heroin. Don’t look at me as a prostitute because I’m just going out to earn my money. I wouldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t an addict, but I am, so I’ve got to do it. Over the months I’ve seen some bad cases. I haven’t had any myself but I’ve seen a few. There have been girls dragging other girls out of cars so they can have the client and fighting on the streets. I was on Pump Street one night and this black car Working Girls pulled up. I went over to the car and the man said he was a pimp from around here. All of a sudden this police van came zooming down the street. It was quite funny actually. One of the girls told me he was the boss. If the police hadn’t have come I would have got into the car. I would have probably had to work for him then. Suzanne Hi, my name is Suzannne and I’m 28. I’m currently an addict. I’ve prostituted twice for the money for drugs. I was rattling at the time and I needed heroin. I went out, did the deed and got the money. I set my mind up to do what had to be done so it didn’t knock me for six. I did it and it was fine. The reason I haven’t gone back to it is because psychologically there is a tiny thing there that makes you think it’s dirty. If I ever got desperate again I probably would do it again. When I did it it was with the same guy twice. It was someone who I met through a friend. Over the years I’ve spoke to quite a few working girls. They seem alright. They’re just doing it to feed their habits. It’s not something they are doing just as a job, it’s to support their habits. I became addicted to heroin through a boyfriend. We took drugs together then he got sent down and I was left with a habit so I had to try and fend for myself. I was spending all my money on drugs and I had none for anything else. Before my boyfriend got out of prison I tried to move but I still had a habit. Eight years later I’m still in the same place. I’ve not moved on but I’m still here and I’m still trying. I haven’t give up totally.