by AFP
An absent clientele and a health to preserve. The precariousness of sex workers, whose falling incomes push some of them onto the street, has worsened since the confinement imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Pamela * 's last client dates back to March 16, the day before the confinement. “I have no choice since I work on the street and I move around with people,” explains this 46-year-old prostitute from Toulouse.
However, the solicitations have not completely stopped, but Pamela ignores them: “pay a fine of 135 euros for a customer at 50, no ...” For the moment. If confinement were to continue, her meager financial mattress will no longer be enough. “I'm going to take risks, it has to. Even if I make two clients a week, it will at least pay for the food, ” she explains.
“The situation is dramatic,” worries Sarah-Marie Maffesoli, coordinator at Médecins du Monde. “There are almost no more customers. How long will they be able to stop working? Being healthy without being able to eat or feed your children is complicated, ”she says.
Sex workers, a minority of whom exercise the status of self-employed, will also not be able to claim the aid of 1,500 euros promised by the state to the self-employed in compensation for their decline in activity.
The community, which is very united, has launched several prize pools online. That relayed by the Instagram page “Tapotepute” , followed by more than 17,000 subscribers, amounts to more than 10,000 euros. "We hope to help around thirty TDS (sex workers)", explains Judith *, 22, an escort in Paris and creator of the page.
For those who continue to exercise “to ensure their survival”, the Sex Work Union (Strass) has published on its site a series of recommendations such as “avoid contact with saliva” or “any sexual position face to face” .
Many associations are also worried to see their beneficiaries evicted from their homes, because they could not pay their rent. “With confinement, many hotels have closed and sex workers have found themselves on the street,” explains Antoine Baudry of the Cabiria association, based in Lyon.
The most precarious are migrant, undocumented women, who do not always speak French. “For them, it is not easy to know what they have the right to do and not to do. The people we got on the phone are completely distraught, ”said June Charlot, health mediator at Grisélidis. This Toulouse association is holding an "exceptional permanence" on Tuesday to distribute emergency aid, a little money, prevention kits and travel certificates.
The health crisis does not only affect street prostitution, but also escorts. “My clients are quite wealthy, they are aware of the risks, they no longer ask me,” explains Charlie *. This 28-year-old Parisian could earn 2,000 euros a month “without working much”. "I have a bit of money aside, but I can't last more than a month," she slips.
Against the ban on physical contact, migration to specialized webcam sites is the solution. For those who can afford it. "I don't trust the internet and online payments I don't know how to do," explains Nathalie *, a 48-year-old Toulouse escort. See more via Huffpost/AFP